How to price and invoice an EICR as a UK electrician

The short answer

Price an EICR around the installation, likely inspection and testing time, access, reporting and your business costs. Confirm the scope before booking, invoice the agreed customer with the property reference, and quote remedial work separately. For landlords in England, check GOV.UK’s electrical safety guidance rather than promising a guaranteed pass.

*By Kamal Leadbitter, Founder. Last reviewed November 2026.*

What is the customer paying for with an EICR?

An Electrical Installation Condition Report records the outcome of inspecting and testing an existing installation. The customer is paying for professional assessment and a properly completed report, not for a predetermined satisfactory result. Make that distinction at quotation stage, before price becomes the only topic.

An EICR is not interchangeable with an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate. Those documents relate to particular installation work. Ask what the customer actually needs rather than accepting “electrical certificate” as a complete instruction.

My approach to clear invoicing is straightforward: describe the work you have agreed to do, then charge for delivering that work. An inspection can be completed professionally even when it reveals problems. Your quote should explain that remedial work is not automatically included.

Avoid language such as “pass certificate included” or “landlord certificate guaranteed”. It can create pressure to deliver a particular outcome and confusion about the fee. The condition of the installation determines the findings; your pricing should allow the time needed to assess and record them properly.

What information should you collect before pricing?

Start with the property address and use, then build a picture of the installation. Bedrooms alone are a weak pricing measure. Two properties of similar size can have very different circuit counts, distribution arrangements and access difficulties.

Ask for relevant photographs and any previous report, while making clear that remote information cannot confirm the actual condition. Useful questions include:

• How many consumer units or distribution boards are present?
• Is the circuit schedule available and reasonably legible?
• What is known about extensions, alterations and outbuildings?
• Is the property occupied, vacant or operating as a workplace?
• Who will arrange keys, access and any necessary shutdown?
• Are there known faults, unusual equipment or previous limitations?
• Who is ordering the work and who will pay the invoice?

Do not treat a previous satisfactory report as proof that this visit will be quick. It can help planning, but the current inspection still requires professional judgement. Equally, a poor photograph should prompt a question, not an unsupported diagnosis or a conveniently larger fee.

If the information is too uncertain for a responsible fixed price, offer a survey or a clearly defined pricing basis. Explain what will trigger a revised quotation. That is more useful than a cheap headline followed by vague extras on the day.

How do you turn the likely time into an EICR price?

Build the price from the whole assignment, not just time with test equipment in hand. Include travel, safe preparation, inspection and testing, recording results, report preparation, checking and delivery. Allow for communication with the person who commissioned the work.

Your internal calculation can use this structure:

Work out a recoverable hourly or daily rate from your annual business costs, realistic billable time and required profit. Then apply it to the estimated assignment. Counting every working hour as billable will usually understate the rate you need.

For illustration, if you allow separate blocks for site work, reporting and travel, multiply each by the appropriate internal cost rate and add direct expenses. This is a calculation method, not a market rate recommendation. Your own records should tell you whether those time allowances are realistic.

Review completed jobs regularly. Compare estimated hours with actual hours, including the report written later. If apparently profitable inspections repeatedly create unpaid evening administration, adjust your estimating method rather than assuming you simply need to work faster.

How should you describe scope, access and limitations?

Write down what premises and installation the inspection covers. Identify relevant boards, additional buildings and any agreed exclusions. A generic “EICR at property” line is often too thin when a site has several supplies or separate units.

Explain the access needed and the likely disruption from testing. Ask the landlord or agent to coordinate with the occupier rather than assuming someone will be available. Agree how sensitive equipment, alarms or business operations will be managed within safe working arrangements.

Separate a pricing assumption from an inspection limitation. “Price based on one consumer unit and the circuit information supplied” explains your estimate. A recorded limitation explains something that could not be inspected or tested. Neither should become a blanket excuse for an inadequate assessment.

If the actual installation differs materially, stop and explain the pricing consequence before doing chargeable additional work where practicable. Record who approved it. If access prevents completion, follow your agreed revisit arrangements rather than presenting an unexpected second fee later.

What do landlords in England need to know?

The GOV.UK guidance applies to England and explains the electrical safety standards regulations for the private and social rented sectors. Landlords within scope must arrange inspection and testing by a qualified person at least every five years, or sooner where the report requires it. Check scope and exemptions for the actual tenancy. 1

The guidance says landlords must obtain the report and provide it to existing tenants within 28 days of inspection and testing. New tenants should receive it before occupation; prospective tenants can request it in writing and must receive it within 28 days. A local authority request has a shorter seven-day deadline.

Where the report requires remedial work or further investigation, the landlord must ensure it is completed within 28 days, or within a shorter period specified in the report. Written confirmation and the report must then be supplied as the guidance requires. Do not describe every observation as automatically carrying the same remedial duty.

