EICR – FIXED WIRE TESTING

In the case of an EICR, a qualified and experienced electrician will do checks as laid out in Guidance note 3 (a sub publication of BS:7671), and the findings will then be written out in the standardised document which is the EICR.  This will detail as much as possible what the investigating electrician has found on site that may affect the safety of the installation.  This is a very broad remit, but Section 7 of the EICR (starting on Page 2) gives a summary of issues found on site.

Under the Electricity at Work Regulations (1989), which is a statutory document, an EICR is deemed a suitable approach in order to fulfil health & safety requirements under UK Law.  An ‘Unsatisfactory’ assessment on page 1 – Section 6 means there are issues that will require rectifying at the earliest opportunity.  This is seen as an installation failing to meet a minimum standard in order to be safe for its specified continued use, and any defects in Section 7 classified as C1, C2 or FI will need to be rectified as a result. Defects classified as C3 would be recommendations and would not change the outcome of an EICR from Satisfactory on their own.

Although there is a simplified satisfactory / unsatisfactory outcome of the EICR, the defects found will not be so binary in their urgency; although any C1 defects should be rectified within hours of them being found.  Failing to authorise the necessary work will result in a Danger Notification being issued to site, and the responsible person from the organisation will then be deemed liable for any issues arising from that C1 defect, and not the electrician who discovered the issue.

A. Again these are not binary as it could vary between a simple light switch replacement to new cables to be laid underground. However, doing nothing is seen as not fulfilling an organisation’s legal obligations under EAWR 1989. Typically, a month would be seen as reasonable to authorise any necessary works, whereas anything over 12 months will be seen as not fulfilling legal requirements. If anything were to happen on site in the interim time, the defects listed and the time it has taken to action repairs would be part of any investigation.

Although not seen as essential to the safe working of the electrical system, any C3 defects should be considered and not dismissed completely.  Some C3’s will benefit the business and safeguard its future use, and may also be relatively cheap to have completed, whereas some defects may be costly and not seen as viable.  The decision for these is down to the responsible person(s) to decide upon.

In short; no, you will not.  The EICR that was completed is dated and has an individual ID number and cannot be altered to read satisfactory.  This may be deemed as forgery and clearly not something to be venturing into to fulfil legal obligations.  A certificate is automatically seen as confirming compliance to whatever remit is set for it, it will not have the word ‘Satisfactory’ written on it.

You will receive certificate(s) for the work that was required to be done, which will reference the EICR. All necessary testing will also be completed and documented on the certificate(s), which may be a Minor Works (detailing each task) or an Electrical Installation Certificate with the details of the required testing for each relevant task.  This will depend on the extent of the works and required testing that was carried out. All certificates should be kept with the original EICR as it forms a paper trail from the issuing of the EICR to the confirmation the work has been completed.

Yes it does, as far as it can be reasonably foreseen.  But this does not mean that continued checking and maintenance can be ignored until the next EICR, the EICR may highlight issues that require more frequent maintenance and checking, and anything can happen, even on the most rigorously checked installations.

This will depend on a number of factors, but Section 9 has a recommendation (typically 5 years for Commercial installations).  This should be from the date of the original EICR, and not the certificate confirming the works have been completed.

The Certificate would have been issued for the work that was completed only, and not the whole installation.  Only in rare circumstances where the remedial work was so significant that the entire installation was checked and tested would this be seen as the appropriate approach, otherwise it would be from the date of the EICR.

If an external contractor, other than Norwood, completed the remedial work, then they are responsible for providing the relevant certification regarding the remedial work that has been done.  If there are in house trained electricians, then it is permissible for those persons to carry out the remedial by prior arrangement.  To ensure fulfilment of legal obligations in-house testing will still need to be completed, and a Norwood engineer can attend site to confirm that the work completed has been done to the necessary standard.  Then a certificate (as in point 8 above) will be completed by Norwood explaining that in-house electricians have carried out the work and has been checked by a Norwood electrician.  Any testing documents produced in-house will need to be available to Norwood, and copies taken.