Residential Electrical Testing in NR4

Residential testing means an EICR on a home, with the whole installation checked rather than a sample of it.

People book one for practical reasons. Buying or selling. A lender or insurer asking for it. Before a new kitchen or an extension. After inheriting a previous owner's DIY. Before letting the property out. Or simply not knowing when the last one was done.

The report puts a code against anything it finds, and this is the part that catches people out. C1 means danger is present and it gets made safe before we leave. C2 means potentially dangerous and needs putting right. C3 is a suggestion you can take or leave. A single C1 or C2 makes the whole report unsatisfactory, which is the line a lender or letting agent reads.

Older Norfolk and Suffolk housing throws up the same finds over and over. A gas or water pipe being used as the earth. Upstairs and downstairs lighting sharing a neutral between them. No RCD protection on the socket you plug the mower into. Those are all C2. Old rewireable fuses worry people more than they should and are often fine as they are, so we will tell you if yours are rather than sell you a board you do not need.

Rural properties usually have their own earth rod instead of an earth supplied through the network. On those the main RCD is carrying more of the safety, so one that fails its test matters more than the same fault would in town.