Electrical Safety Inspection York
Electrical safety inspection in York
If you want to know whether your home’s electrics are safe, this is the check you need. The technical name is an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report). Every circuit tested. Clear report the same day. From £180 plus VAT.
What an electrical safety inspection actually is
The formal name for a home electrical safety inspection is an EICR, Electrical Installation Condition Report. It’s a thorough check of everything in your home that’s permanently wired: the consumer unit (fuse board), the wiring, the sockets, the light fittings, and the switches. Not the appliances, those are covered by PAT testing, but the fixed installation.
Every circuit is isolated and tested individually. Insulation resistance, earth continuity, polarity, and protective device operation are all checked against BS 7671, the current electrical safety standard. The results go into a written report that tells you what was found, what it means, and what (if anything) needs doing.
Think of it like the MOT your home’s electrics never had to have. Most homes go decades without one. Most of the time that’s fine. Occasionally it’s not, and the point of an inspection is to find out which category you’re in before something goes wrong.
When to get an electrical safety inspection
The wiring in most older properties is still functional, but functional isn’t the same as safe by current standards. Older installations often lack RCD protection, have deteriorating insulation, or contain components that are now considered inadequate.
A homebuyer’s survey can note concerns but can’t test circuits. An EICR tells you exactly what you’re buying. If there are problems, you know before you’ve committed, including what they’d cost to fix.
Flickering lights. Breakers that trip without obvious cause. A burning smell you can’t trace. Sockets that feel warm or are discoloured. These aren’t always serious, but they’re always worth checking.
You’re legally required to have a valid EICR for every tenanted property, renewed every 5 years. See the landlord hub for full detail.
Before adding circuits or upgrading the consumer unit, knowing the current condition of the installation helps inform the scope. An inspection before a renovation often saves money by identifying problems that would otherwise only emerge during the work.
What you get from an inspection
A written EICR listing every circuit tested and the results for each. Any findings are given a code, C1 (danger present), C2 (potentially dangerous), C3 (improvement recommended), or FI (further investigation). The report concludes with an overall verdict of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory, signed and dated.
Before the report is issued, I walk you through everything I found in plain English. What the codes mean in practice. What needs doing now, what can wait, and what doesn’t need doing at all. You’re never handed a document full of codes with no explanation.
The report is issued digitally the same day. If remedial work is needed, you receive a separate written estimate, no commitment, no pressure. You can get it done by me, get another quote, or do nothing (for C3 items). The choice is yours.
What it costs
I price by circuit count, not bedrooms, not property size. Every circuit needs to be individually tested, so the number of circuits is what determines how long the job takes. Count the switches on your fuse board to find out how many circuits you have.
Price includes full inspection, all testing, and written report. No extras. Remedial work estimated separately, no commitment required.
For more detail on the inspection process, see the full EICR page →
Related guides and services
Electrical safety guide, the warning signs to watch for between inspections
EICR guide, the codes explained and what gets tested
Landlord hub, the legal inspection duties for rented property
Common questions
What are the signs I might need an electrical safety inspection?
Signs worth acting on: flickering lights for no apparent reason, circuit breakers that trip repeatedly, buzzing or crackling sounds from sockets or switches, scorch marks on sockets or fittings, a burning smell that can't be traced to an appliance, or an installation that's never been inspected and is more than 25 years old. You don't need visible problems to justify an inspection, electrical faults often develop silently.
How much does an electrical safety inspection cost in York?
At Bright Sparks of York, electrical safety inspections (EICRs) are priced by circuit count: £180 plus VAT for a board of up to six circuits, then £15 plus VAT for each circuit above six. A typical 3-bedroom house has around 8 circuits. The price includes the full inspection, all testing, and the written report.
What is an electrical safety inspection?
An electrical safety inspection is a formal assessment of the fixed electrical installation, so the wiring, the consumer unit, the sockets, switches and light fittings. Its proper name is an Electrical Installation Condition Report, or EICR. Every circuit is tested against the wiring regulations current at the time of the inspection, and you get a written report of what was found.
How often should I have an electrical safety inspection?
For owner-occupied homes, every 10 years is the standard recommendation. For rental properties, every 5 years is a legal requirement. A newly purchased property, particularly one over 25 years old without recent inspection records, is always worth having checked.
Book an electrical safety inspection in York
Tell me about the property and I’ll confirm the circuit count and price. Most inspections take 2–3 hours.