Know the real condition
Measured results across every circuit tell you the actual state of the installation instead of an assumption based on the age of the board.
Derby · EICR, PAT testing and fault finding
EICRs And ElectricalTesting In Derby, ReportedIn Plain English
Condition reports, PAT testing and fault finding carried out by a NAPIT Full Scope contractor — with findings explained so you know exactly what is urgent, what is advisory and what can wait.
NAPIT Full Scope registered · £10m public liability and £1m professional indemnity · Reports explained, not just emailed
16+ years
Domestic, commercial and industrial experience
Full Scope
NAPIT registered for all aspects of electrical work
6-year
NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee on qualifying installs
£10m
Public and employers' liability cover
Free
Initial consultation, no obligation
The service
A condition report is only useful if you understand what it is telling you
An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a structured inspection and test of a fixed electrical installation: the consumer unit, earthing and bonding, every circuit, and a representative sample of accessories. It produces a Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory outcome and a list of coded observations describing what was found and how serious each item is.
The codes are what matter. C1 means danger present and requires immediate action. C2 means potentially dangerous and requires remedial work. C3 is an improvement recommendation and does not make a report unsatisfactory. FI means further investigation is required. Plenty of people receive a report full of C3 items and assume the worst; plenty of others miss a single C2 buried in a list.
We also carry out PAT testing on portable appliances for offices, rental properties and commercial premises, and fault finding where something is tripping, dimming or failing intermittently and nobody has yet found out why. In every case the output is a clear report plus a conversation about what it actually means for you.
Who this is for
- Landlords needing a compliant EICR for a rented property in Derby or Derbyshire
- Buyers and sellers where a survey has raised questions about the electrical installation
- Homeowners who have never had the installation inspected and want to know its condition
- Businesses needing periodic inspection of commercial premises and PAT testing of equipment
- Anyone with a breaker that trips intermittently and no explanation for it
- Property managers needing consistent reporting across a portfolio
What it costs to leave it
The faults that matter are the ones nothing visible tells you about
Electrical deterioration happens where you cannot see it. Insulation resistance falling on a circuit under a floor. A loose connection heating a terminal inside a socket. An earth path that has been compromised by plumbing work carried out years ago by someone who did not consider it. None of these announce themselves until they cause a trip, a fire or a shock.
For landlords the consequences are also legal and financial. Rented properties in England require a satisfactory EICR at least every five years, with copies provided to tenants and to the local authority on request. Non-compliance carries penalties, and an unsatisfactory report discovered mid-tenancy has to be remedied on a deadline rather than at a convenient moment.
The other common cost is delay. Buyers pull out or renegotiate when an installation is flagged late in a sale. Insurers ask about condition after an incident. And intermittent faults left unresolved tend to be patched repeatedly by whoever is available, spending more in total than a single proper fault-finding visit that identifies the actual cause.
Mistakes we get called out to fix
- Assuming a recently replaced consumer unit means the whole installation is sound
- Treating every C3 observation as urgent, or ignoring a C2 buried in a long list
- Booking an EICR only when a sale or tenancy has already been agreed
- Resetting a repeatedly tripping breaker instead of finding what is causing it
- Accepting a report with no explanation and no clear list of remedial priorities
- Assuming PAT testing covers the fixed installation, or that an EICR covers appliances
How the job runs
A fixed sequence, so nothing
gets decided on the fly
01
Book and scope
We confirm what the report needs to cover, the extent of sampling, access requirements and how long we will need on site, so there are no surprises on the day.
02
Visual inspection
Board, earthing, bonding, accessories and visible cabling inspected for damage, deterioration, unsuitable modifications and non-compliance before any testing begins.
03
Dead and live testing
Continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation measured and recorded circuit by circuit against expected values.
04
Report and coding
Every observation coded C1, C2, C3 or FI, with the overall outcome stated and each item described so you can see what was found and where.
05
Explain and remedy
We talk you through the findings, quote separately for any remedial work, and re-test and re-certify once it is completed.
What you actually get
Measurable outcomes, not adjectives
Priorities you can act on
Findings are separated into urgent, remedial and advisory, so you can budget properly rather than treating a full list as one emergency.
Compliance evidence for letting
A compliant report and certificate to provide to tenants, agents and the local authority, with remedial work and re-testing available from the same contractor.
Faults found, not patched
Systematic fault finding isolates the cause of intermittent tripping rather than replacing components in sequence and hoping the symptom stops.
Protection verified
RCD trip times and earth loop impedance are measured rather than assumed, confirming that the safety devices will actually operate when a fault occurs.
