Electrical testing of communal areas.
In short
No law sets a fixed interval for testing the electrical installation in a block's common parts, but the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require installations that people work on or near to be maintained so as to prevent danger, and insurers and fire risk assessors expect a current report. The usual answer is an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) every five years, or sooner if the last report recommends it.
How often does a communal EICR need doing?
Follow the interval written on the last report, which for a block's landlord supply is most often five years. Bring it forward after alterations, damage, a flood, or a report that recommended a shorter interval.
What do the codes on an EICR mean?
C1 means danger is present and needs immediate action. C2 means potentially dangerous and needs urgent action. FI means further investigation is needed without delay. C3 means improvement is recommended. A report with any C1, C2 or FI is unsatisfactory.
Is this the same as the five-year test for rented flats?
No. The Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 require the landlord of a rented flat to have the installation inside that flat tested at least every five years. That duty belongs to each flat's landlord, not to the freeholder or the management company, and covers the flat rather than the common parts.
What else sits alongside the EICR?
Emergency lighting is usually tested monthly with a short functional test and annually with a full-duration test, and the fire alarm system, where there is one, is serviced by a competent engineer, commonly every six months. Each needs its own record.
Where Servanda comes in
Servanda dates the report when it is dropped in, puts the next test on the register, and turns every C1, C2 and FI into an action with a due date so an unsatisfactory report cannot sit quietly in a folder.
Everything Servanda doesThe law
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
- Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
The legislation is the authority; this page is a plain summary for England, checked on 2026-10-23. Wales and Scotland have their own rules. Take advice on any particular building.