Fixed wire testing and periodic inspection for offices, shops and commercial premises
A commercial EICR, sometimes called fixed wire testing or a periodic inspection, tests the same fixed wiring an EICR always tests, against the same BS 7671 standard and the same C1, C2, C3 and FI codes. What differs is scale and interval. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 place a duty on the employer or person in control of a workplace to maintain the electrical system to prevent danger, and the interval that satisfies that duty depends on how the premises is used rather than a fixed number in a rulebook. An office is often inspected every five years; a retail unit, restaurant kitchen or industrial unit more frequently. The electrician sets and records the interval that fits your premises on the report itself.
Open-plan floors, meeting rooms and server or comms cabinets, tested with minimal disruption to the working day.
Shopfronts, till points, stockrooms and any refrigeration or display circuits, scheduled around trading hours where possible.
Kitchen equipment, extraction and front-of-house circuits inspected together, since a commercial kitchen carries most of a premises’ electrical load.
Three-phase supplies, racking lighting, loading bay and plant circuits, covered as part of the same visit as the office or welfare areas.
A licensed HMO usually needs an EICR to satisfy the local authority, in addition to the standard 5-year landlord requirement. See our landlord page for the wider compliance picture.
Commercial insurers commonly require a current EICR as a condition of cover, and a claim involving fire or an electrical fault is where its absence becomes expensive. If you hold a commercial lease, check who the obligation actually falls on before you book: many leases put responsibility for the electrical installation on the tenant even though the landlord owns the building, and it is common for neither party to have arranged an inspection because each assumed the other had.
All our electricians are certified, insured, and comply with UK safety regulations