One flat gets a report with a single missing RCD and a cracked back box — a morning's work. Another gets a report on the same street, same building type, and it turns out the board needs replacing and half the circuits behind it were done by someone with more confidence than qualification. Same word on the certificate, completely different invoice. This page is about telling the two apart before you agree to anything.
What the law actually asks of you once a report lands
The duty sits with the landlord under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/312), regulation 3. In summary: you must have the installation inspected and tested at intervals of no more than five years (regulation 3(2)(a)), supply a copy of the report to the tenant, usually within 28 days (regulation 3(3)), carry out any remedial or further investigative work the report requires within 28 days or whatever shorter period it specifies (regulation 3(4)), and obtain written confirmation that the work has been completed and give a copy to the tenant (regulation 3(5)).
It is worth being precise here because the two regulations get confused in practice: regulation 4 of the same instrument gives the local housing authority its own power to serve a remedial notice and, if necessary, arrange works itself and recover the cost. That is a council enforcement power, not something a landlord "does." Your obligations end at regulation 3. If you see regulation 4 quoted as a landlord duty, treat it as a red flag that the source hasn't checked the instrument.
None of that tells you what the remedial work actually is — only that you're on a clock to do it. See our guide to EICR landlord requirements in London for the reporting duty itself, and landlord electrical safety standards for how coded observations translate into "must fix" versus "recommended."
Three tiers, and how to tell which one you're in
Almost every unsatisfactory EICR in Central London stock falls into one of three categories. The report's own observation codes are the honest guide, not the age of the building or the rent you charge.
Tier 1 — targeted remedial repairs
A handful of coded items on an otherwise sound installation: a missing bonding connection, a damaged accessory, an unsafe alteration someone made when they fitted a new light. The consumer unit and the bulk of the circuits are fine. This is the cheapest and fastest outcome, and it's what most reports actually recommend — an electrician goes through the list, fixes each item, and issues a satisfactory report or a certificate confirming the remedial work under regulation 3(5).
Tier 2 — consumer unit upgrade
The board itself is the problem: no RCD protection at all, a rewireable-fuse board with no protective devices worth the name, or a plastic enclosure that no longer meets current fire-safety guidance for domestic boards. The circuits leaving the board may be perfectly serviceable. Replacing the consumer unit resolves most of the report's findings in one visit, and it's the single most common "big" fix we see triggered by an EICR in older Central London flats. Our page on fuse board replacement cost in London covers what drives the price up or down.
Tier 3 — full or partial rewire
This is what a report is pointing towards when the findings aren't isolated: cables with old rubber or lead-alloy insulation, no earth continuity to sockets in a room, borrowed neutrals strung between circuits by a previous occupier's DIY, or so many separate C1/C2 items that patching them individually would cost more, and leave more risk, than starting the affected circuits again. It is the least common outcome but the one landlords most fear hearing, and it usually only applies to part of a flat — a kitchen extension, a converted loft — rather than the whole installation. See rewiring a period property in London for how that scope gets decided and sequenced.
Why a consumer unit replacement is rarely a quiet job
If your tier turns out to be a consumer unit upgrade, one thing catches people out: it is notifiable work. Under regulation 12(6A) of the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214), notifiable electrical work in a dwelling covers a new circuit, a consumer unit replacement, or an addition or alteration to an existing circuit located in a "special location" — broadly, the zoned area around a bath or shower (up to about 2.25m high and 0.6m out from the fitting under BS 7671 zoning), not the whole bathroom. A competent registered electrician self-certifies this and notifies building control on your behalf, which is normal practice and shouldn't hold anything up — but it's worth knowing it's happening, because it produces a certificate you'll want filed alongside your EICR, particularly if you sell the flat later. See consumer unit upgrade regulations for the detail on notification and building-control sign-off.
What to ask the electrician before you agree a scope
- Which specific coded observations are driving the recommendation, and can I see them item by item rather than as a total?
- Is this a Tier 1 fix, a consumer unit replacement, or does it extend into rewiring — and what in the report tells you that?
- If it's a consumer unit upgrade, will it be self-certified and notified to building control, and will I get that paperwork?
- If a rewire is proposed, is it the whole flat or specific circuits — and what's the evidence for the boundary?
A report that jumps straight from "unsatisfactory" to "you need a full rewire" without walking through the individual codes is worth a second opinion. Equally, a quote that fixes only the cheapest items and leaves genuine C1/C2 findings untouched doesn't get you to a satisfactory certificate, and you're still exposed under regulation 3(4).
Budgeting sensibly, not precisely
Neither a consumer unit upgrade nor a rewire has an honest fixed price on a page, because the cost depends entirely on what's found once someone opens the board and lifts a few accessories — the same reason our own price list shows electrical work and wiring first and second fix as by quotation, alongside our published call-out for the initial diagnosis (contact us for the current rate). What you can budget for is the process: get the itemised findings, get separate figures for each tier of intervention if more than one is genuinely on the table, and don't let "while we're in there" additions blur the line between what the EICR required and what's simply convenient to do at the same time.
Access, before the diagnosis
Whichever tier you land in, Central London blocks add a layer that suburban houses don't — booking a lift, notifying a porter, and working within a building's permitted hours. That's true whether the visit is a two-hour remedial fix or a two-day consumer unit swap, so it's worth confirming access with the managing agent before a date is fixed, not on the morning.
If you're not sure which tier your report puts you in, send us the coded observations and a photograph of the consumer unit through our quote form or on WhatsApp, and we'll tell you honestly which of the three conversations you're having before any work is booked. For the inspection itself, our EICR cost page explains what the report covers and what it doesn't.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Electrical safety duties and the notifiable-work regime can turn on the specific facts of your tenancy and installation, so confirm your position with a suitably qualified electrician or adviser before relying on it.