Two different things
An EICR covers fixed wiring, PAT covers plug-in appliances
They answer different questions about different equipment, and only one of them is a duty on a private landlord in England.
The England and Scotland positions genuinely differ. This page says which is which.
Arrange an EICR
Three questions and a postcode. We match you to a qualified local electrician.
The dividing line is how it is connected
If it is wired into the building it is part of the fixed installation and an EICR covers it. That includes a cooker, a shower and an immersion heater, none of which anyone would call portable.
If it plugs into a socket, it is an appliance, and in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment is the exercise that covers it. PAT is the common name.
What England requires of a private landlord
The fixed installation, inspected and tested at intervals of no more than five years. There is no duty on a private landlord in England to have plug-in appliances tested.
That does not mean appliances you supply are outside the law generally. It means the electrical safety regulations that create the five-yearly EICR duty do not cover them.
Scotland is where the confusion starts
Under the Repairing Standard, a landlord in Scotland must have both periodic inspection and testing of the installation and in-service inspection and testing of appliances carried out before first letting and then at intervals of no more than five years.
So a Scottish landlord genuinely does need both, and a good deal of advice written for a UK-wide audience carries that requirement across the border where it does not apply.
Social housing in England adds an equipment duty
The 2025 extension to registered providers created a duty to check electrical equipment the provider supplies, which private landlords in England do not have. It is the clearest difference between the two regimes.
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.
Who does the work
Every electrician clears six checks
We do not carry out the inspection. We put you in touch with an electrician who does. An EICR is worth what the person signing it is worth, so these checks are the product. Each is verified against the issuing body's own register, not taken from a logo.
Competent to inspect and test
Inspection and testing carries its own qualification. 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.
Reports that carry their schedule
We look at an electrician's reports before sending them a job. The schedule of results is the part worth checking.
Working to the current standard
BS 7671 as currently amended. The 2026 amendment changed what makes a report unsatisfactory, and not everyone has caught up.
A public record worth reading
We read what previous customers wrote instead of counting stars. We publish no figure of our own, because we have none.
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
Send your postcode and get a real quote
If your current report has months left, that is what you will be told.
Questions
EICR vs PAT questions
Do I need PAT testing as a landlord in England?
Not under the electrical safety regulations that create the EICR duty. Those cover the fixed installation. Whether you should test appliances you supply is a separate judgement.
Is an integrated oven covered by the EICR?
If it is wired into the installation rather than plugged in, yes, it forms part of the fixed installation.
I let property in both England and Scotland. Do the same rules apply?
No, and this is the most common place people get caught out. Scotland's repairing standard includes appliance testing; the England regulations do not.
Get a quote
Arrange an EICR
Five fields. We reply with either a fixed price or the one thing we still need to know.
- No cost, and no obligation to book anything
- Your details are never sold on or passed around
- 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.