Does a listed building need an EICR if it is let?

Yes. Listed status does not exempt a let from the electrical safety regulations, though remedial work may need planning around the building's protection.

Windsor, Berkshire

Landlord EICRs in Windsor: the five-year rule, locally

Windsor's rental homes include flats above shops, Victorian terraces and listed buildings, and every covered let needs an EICR at least every five years.

What is different in Windsor

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is the local housing authority for Windsor and the council that enforces the 2020 regulations here. It can require copies of reports and remedial work, and issue penalties of up to £30,000.

Many central Windsor flats sit above shops or in converted period buildings. The flat's installation may share a supply with the commercial premises below, and older conversions can have meters and consumer units in a shared hallway or basement. Make sure the inspector can reach everything that serves your flat.

In listed buildings, any remedial work an EICR asks for may need care over where cables and new fittings go. Listed building consent can apply to alterations, so plan remedial work early rather than leaving it to the end of the 28-day window.

Local housing authority: Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (opens in a new tab)

The rule, in brief

If you let a home in England on a tenancy covered by the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, the fixed wiring must be inspected and tested by a qualified and competent person at least every five years. The result is an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Existing tenants get a copy within 28 days of the inspection, new tenants before they move in, and the council within 7 days if it asks for one. Owner-occupiers have no legal duty, but Electrical Safety First recommends an inspection at least every ten years, and whenever you buy a home.

Source: Electrical Safety First (opens in a new tab) / GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)

When do you need an EICR? — the full answer

Related safety advice

Signs your consumer unit needs replacing

A consumer unit, or fuse box, is worth having checked by a registered electrician if it still has rewirable fuses, has no RCD protection, shows scorch marks, smells of burning, crackles, feels hot, or trips repeatedly. Age on its own is not proof it is unsafe: an EICR is how you find out whether it needs replacing. Replacing one is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations in England, so it is a job for a registered electrician rather than a DIY one.

Source: Electrical Safety First (opens in a new tab)

What Part P means for your electrical job

Part P of the Building Regulations covers electrical safety in homes in England. All electrical work has to meet it, but only some jobs are notifiable: installing a new circuit, replacing a consumer unit, and adding to or altering circuits in a special location such as a room with a bath or shower. Notifiable work is either done by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, who certifies it and notifies building control, or notified to the council's building control before it starts.