EICR in Kingswells, the electrical safety report the oil boom estates are now due.

An Electrical Installation Condition Report is the formal assessment of all fixed electrical wiring in a property, checked against the current wiring regulations, BS 7671. It covers the consumer unit, every circuit, every accessory, the earthing and bonding, and the protective devices. The report records the condition on the day and gives a clear outcome, Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.

It is sometimes called a periodic inspection or an electrical safety certificate. They are the same document. What an EICR is not is a PAT test. PAT covers plug in appliances, while the EICR covers the fixed installation. In a Scottish rental, the law actually requires both, which we explain just below.

For a typical Kingswells three bedroom estate home, the inspection takes two to four hours. The inspector needs brief access to every room and to the consumer unit, and the supply is interrupted briefly on each circuit during testing.

Every issue an inspector finds is given a code. The codes decide the overall outcome and how urgently anything needs putting right. On Kingswells estate homes the codes that come up most are C2 and C3, because original consumer units and first fixed wiring are simply showing their age rather than presenting live danger.

• C1, danger present. An immediate risk of injury. Examples are exposed live parts or missing earthing. This needs making safe straight away and triggers an Unsatisfactory outcome.
• C2, potentially dangerous. A defect that could become dangerous under fault conditions, such as missing main bonding or no RCD on a circuit serving a wet area. Triggers an Unsatisfactory outcome.
• C3, improvement recommended. Not currently dangerous, simply below current best practice, such as an older but sound board. A C3 on its own does not fail the report.
• FI, further investigation. The inspector cannot fully assess an item, perhaps an unidentified cable. Triggers an Unsatisfactory outcome until resolved.

A report is Satisfactory only when there are zero C1, zero C2 and zero FI codes. C3 items alone are satisfactory. For a fuller walk through, read our guide on what EICR C1, C2 and C3 codes mean and what to do next.

Kingswells is mostly modern brick and render, not the granite of older Aberdeen, so the patterns differ from a city tenement. The reports here cluster around the age of the estate rather than the building material. The most common findings on 1980s and 1990s stock are these.

• Partial or no RCD protection. Common on the original boards. Coded according to the circuits affected, often a C2 on a rental.
• Split load boards near end of life. Working but ageing units where one fault drops half the house. Frequently a C3, sometimes a C2 with other defects.
• Missing or undersized main bonding. Where gas or water services were altered over the years. Typically a C2.
• Worn accessories. Sockets and switches that have arced or discoloured after decades of use. C2, occasionally C1.
• Unidentified or undocumented circuits. Cables added during past extensions with no clear record. Coded FI until traced.

By contrast, the newer Countesswells and Bellfield View homes usually pass cleanly, with modern boards and full RCBO protection already in place. Many of the above are fixed in a single return visit. The exception is a full consumer unit upgrade, which we quote separately.