Business premises
Commercial EICR in Chesterfield and north Derbyshire
Commercial EICR, also called fixed wire testing, is electrical test and inspection of your building's fixed installation. Most pages say the law requires it every five years, or every three for an office. It does not. The Electricity at Work Regulations require you to maintain the installation so it does not become dangerous, and to decide, record and review how often it is checked.
No interval is fixed in law. Recommended maximums come from BS 7671 guidance, not statute.
Where is the property?
The postcode tells us whether we cover you.
What you are getting
Fixed wire testing law: maintenance, not an interval
Maintain the installation so it does not become dangerous
That is the obligation under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. A duty of outcome, not a schedule, which is why it names no interval.
Decide the frequency, and write it down
HSE's position: test often enough that deterioration is unlikely to lead to danger. You decide, record it, and adjust as faults appear.
Recommended maximums come from guidance, not law
BS 7671 gives recommended maximum intervals by premises type. Worth following. Not a legal requirement, whatever you are told.
Insurers and leases often set one anyway
In practice the binding interval is usually contractual: an insurance condition or a repairing clause. Check what yours says before assuming a number.
What you get
A report records circuits, codes and limitations
The verdict is the least useful part. What matters is the schedule of test results behind it, the coded observations, and an honest record of anything the inspection could not reach.
A ticked box and nothing else is a verdict with no working shown. Worth knowing before you accept one, whoever arranged it.
What the law says
Statute sets no commercial inspection interval
The first row is the important one. There is no statutory inspection interval for commercial premises, and a page telling you otherwise is either mistaken or selling you something.
| Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 | Duty to maintain so as to prevent danger. No interval is set. |
|---|---|
| Inspection frequency | Risk-based. The duty holder decides it, records it and reviews it. |
| BS 7671 guidance | Recommended maximum intervals. Guidance, not statute. |
| Insurance or lease conditions | Frequently the interval that actually binds you |
Sources
This describes the law in England. The Welsh and Scottish positions differ, Scotland's repairing standard also covers portable appliances, which the England duty on private landlords does not. It is general information, not legal advice. Last checked against the primary sources on 27 August 2026.
How it works
Fixed wire testing needs planned isolation
Fixed wire testing means planned isolation, and isolation means downtime. Scheduling is usually harder than the electrical work.
Tell us the premises and the constraint
Premises type, rough board count, single or three phase, and when you can be without power. That last answer shapes everything else.
We match an electrical compliance specialist to the installation
A small trade unit and a multi-board industrial installation are not the same job, and the inspection is scoped accordingly.
Isolation is planned, sometimes in phases
Larger installations are often done over several visits so no shutdown takes the whole site. Agree that up front, not on the day.
Report, schedule and a recommended interval
The report carries a recommended next date. That is a better basis for your risk decision than any rule of thumb.
Areas covered
We cover eight towns across north Derbyshire
Chesterfield's trade and industrial units, and the commercial premises around junction 28 at South Normanton.
Do we cover your postcode?
Type the first part, like S40 or DE45. No need for the whole thing.
Outside those eight? What an EICR costs and covers across Derbyshire.
Standards
The standards every inspection is carried out to
An EICR is only as good as the person signing it. Every inspection here is carried out to these standards, and each one is checked against the issuing body's own register rather than taken on trust.
Qualified to inspect, not just to install
Inspecting an existing installation is a separate qualification from wiring a new one. A good installer is not automatically the right person to sign a report.
Registered with a competent person scheme
Checked on the scheme's own public register, not a badge on a website.
Public liability insurance, in date
We check the certificate and the expiry date, not just that one exists. A lapsed policy is the most common reason to turn someone away.
You get the test results
Not just a pass or fail. The report lists each circuit and the readings taken, which is the part worth checking.
Working to the current standard
BS 7671 as amended in 2026. That amendment changed which findings make a report unsatisfactory, and not everyone has caught up.
Reviews you can read
Not a star rating with no detail behind it. We publish no figure of our own, because we have none to publish yet.
Scheme registration and insurance details come with your quote, so you can check them against the public register yourself. How we choose electricians sets out every check, including what gets someone turned away.
Next step
Arrange commercial fixed wire testing
Premises type, board count, and when you can be without power. If your insurer has set an interval, say what it is.
Questions
Commercial EICR and fixed wire testing questions
Is commercial EICR or fixed wire testing a legal requirement every five years?
No, and this is worth being clear about because it is stated as fact almost everywhere. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require you to maintain the installation so it does not become dangerous. They set no interval. Recommended maximum intervals come from BS 7671 guidance.
Then how often should we have one?
HSE's position is that testing should be often enough that there is little chance of deterioration leading to danger, with the frequency decided, recorded, and adjusted according to the faults found. The report on your installation will carry a recommended next date, which is a better starting point than a general figure.
Our insurer asks for a current certificate. Does that change things?
It changes what binds you in practice. An insurance condition or a repairing clause in a lease is a contractual obligation rather than a statutory one, but it is no less real. Check what yours actually says rather than assuming a number.
Is this the same as PAT testing?
No. This covers the fixed installation: the wiring, the boards, the fixed equipment. In-service testing of portable appliances is a separate exercise answering a different question.
We let commercial units out. Does the landlord duty apply?
The five-yearly statutory duty applies to rented dwellings, not to commercial lettings. Your obligations as a commercial landlord come from the lease and from the general duty to maintain, which is a different analysis.
Get a quote
Commercial enquiry
Premises type, roughly how many distribution boards, single or three phase, and when you can be without power.
- No cost, and no obligation to book anything
- We come back with a date or a question, not a sales call
- A fixed price for the work described, in writing
Would rather talk it through? Leave a number in the form and say so in the details, and we will ring you rather than emailing back.
Other situations
The same inspection carries different duties
The inspection itself is the same job in every case. What changes is whether the law says you have to have one.
Landlord EICR
The electrical landlord certificate every privately rented home in England must hold, renewed every five years.
Read moreSocial landlord EICR
Extended to registered providers in 2025. First inspection due before 1 November 2026 for existing tenancies.
Read moreHomeowner EICR
No legal requirement if you own and live in your home. Useful when buying, selling, insuring, or when the board keeps tripping.
Read moreHMO EICR
The five-yearly duty applies as it does to any rented home. A licensed HMO also has a licensing authority taking an interest.
Read moreLetting agent EICR
Managed portfolios, staggered renewal dates, one point of contact.
Read more