Buying a place and the EICR came back "unsatisfactory"... what it really means (and how to use it)

You've done the sensible thing and had an EICR carried out on the place you're buying, and it's landed back stamped in capital letters: UNSATISFACTORY. If your stomach dropped, that's fair enough. It's a horrible word to see on a house you're about to spend a fortune on.

So let me talk you down from a buyer's seat, because in most cases it means a good deal less than it sounds... and used properly, it's one of the most useful bits of paper you'll get in the whole purchase.

"Unsatisfactory" is a grading, not a death sentence

An EICR, Electrical Installation Condition Report, is a survey of the existing wiring, tested against BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations. At the end the inspector gives the whole installation one of two overall grades: Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. There's no "72%, could be worse". It's binary.

And here's the thing that catches everyone out: a single serious observation anywhere in the property tips the entire report to Unsatisfactory, no matter how much of the rest is perfectly fine. A house can be ninety-odd per cent sound and still "fail". So "unsatisfactory" isn't the inspector saying the place is a death trap. It's saying: at least one thing here needs attention. Your job (and mine, if you want a hand reading it) is to work out whether that's a half-hour fix or a proper piece of work.

The four codes, decoded

Every issue on the report gets a code. There are four, and once you know them the report stops being scary and starts being a to-do list.

C1... danger present. Immediate risk, right now... exposed live parts, that sort of thing. These are rare, and a decent inspector won't leave one live; they'll make it safe on the spot. A C1 fails the report.

C2... potentially dangerous. The workhorse code, and the one that fails most reports. It means something isn't dangerous this second but could become so... no earthing where there should be, a dangerous mix of old and new wiring, that kind of thing. Not an emergency, but genuinely needs putting right. One C2 anywhere = the whole report is Unsatisfactory.

C3... improvement recommended. This is where people over-worry. A C3 means the installation doesn't meet the latest standard but isn't dangerous... it was fine when it was installed and it's fine now. C3s do not fail a report. You can have a page of C3s and still get a Satisfactory. They're nice-to-haves, not must-dos.

FI... further investigation. The inspector found something they couldn't fully get to the bottom of on the day and wants a closer look. It also fails the report, but it's a "let's find out", not a "this is broken".

So when you read the report, go straight to the codes. The C1s and C2s are the real list. C3s are advisory. FIs need a closer look with proper testing before anyone can honestly say what they'll cost.

What actually needs doing

Boil it down: the C1s and C2s are what genuinely needs sorting for the installation to be considered safe and satisfactory. The C3s are the electrician being thorough and telling you where it falls short of the newest rules... worth knowing, worth doing eventually, not worth losing sleep or the sale over.

The other thing worth saying plainly: an unsatisfactory EICR on a house you're buying is a maintenance list, not a reason to walk away. Older homes almost always throw up a C2 or two... it's normal. What you want is a clear idea of what the fixes involve before you decide what to do about the price.

How buyers actually use the report

Here's where that "horrible" certificate earns its keep. A written, coded report from a qualified electrician is evidence... and evidence is exactly what you negotiate with.

You've got three sensible moves, and buyers round here use all of them:

• Ask the seller to fix the C1s and C2s before completion. Cleanest option, though it means trusting their choice of electrician.

• Ask for a price reduction, or a contribution towards the remedials. This is the common one. A report showing real, coded faults is hard for a seller to wave away, and buyers regularly knock a meaningful chunk off on the strength of one... I've seen thousands come off an asking price over an unsatisfactory EICR.

• Get it done yourself after completion. You control who does it and to what standard, and you know it's been done properly because you're the one holding the new certificate.

Whichever you pick, the report is your leverage. Without it you're guessing; with it you're pointing at line items.

Worth having even when your mortgage doesn't ask for one

Quick myth-buster: for a normal residential purchase, your lender almost certainly won't demand an EICR. That's a legal requirement for landlords, not for people buying a home to live in... which leads a lot of buyers to skip it.

I'd get one anyway. You're about to take on the entire electrical installation of a house you've spent an hour or two inside. A homebuyer's survey covers damp and roofs; it barely glances at the wiring. An EICR is the one document that tells you whether you're inheriting a tidy modern setup or a rewire you didn't budget for. Set the cost of a report against the cost of a house and it's the cheapest insurance in the whole process.

One red flag to watch

Here's the one to keep an eye on. If the electrician who inspected the property and marked it unsatisfactory then hands you a hefty quote to put it all right, just pause a moment. Most inspectors are straight as a die. But the person who writes the fault list and the person who prices the fix being one and the same is a setup that can, occasionally, produce a longer list than the house strictly needs.

You are completely entitled to a second opinion, and any electrician worth hiring won't be remotely offended. I'm certainly not, when it's one of my reports someone's double-checking... a good EICR stands up fine to another qualified pair of eyes. Get the remedials quoted separately, ideally by whoever you're actually going to trust with the work.

The classic round here is Elizabeth-line first-time buyers taking on 1930s semis in Slough and Maidenhead... lovely, solid houses, but plenty of them still on wiring and boards from decades ago. An unsatisfactory EICR on one of those is almost to be expected, and it's nearly always a manageable list once you separate the genuine C2s from the C3 wish-list.

If you've got a report in front of you and you can't tell the death traps from the nice-to-haves, send it over. I'll read it through with you, tell you straight what genuinely needs doing, and give you a free, no-obligation quote for anything that does... no pressure, and no padding.