BS 7671 Guide · Section 10
Certificates, reports and EICR codes
The paperwork is how you prove what you did, what you found and what the client needs to do next. Here is how to pick the right form, code observations fairly and set the next inspection date, using the A4:2026 model forms.
Which form for which job
Choose the form by the type of work, not by the size of the job. A two-hour job that adds a circuit still needs a full certificate.
| Work | Form |
|---|---|
| New installation or full rewire | EIC with schedules |
| Any new circuit, including a single radial for an EV charger or shower | EIC |
| Consumer unit or distribution board replacement | EIC |
| Extra socket or light on an existing circuit, moving a switch, like-for-like accessory swap | MEIWC |
| Checking the condition of an existing installation | EICR |
| Remedial work after an EICR | MEIWC, or EIC if the fix adds a circuit or replaces the board |
Electrical Installation Certificate
The EIC certifies new work. It has three signature blocks for three responsibilities: design, construction, and inspection and testing.
On most small jobs one person does all three, and the model forms include a single-signature version for that. Where a consultant designs and a contractor installs, each signs for their own part. Record any planned departure from BS 7671, and attach the risk assessment if you rely on a permitted exception to RCD protection of socket-outlets.
Use the box for comments on the existing installation. If you add a circuit and spot missing main bonding, record it there. You are not certifying the old work, but you are telling the client what you saw.
Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate
The MEIWC is for small alterations or additions that do not create a new circuit. It covers the circuit you touched and confirms you have not made the rest of the installation less safe. You still test that circuit in full.
Regulation references: Chapter 64, 644.1.2, 411.3.3, Appendix 6
The EICR under Amendment 4
An EICR answers one question: is this installation safe to keep using until the next inspection? It is not a snagging list against the current edition or a fault-finding exercise. Older installations are not automatically unsafe just because the standard has moved on.
What changed in A4:2026
- Regulation 653.1 requires the report to be based on the Appendix 6 model. The notes for the person producing the report have been rewritten to explain the purpose of periodic inspection more clearly.
- Regulation 653.2 requires the report to include the model guidance for recipients. This explains in plain words what the codes mean, what to do with an unsatisfactory result, and how to keep the report.
- A note confirms you can attach photos and thermal images to back up your observations.
- The EICR model form had a major overhaul. The EIC and MEIWC changed only slightly.
- FI no longer makes a report unsatisfactory, and its wording changed from investigation needed “without delay” to investigation “advised”.
The recipient guidance also tells clients to test RCDs (and AFDDs with a test button) every six months and check SPD status indicators. Point this out at handover.
Extent and limitations
Agree what you will and will not inspect before you start. Record it with reasons, who agreed it, and your sampling rate for opening accessories. Keep agreed limitations (decided in advance, such as a tenant’s locked office) separate from operational ones (found on the day, such as a board you cannot isolate because it feeds a server room).
The schedules
An EICR is only valid with its schedules of inspection, circuit details and test results. Number every page and state the total. Each inspection item is marked acceptable, coded, not verified, limitation or not applicable. Faults on the network operator’s intake equipment are reported to the client and only affect the overall result if live parts are accessible.
Regulation references: 651.1, 652.1, 653.1, 653.2, 653.4, Appendix 6
Observation codes
Code against the edition current on the day you inspect, and be able to cite a regulation for every code. Work through these questions in order:
- Could someone be hurt now, by shock or fire, without anything else going wrong? That is C1, danger present. Make it safe on the spot where you can. If you cannot, give the owner or user written notice straight away.
- If not, would one further fault or a foreseeable action make it dangerous? That is C2, potentially dangerous. Urgent remedial work is needed.
- If not, but it falls short of the current standard? That is C3, improvement recommended. It is advisory.
- Do you suspect a safety issue you genuinely cannot confirm because of the agreed extent or limitations? That is FI, further investigation advised.
FI is not a way to avoid a decision. The IET says an unidentified circuit or low insulation resistance should be coded, not marked FI, because tracing or fault-finding is remedial work. In a typical dwelling you should rarely need FI.
