What the electrical safety regime requires of registered providers in England after the first round — the five-year cycle, equipment checks, qualified persons, the 28-day rule and remedial work.
The 1 November 2026 deadline gets the attention, but it is only the first cycle of a duty that is now permanent. This is what the electrical safety regime actually requires of registered providers in England once the initial round is behind you.
Electrical installations must be inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person. "At least" is doing real work in that sentence: where an EICR specifies an earlier re-inspection date, that date governs, not the five-year default. A report marked for re-inspection in three years creates a three-year duty.
The interval runs from inspection to inspection, not from tenancy start, and it survives a change of tenant. A property let three times in five years still needs one inspection in that period — but each incoming tenant needs the current report before they move in.
The social sector extension covers both the fixed installation and landlord-supplied electrical equipment. These are separate obligations with separate evidence, and conflating them is the most common gap we see.
| Fixed installation | Relevant electrical equipment | |
|---|---|---|
| What | Wiring, sockets, light fittings, consumer units, permanently connected equipment | Electrical equipment supplied by the landlord under the tenancy |
| Evidence | EICR from a qualified person | Record of the check |
| Cycle | At least every five years | Alongside the installation inspection |
The regulations require the inspection and test to be carried out by a person competent to do so. In practice that means registration with a recognised competent person scheme and the current inspection and testing qualification. Competence is assessed at the point of the work, so a contractor's registration status at the time of instruction is not sufficient evidence on its own — the report needs to show who did the work and on what basis.
These are distribution duties, and they fail independently of the inspection duty. A provider can hold a perfectly valid EICR and still be in breach because it never reached the resident.
Where a report identifies work as required or potentially dangerous, that work must be carried out within 28 days, or within any shorter period the report specifies. Written confirmation that the work is complete then goes to the tenant and, where the authority has asked, to the local housing authority.
This is the clause that turns an inspection programme into a works programme. A first-round inspection sweep across a large portfolio will surface remedial actions at a rate most providers underestimate, each carrying its own 28-day clock from the date of the report — not from the date you got round to reading it.
This regime is England-only. Scotland requires electrical safety inspections at least every five years under the Repairing Standard, with a different evidential framework. Wales operates through the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 fitness requirements. Northern Ireland's position sits under the Housing (NI) Order 1981 fitness standard. Providers operating across borders need the cycle tracked per nation, not per portfolio.
At least every five years, or sooner where the report specifies an earlier re-inspection date. Where a report sets a shorter interval, that interval governs.
Someone competent to carry out the inspection and test, which in practice means registration with a recognised competent person scheme and a current inspection and testing qualification.
Within 28 days of the report, or any shorter period the report specifies, with written confirmation of completion to the tenant.
No. This regime is England-only. Scotland works through the Repairing Standard, Wales through the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, and Northern Ireland through the Housing (NI) Order 1981 fitness standard.
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