The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 make no mention of EICs (Electrical Installation Certificates) issued for all new installations – the regulations make 22 references to ‘report’ but not a single reference to ‘certificate’ (within the context of EIC’s).

However, the official guidance for landlords for the same regulations, states that if a property is newly built or has been completely rewired, landlords can provide a copy of the EIC to tenants and, if requested, the local authority. The landlord will then not be required to carry out further checks or provide a report for 5 years after the EIC has been issued, as long as they have complied with their duty or duties under the Regulations (which includes meeting the standards for electrical installations in the eighteenth edition of the Wiring Regulations, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the British Standards Institution as BS 7671: 2018).

[Note: the courts and local housing authorities can and will only follow what is in the law and not what is in the guidance – guidance has in some (unrelated) legal cases been judged to be wrong – if in doubt follow the law]

Further Reading

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020

Guide for landlords: electrical safety standards in the private rented sector

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