You’ve had an Electrical Condition Report carried out, what you need to know.

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, a DECR or Domestic Electrical Condition Report is basically an MOT for the fixed wiring & accessories in your property.

It consists of a variety of different electrical tests and a thorough inspection of your electrical installation with the findings formally recorded in something called a Domestic Electrical Condition Report or DECR for short. It’s often be referred to by other names such as a Landlords Safety Report or a Homebuyers Report but a Domestic Electrical Condition Report is the correct name for it.

What should I receive after the Electrical Condition Report has been carried out?

The basic DECR typically starts as a seven-page report. For larger installations with multiple fuseboards then it will have additional pages. Importantly and regardless of the outcome of the inspection (satisfactory or unsatisfactory) you should receive a copy of the report. We do hear of some electrical contractors withholding the report pending remedial works being carried out- do not accept this. You’ve paid for the report so it should be provided regardless of the outcome of the inspection.

You’ve got the Electrical Condition Report, what’s next?

Firstly have a look at Part 3 on the front page of the report and look specifically for “Overall assessment of the installation”. This will either say “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory”. Above that will be the inspectors comments on the general condition of the installation & is worth a look as it often makes interesting reading and can give a better ‘plain English’ view of the installation than the figures & check boxes that follow later in the report.

If the overall assessment is listed as “satisfactory” then go ahead and breath a sigh of relief, but regardless of the outcome make sure you turn over to Part 6 on page two of the report. This is the section that lists all of the Observations & Recommendations that have been made during the inspection. Even on a satisfactory installation there can be a number of items listed so don’t worry if you see a few observations noted.

Each item will be given a code which indicates the urgency of action required, these range from C1- which is thankfully rare and indicates there is danger present and significant risk of injury.

C2- means potentially dangerous

C3- is improvement recommended

FI- which stands for Further Investigation but is often misread as F1!

If you have any items categorised as C1, C2 or Further Investigation then the outcome of the report cannot be ‘satisfactory’ regardless of how good the rest of the installation is. C3 on the other hand is generally something that doesn’t affect the safety of the installation, more likely it just doesn’t meet the current British Standards (BS7671 wiring Regulations). It’s particularly common if your property was wired to an older version of BS7671.

Depending on the electrical contractor you’ve chosen to do the inspection, the description of the individual observations can be anything from an unintelligible regulation number to a vague description or in an ideal case an accurate & plain English description of the issue and it’s location.

If you’re being uncharitable you could think that vague descriptions are intentionally vague in order to stop other contractors quoting for remedial works  (that’s a subject for a different time).

So you’ve got your list of observations and recommendations, if the outcome shown on page 1 is ‘satisfactory’ then it is up to you whether you choose to have any improvements carried out. If the outcome is ’unsatisfactory’ then you’ll need to get the C1,C2 & FI recommendations dealt with.

Would should I use for electrical remedial works?

The person best suited to giving you a quote for remedial works is the person that carried out the inspection. They’ve already spent a number of hours getting up close and familiar with the installation so at that point they probably know your electrical installation better than anyone else.

Having said that, on occasion we are asked to quote for remedial works where people weren’t comfortable with the company who did the inspection & test or alternatively they just want to get a second opinion on the cost of the remedial works.

Sometimes this is possible and sometimes where the descriptions of the issues on the test report are vague then it’s not. As a worst-case scenario you may need to get the DECR done a second time by a trusted local electrician.

I don’t agree with the some of the issues listed on the electrical condition report, what can I do?

The observations listed on the test report and the corresponding coding may occasionally seem a little harsh, pedantic or just plain wrong. It’s important to know that while the electrician carrying out the inspection (or the company QS) is ultimate responsible for what goes in the test report, they should be carrying out the inspection and reporting and coding using the appropriate guidance documents. They are simply there to report on what they find but it is not their decision what code a particular issue should be given.

If you have any doubts regarding observations or coding of items then in the first instance you should speak to the electrician who carried out the inspection, most will be happy to explain and refer you to the relevant guidance. If all else fails then you could get a second opinion or refer it to the relevant competent person scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, or whoever they are registered with).

For reference Electrical Safety First provide a free to download document titled Best Practice Guide 4 (Electrical Installation Condition Reporting: Classification Codes) which covers many examples of observations and recommendations & their codes.

Hopefully this answers some of your questions. I’m always happy to provide free advice if you do have any further questions so please get in touch by calling 01173039000