No. A London landlord does not have to use the same company that carried out the EICR for the remedial work. Under the electrical safety rules that apply in England, required remedial or further investigative work must be completed by a qualified person within the relevant deadline. The regulations do not require that person to be the original EICR inspector.
The practical decision is therefore about competence, scope, timing and documentation rather than keeping both stages with one company. The original contractor can carry out the work, but a landlord can appoint another suitable contractor provided the findings are understood correctly and the required written confirmation is obtained afterwards.
Does EICR remedial work have to stay with the original company?
The current rules for rented property in England focus on who is competent to complete the required work, not on whether the same business carries out both stages. An EICR identifies the condition of the fixed electrical installation and records observations requiring action. The landlord can then decide who carries out that action.
Using the original EICR company is therefore an option, not an automatic legal requirement. Another suitably qualified person can carry out the further investigation or remedial work, provided they have enough information to identify what the report requires and complete the work correctly.
Landlords arranging the initial inspection can use the dedicated EICR service for the inspection and reporting stage. The EICR itself should remain separate in purpose from any quotation or decision about subsequent repairs.
The contractor can change, but the deadline does not
For rented properties covered by the Electrical Safety Standards regulations in England, a landlord must ensure that required further investigative or remedial work is completed within 28 days of the inspection and testing, or within a shorter period when the report specifies one.
This matters when deciding whether to obtain a second quotation. Comparing contractors can be sensible, particularly where the proposed work is substantial, but the quotation process does not reset the compliance period.
Check the EICR before arranging the work. A report may require action sooner than 28 days. The deadline should therefore be taken from the report and the applicable England regulations rather than from the contractor's normal booking availability.
Current GOV.UK guidance also recognises that legitimate practical constraints can sometimes prevent completion within 28 days. In those circumstances, the landlord should be able to demonstrate that all reasonable steps were taken to comply and should retain clear records of the arrangements and communication.
Check what the EICR actually requires before asking for quotes
Not every observation on an EICR creates the same next step. A C1 identifies danger present, while C2 identifies a potentially dangerous condition. FI means further investigation is required. C3 is an improvement recommendation and does not, by itself, require remedial work for the report to be treated as satisfactory.
The detailed distinction between these classifications belongs in the separate guide to EICR C1, C2, C3 and FI codes. For the purpose of choosing a remedial contractor, the important point is that the quotation should correspond to the actual observations and circuits recorded on the report.
Avoid treating an EICR as a general list of upgrades. The contractor should distinguish work required to address the report from optional improvements or unrelated electrical work that the landlord may also choose to arrange.
When using the original EICR company can make sense
They already know the installation
The original inspector has already inspected and tested the installation and should know where the recorded observations were found. That can reduce the need to explain the report again.
The report and remedial scope can be easier to match
Circuit references, observations and test results are already familiar to the original inspector, which can make it easier to relate the remedial quotation to the EICR findings.
Scheduling may be simpler
Keeping inspection and subsequent work with one contractor can reduce administration where access to a rented property needs to be coordinated with tenants or managing agents.
One contractor can maintain the work record
The original report and subsequent electrical documentation can be easier to track when the same contractor handles both stages, although landlords should retain their own records regardless.
When another contractor may be the better choice
A landlord may reasonably choose another electrician where availability, the scope of work or the quotation makes that appropriate. There is no need to accept remedial work automatically simply because the company carried out the inspection.
A second contractor should receive the complete EICR rather than a brief description of the faults. That gives them the recorded classification, circuit details and inspection context needed to assess the required work.
For larger remedial packages, a written quotation should make it clear which EICR observations are being addressed. If additional work is recommended, it is useful for that work to be identified separately so the landlord can distinguish report-related repairs from optional improvements.
What landlords should check before appointing a remedial contractor
The choice should be based on the contractor's competence for the electrical work involved and their ability to complete the required scope within the available time. The lowest quotation is not particularly useful if it excludes part of the report or cannot be completed before the relevant deadline.
A practical review should include:
- whether the contractor has received and reviewed the full EICR;
- which report observations are included in the quotation;
- whether further investigation is required before a final repair can be specified;
- the planned completion date;
- what inspection, testing and electrical documentation will follow the work;
- whether optional upgrades have been separated from work required by the report.
Where the required repairs are already defined, landlords can arrange planned electrical work for landlords rather than treating the remedial stage as another general condition inspection.
The work is not finished until the landlord has the confirmation
After required remedial or investigative work has been completed, the landlord must obtain written confirmation from a qualified person that the work has been carried out and either that the electrical safety standards are now met or that further work remains necessary.
Current GOV.UK guidance states that acceptable confirmation can include, depending on the work completed, a satisfactory EICR, an Electrical Installation Certificate, a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate or other appropriate electrical certification.
For the rented-property duties covered by the England regulations, the report and written confirmation must then be supplied to the tenant and local council within 28 days of completion of the remedial or further investigative work.
The original inspector does not have to return simply because a different qualified person completed the remedial work. What matters is that the landlord has suitable evidence showing what was done and the resulting electrical safety position.
The separate EICR compliance file checklist for London landlords covers the wider records that are useful to retain before, during and after an inspection.
Do not confuse remedial work with a completely new EICR
Rectifying observations does not automatically mean the whole inspection process has to start again. The appropriate evidence after remedial work depends on what was carried out and what documentation is suitable for that work.
This is one reason the landlord should agree the documentation position before authorising the remedial work. Asking in advance what confirmation will be provided avoids discovering afterwards that the contractor's paperwork does not clearly address the original EICR findings.
If further investigation identifies another defect, the remedial process may continue until the required safety position is reached. The landlord should retain each stage of the evidence rather than keeping only the original unsatisfactory report.
A sensible process for London landlords
- Read the complete EICR and identify the observations requiring action.
- Check whether the report specifies a completion period shorter than 28 days.
- Decide whether to ask the original company or another suitable contractor for the remedial quotation.
- Give any new contractor the full EICR.
- Confirm exactly which report observations the quotation covers.
- Arrange the work without allowing quotation comparisons to push the job beyond the applicable deadline.
- Obtain appropriate written confirmation and electrical documentation after completion.
- Keep the original EICR, remedial records and confirmation together.
- Provide the required documentation to the tenant and local authority within the applicable period.
This keeps the inspection, repair and evidence stages clear even when different contractors are involved.
Official Guidance
The regulatory points in this article relate to rented property in England and were checked against current guidance available at the time of this update.
Need electrical work after an EICR?
If the required work is already identified, the next step is to review the report, define the electrical work needed and arrange completion within the applicable timeframe.
Arrange planned electrical work