The guidance explains that C1, C2 and FI findings require action; C3 indicates improvement is recommended rather than making the report unsatisfactory on that basis alone. Follow professional assessment and the report requirements, rather than turning classification into a pricing shortcut.

Do not apply England’s rules to the whole UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements. For social housing, check the guidance’s commencement and transitional provisions as well. A landlord asking for a “five-year certificate” still needs the correct advice for the property and tenancy concerned.

Why should remedial work be a separate quote?

Keeping the inspection fee separate protects clarity. The inspection establishes findings; a remedial quotation sets out proposed work, cost and scope. The customer can see what they have already purchased and what now needs authorisation.

Reference the report and relevant observations in the remedial quote. Describe the proposed remedy, any further investigation, access needs and what documents will follow. Avoid promising a final price for an unknown fault before the investigation has established what is involved.

If an urgent danger is identified, deal with immediate safety needs appropriately and communicate promptly. Administrative preferences must not delay necessary safety action. Record what was found, what action was taken and what further work needs approval, within your professional responsibilities.

Agree any return-visit charge, retesting and documentation separately where they are not included. Do not suggest that paying the remedial invoice automatically converts an earlier report into a satisfactory one. The appropriate reporting or certification depends on the work and the evidence.

How should you invoice a landlord or managing agent?

Confirm the contracting customer before the appointment. The person arranging keys may not be the person responsible for payment. An agent may act for a named landlord, or it may commission work under its own contract. Do not assume either arrangement.

Collect the legal billing name, address, accounts email and purchase order if required. Record the property address separately, particularly where one landlord owns several homes. Agree payment terms before attendance instead of discovering an agency’s invoice process after sending the bill.

A useful invoice description is: “Electrical Installation Condition Report: inspection, testing and reporting at [property], attended [date], report reference [reference], as agreed quotation [reference].” Add approved extras as separate lines with their authorisation reference, rather than folding them into an unexplained total.

Include the normal invoice identifiers, dates, description, amounts and payment information. Use the correct VAT details if registered. GOV.UK’s invoicing guidance explains required invoice information; check business-type and VAT requirements rather than relying on a bare payment request. 1

Do not mix the tenant’s contact details with the debtor’s identity. The occupier may need access information and the report through the landlord’s process, while accounts staff need a bill they can match to an authorised instruction.

What workflow keeps reports and payments from getting muddled?

Use one job reference across the quote, booking, report, remedial quotation and invoice. Keep the documents distinct, but make them easy to connect. A report number helps the customer identify the technical document without turning the invoice into the report itself.

Before sending, check the recipient, property address, purchase order, VAT treatment and due date. Confirm whether the inspection fee includes reporting, and make sure the invoice reflects that scope. Avoid charging for the report again if it was already part of the accepted inspection price.

Issue professional documentation promptly through an agreed secure route. Do not build a process that obstructs the landlord’s statutory duties while an invoice query is being resolved. Clear payment terms and accurate billing are a better foundation than treating safety paperwork as a bargaining tool.

For repeat agent work, review the administrative effort as part of profitability. Key collection, portal uploads and multiple approval stages all take time. Agree a workable process at the start and price the real assignment, rather than assuming every repeat booking will be simple.

Frequently asked questions

Should an EICR price be based only on bedroom count?

No. Bedrooms may help describe a property, but circuit count, installation complexity, access, condition and reporting effort are more useful pricing factors. Gather enough information to estimate the work and explain any assumptions before confirming the booking.

Does the EICR fee include fixing faults?

Only if the agreed scope expressly includes particular work. Normally, inspection and reporting are priced separately from remedial work. Explain this beforehand and issue a clear remedial quotation referencing the findings, while dealing appropriately with any immediate safety issue.

Can I guarantee a satisfactory EICR for a fixed fee?

No. A fixed fee can cover an agreed inspection scope, but the findings depend on the installation. Avoid selling a guaranteed pass. Explain that any necessary investigation or remedial work will be discussed and authorised separately from the inspection price.

Who should receive the invoice when an agent books the visit?

Invoice the customer responsible under your agreement, which may be the agent or the landlord. Confirm that identity, purchase order and accounts address before attending. Keep the inspected property address visible so the invoice can be matched to the correct instruction.

Is an EICR always valid for five years in England?

No. The guidance requires inspections at intervals of no more than five years for tenancies within scope, but a report can specify a shorter interval. Remedial findings can also require action much sooner. Read the actual report and relevant landlord guidance.

What should you do next?

Make the scope, payment stages and balance easy to understand before work starts. Try SaidToPaid free and use the free sector resource pack to put a clearer quoting and invoicing routine in place.

Sources and photograph

• GOV.UK: electrical safety standards guidance for England
• GOV.UK: what invoices must include

Illustrative photograph by Toolmash Expo on Unsplash, not a SaidToPaid customer case study.