Coding examples
These reflect common industry practice from IET and ECA guidance and the long-standing industry best practice guide on coding. Context matters: who uses the building and whether they are skilled. Where the trade disagrees, we say so.
| What you find | Usual code |
|---|---|
| Socket faceplate smashed with live terminals reachable, or a missing blank on a consumer unit exposing the busbar, in a home | C1. The same defect in a locked plant room that only skilled people can enter may be a C2. |
| No main protective bonding to an incoming metal gas or water pipe | C2 |
| Main bonding present and continuous but smaller than the current edition requires, for example 6 mm² where 10 mm² is now needed | C3 |
| Measured Zs too high for the protective device to disconnect in time, with no RCD to do the job | C2 |
| Insulation resistance below the minimum in Table 64 | Code it (normally C2), not FI |
| Lighting circuit with no protective conductor, supplying Class I metal fittings | C2. With only all-insulated fittings, inspectors are split between C2 and C3. Record your reasoning. |
| Sockets without RCD protection that are likely to supply portable equipment outdoors, or circuits in a bathroom without RCD protection | C2 |
| Indoor sockets without RCD protection that are unlikely to be used outdoors | C3 |
Three more that cause arguments
- Plastic consumer unit. The IET’s published answer is C3 for a board with a combustible enclosure, since it is advisory and not a safety failure on its own. Location changes that: under a wooden staircase with no plasterboard on the underside, the IET says C2. Some inspectors record a sound plastic board as an observation only, so whatever you choose, justify it.
- No circuit chart. C3 is common practice.
- Scorch marks on a ceiling below a bonded floor you cannot lift. A fair FI: a real sign of a problem you cannot reach within the agreed extent.
Do not code a missing AFDD or SPD just because new work now needs one. If the installation complied when built and nothing makes it unsafe, a comment is enough. See fire, arc fault and surge.
Satisfactory or unsatisfactory
Avoid “pass” and “fail”. One C1 or C2 makes the result unsatisfactory. Otherwise it is satisfactory, however many C3s and FIs there are. Never lower a code because a client asks. Do not over-code either: a wrong C2 costs the client real money.
Make the condition summary useful. “Wiring in good order; no RCD protection to upstairs sockets” helps the client. “Fair” does not.
Inspection intervals and landlords
You set the next inspection date and must give your reason, based on use and condition. IET guidance gives starting points: up to 10 years or change of occupancy for an owner-occupied home, 5 years for most commercial premises. Shorten it if the condition calls for it.
| Where | Rule for rented homes |
|---|---|
| England | Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, extended to social housing for new tenancies from 1 December 2025 and existing tenancies from 1 May 2026, with first checks due by 1 November 2026. Inspect at least every 5 years, or sooner if the report says so. Report to existing tenants within 28 days, new tenants before move-in, the council within 7 days of a request. |
| Wales | Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022. Report valid for 5 years, or less if it says so. Give the contract-holder the report, and written confirmation of any work, within 14 days. |
| Scotland | Repairing Standard statutory guidance. Before a tenancy starts, the EICR must be less than 5 years old, then renewed at least every 5 years. Landlord-supplied appliances need testing too. C1 and C2 items must be put right. |
In England, remedial or investigative work must be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. The landlord then has 28 days to give the tenant and council written confirmation from the electrician. GOV.UK guidance still treats FI as triggering that duty, even though A4:2026 makes FI advisory, so tell landlords every FI needs following up.
Regulation references: 652.1, 653.4
Which edition to declare now
BS 7671:2018+A2:2022+A3:2024 was withdrawn on 15 October 2026. From that date:
- New EICs and MEIWCs state BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 and use A4 model forms or your scheme’s updated forms.
- A job designed to A3 before 15 October 2026 can still be finished and certified to A3, as long as that was agreed. State the edition the work was actually designed to.
- Every EICR is assessed against A4:2026, because that is the current edition on the day you inspect.
Important. This guide is written by Tradefox to help qualified electricians understand BS 7671:2018+A4:2026. It is a plain-English summary for learning and reference only. It is not the standard, it does not reproduce it, and it is not professional advice. Always work to the current edition of BS 7671, the IET guidance notes, manufacturers’ instructions, Building Regulations and your scheme provider’s requirements. Electrical work must be carried out by a competent person.
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