An EICR checklist is the set of notes an electrician keeps while carrying out a periodic inspection and test: what the client asked for, what could and could not be reached, what the intake and the boards look like, what each circuit measured, and how every defect was coded. This template is that field record. It is not an Electrical Installation Condition Report — the formal report must still be issued by a qualified person on the model form their registration scheme provides. What this gives you is a tidy, photographed, dated record to write it from. Fill it in here and download the PDF without an account, or speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
A field record, not the certificate
The formal condition report has a set structure, and the electrician's scheme supplies the form — paper, software or both. Clients, letting agents and insurers expect to see that form, signed by the person who did the work and, where the scheme requires it, reviewed by a qualified supervisor. Nothing on a third-party checklist can stand in for it, and this one does not try to.
What usually goes wrong is not the form but the notes behind it. Readings scribbled on the back of a job sheet, a board photographed without its label, a limitation agreed on the doorstep and never written down. This checklist keeps all of that in one place, in the order you work, so writing up the formal report becomes copying, not remembering.
Agree the extent and the limits before you start
Most disputes about a condition report are disputes about scope. Did it cover the garage? The outbuilding supply? The loft that was boarded over? How much of the accessories were opened up? The first section records why the client wants the report, which parts of the installation it covers, how much sampling you agreed, and what you could not do on the day and why.
Write limitations as they happen. A locked room, a tenant who would not allow a power-down, a board you could not safely open — note it with a reason and, where it helps, a photo. A limitation that is written down protects you; one that is only remembered does not.
Readings typed as you take them
For each circuit, the form asks for the protective device, the cable, and the readings you took: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance, and the RCD trip time where one protects it. It does not calculate a pass or fail. The right limit depends on the device type and rating, the cable, the temperature correction and the tables you work from, and that judgement is yours.
So each circuit ends with one plain question you answer yourself: within limits for this circuit? If the answer is no, raise an observation with its code, so the defect appears once, in the list the client will actually read.
Coding observations
The four codes most electricians in the UK use are C1 for danger present, C2 for potentially dangerous, C3 for improvement recommended, and FI where something needs further investigation before it can be coded. Each observation here records what you found, where, its code, any regulation you want to cite, whether it was made safe on the day, and a photo.
C1 and C2 appear in the report's findings as safety items, FI as a repair item and C3 as one to monitor. By the usual convention any C1, C2 or FI makes the installation unsatisfactory overall; the form reminds you of that, but leaves the overall answer to you.
Who this suits
Domestic and commercial electricians who carry out periodic inspections for landlords, homeowners, buyers and businesses, and contractors who want every engineer's site notes to look the same. Landlords in England must have the electrical installation in a let home inspected and tested at least every five years; the notes for that inspection are exactly what this form is for.
Common questions
Is this an EICR?
No. It is the electrician's working record behind one. The formal Electrical Installation Condition Report must be issued by a qualified person on their own scheme's model form. Use this to collect the information, then write the report up on that form.
Does the form work out whether a reading passes?
No. Readings are typed as measured. Limits depend on the device, the cable and the tables you use, so each circuit has a yes or no you answer yourself: within limits for this circuit?
What do C1, C2, C3 and FI mean?
C1 means danger is present and needs action straight away. C2 means potentially dangerous and needs urgent remedial work. C3 means an improvement is recommended. FI means something needs further investigation before it can be properly coded.
Can a landlord use this to check their own property?
Not in place of an electrician. The inspection and testing must be done by a qualified and competent person. A landlord checking a home between inspections should use a visual walk-round form instead, such as a landlord inspection.
How should limitations be recorded?
In the first section, before testing, write what was agreed with the client and why. During the job, add anything you could not reach, open or power down, with the reason. Both carry through to the PDF.