Inspector holding a property inspection checklist on a clipboard — Four separate duties, three different clocks.

Landlord safety checks in Hornchurch for RM11 and RM12, including Elm Park, Emerson Park and Ardleigh Green. Five-yearly EICRs, smoke and carbon monoxide alarm work, remedial work against an unsatisfactory report, and urgent checks when a tenant reports a fault.

Call 07502 396654 — we answer 24 hours a day.

The deadlines that apply to you

Inspection interval — at least every five years
Report to existing tenants — within 28 days
Report to new tenants — before they occupy
Report to the local authority on request — within seven days
Remedial work after an unsatisfactory report — within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so
Written confirmation of remedials — within 28 days of completion, to tenants and the council

Duty 1 — the five-yearly electrical inspection

Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, every private landlord in England must have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified and competent person, and must act on what the report says.

The output is an EICR. Each observation carries a code: C1 for danger present, C2 for potentially dangerous, C3 for improvement recommended, and FI where something needs further investigation. Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory and starts a 28-day remedial clock. C3 items are advisory and do not.

Enforcement sits with Havering Council, and financial penalties for non-compliance are substantial. The same regime has since been extended into social housing, with existing social tenancies to be inspected by 1 November 2026.

Duty 2 — smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Ceiling-mounted smoke alarm — One alarm per storey, tested and confirmed working on day one of every tenancy.

A separate set of regulations, and one landlords routinely forget because it is not part of the EICR. At least one smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation. A carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation containing a fixed combustion appliance — gas boilers included, gas cookers excluded.

Alarms must be tested and confirmed working on the first day of every new tenancy, and repaired or replaced when a tenant reports a fault. Hard-wired interlinked alarms are not mandatory in the private rented sector, but they are what we recommend — battery units in rented property have a well-documented habit of losing their batteries.

Duty 3 — appliances you supply

The EICR covers fixed wiring only. Anything you provide with the property — washing machine, fridge, kettle in a furnished let — sits outside it, and you remain responsible for its safety.

There is no statutory testing interval for portable appliances in a private let, contrary to a lot of confident advice online. What exists is a general duty to ensure the equipment you supply is safe. Most landlords handle this with a visual inspection at each change of tenancy and formal testing of anything with a mains lead in an HMO, where the risk profile and licensing conditions are both higher.

Duty 4 — urgent electrical safety checks

A tenant reporting a socket that sparks, a breaker that will not stay on, or a burning smell is putting you on notice. From that moment, a delay is a decision.

Treat these as same-day rather than next-week: a burning smell from the consumer unit or a socket; scorch marks around a plug; a breaker that trips the moment a circuit is energised; any report of a shock from an appliance, tap or radiator; water reaching any electrical fitting. Our Hornchurch call-out covers all of them, 24 hours a day.

What tends to fail in Hornchurch

Electrician inspecting a residential fuse box — Interwar housing, wired before residual current protection existed.

The interwar housing that dominates the area was wired before residual current protection existed, and much of it still runs on a board fitted in the 1990s or early 2000s. That produces a predictable failure list: no RCD protection on socket circuits (C2), main protective bonding missing or undersized (C2), undersized meter tails, and — in converted properties — circuits that cannot be traced from the board, which returns FI and fails the report until somebody finds the cable.

The useful consequence is that remedial work usually converges on one visit, because RCD protection, bonding and tails all live at the same end of the installation. We quote remedials as a package against the report rather than piecemeal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an EICR for a short tenancy?

Yes. The five-yearly requirement applies to private rented property in England regardless of tenancy length, and a copy must be supplied to tenants.

My report is unsatisfactory. How long do I have?

28 days from the report, or sooner where the report specifies — which C1 items invariably do. Written confirmation of completion then goes to your tenants and the council.

Can you do the inspection and the remedial work?

Yes, and we quote the two separately so the inspection stays honest and you can compare the remedial price elsewhere if you want to.

When is the best time to book?

Between tenancies. Access is easier, the power can be off as long as testing needs, and anything found can be fixed before someone moves in. An unsatisfactory report three days before a move-in date is the expensive version of the same job.