Insured and registered
NAPIT Full Scope registration, £10m public liability, £10m employers' liability and £1m professional indemnity behind every report.
In detail
What is tested, how codes work and what applies to landlords
Testing is a defined procedure with defined outputs. Knowing what is covered — and what is not — helps you commission the right inspection and read the results properly.
What an EICR covers
The report examines the fixed installation: the supply arrangement, the consumer unit, protective devices, earthing and bonding, and every circuit, with accessories inspected on a sampling basis agreed at the outset.
- Supply characteristics, earthing arrangement and main protective bonding
- Consumer unit condition, protective device suitability and circuit identification
- Continuity of protective conductors and ring final circuit continuity
- Insulation resistance testing on every circuit to identify deterioration
- Earth fault loop impedance and prospective fault current measurement
- RCD and RCBO trip time verification against required limits
Understanding the codes
The coding is the part clients most often misread. An Unsatisfactory outcome is driven by C1, C2 or FI items; C3 items are recommendations and do not by themselves make a report unsatisfactory.
- C1 — danger present, requires immediate action and is made safe on the day where possible
- C2 — potentially dangerous, requires remedial work for a satisfactory outcome
- C3 — improvement recommended, does not affect the overall outcome
- FI — further investigation required without delay
- Every observation located and described so remedial work can be scoped and quoted
Landlords and commercial premises
Rented residential property in England requires a satisfactory EICR at intervals of no more than five years, with copies to tenants and to the local authority on request. Commercial premises follow inspection intervals appropriate to the environment and use.
- Five-yearly EICRs for rented residential property, or at change of tenancy
- Reports issued to landlords, agents and tenants with remedial quotes attached
- Commercial and industrial periodic inspection scheduled around operating hours
- PAT testing of portable appliances with asset registers and labelling
- Portfolio testing programmed across multiple properties to one consistent standard
Fault finding
Fault finding is diagnostic work, not parts replacement. Intermittent faults are isolated by dividing the installation and testing systematically until the cause is proved rather than guessed.
- Nuisance RCD tripping traced to the specific circuit and cause
- Insulation faults located by progressive isolation rather than wholesale replacement
- Overheating terminations and loose connections identified during inspection
- Intermittent lighting and dimming faults, including driver and dimmer mismatches
- Findings reported in writing with a clear remedial recommendation and quotation
Before you enquire
Testing & inspection questions,
answered straight
How much does an EICR cost in Derby?
It depends on the size of the installation and the number of circuits, so we quote per property rather than publishing a headline price. Tell us the property size and circuit count and we will give you a firm figure.
How long does an EICR take?
A typical domestic property is usually a few hours, depending on circuit count and access to the board and accessories. Larger and commercial installations take proportionally longer and are scheduled around your operating hours.
How often do I need one?
Rented residential property in England requires an EICR at least every five years. For owner-occupied homes, around ten years is the general recommendation, and commercial premises depend on the environment and usage.
Will the power be off during testing?
Circuits are isolated one at a time for dead testing, so there are short interruptions rather than a whole-day outage. Tell us in advance about anything that must not lose power and we will plan around it.
What happens if my report is unsatisfactory?
We explain each C1, C2 and FI item, quote separately for the remedial work, and re-test and re-certify once it is complete. You are free to have the remedial work carried out by someone else if you prefer.
Does an EICR cover my appliances?
No. An EICR covers the fixed installation. Portable appliances are covered by PAT testing, which we carry out separately and can schedule at the same visit.
Can you find a fault that keeps tripping the breaker?
Yes. Intermittent tripping is one of the most common call-outs. We isolate the installation systematically to prove the cause rather than replacing components until the symptom disappears.
Do you cover urgent or out-of-hours testing?
Emergency and out-of-hours attendance is available on request. It is not sold as a standard guaranteed service, but call and we will tell you honestly what we can do.
Are remedial works guaranteed?
Qualifying installation work carries a 6-year NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee, with a minimum one-year guarantee on other work.
Which areas do you cover?
Derby, Duffield, Belper, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Ripley, Ashbourne, Matlock, Burton upon Trent, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sheffield and the surrounding East Midlands.
Related services
Where we work
Derby · Nottingham · Duffield · Belper · Burton upon Trent · Sheffield · Ilkeston · Long Eaton and the wider East Midlands. See areas covered, read more about the company or return to the homepage.
Find out what condition
the installation is really in
Book an inspection and you will get measured results, clearly coded findings and a straight conversation about what needs doing first.
NAPIT Full Scope · Official Loxone Partner · 6-year workmanship guarantee on qualifying installations · £10m public liability