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Advice · West Sussex & West Sussex
If you have been told your house needs an electrical safety check, or you have just had a report land in your inbox full of C1s and C2s, it is easy to feel you are being sold something. In reality the process is fairly standardised, and knowing what the tester is looking for makes it much easier to judge what genuinely needs doing. Here is what to expect from a proper inspection on a typical Sussex property.
The formal name is an Electrical Installation Condition Report, or EICR. An electrician works through your fixed wiring: the consumer unit, circuits, sockets, switches, light fittings and any outbuilding supplies. Part of it is visual, checking for damage, overheating, dodgy DIY and missing earthing. The rest is instrument testing, which means switching the power off for a couple of hours while insulation resistance, earth fault loop impedance and RCD trip times are measured.
On a three bedroom semi expect two to four hours on site. Older properties around Chichester, Arundel and the villages often take longer, particularly where a Victorian or Edwardian house has been rewired in stages and circuits run in unpredictable directions. Solid walls, cellars and converted lofts all add time.
Every observation gets a classification, and this is where most confusion starts. The overall report is either satisfactory or unsatisfactory, and a single C1 or C2 is enough to make it unsatisfactory even if everything else is fine.
For an owner occupied home the general guidance is every ten years, or on change of occupancy. It is not a legal requirement, though most insurers and conveyancing solicitors will ask about it if the wiring looks dated.
If you let a property, it is different. Since 2020, private landlords in England must have the fixed wiring inspected at least every five years and give tenants a copy of the report within 28 days. Remedial work flagged as C1 or C2 must be completed within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies. Local authorities including Arun, Chichester, Horsham and Mid Sussex can require a landlord to produce the report within seven days and issue penalties of up to £30,000 for non compliance. Any new circuit or consumer unit change also needs Part P notification to building control, which a registered electrician handles for you.
As a rough guide, an EICR on a two bedroom flat tends to sit around £150 to £220, a three bedroom house £200 to £300, and larger or multi circuit properties more. The variable is circuit count, not floor area, so a big open plan house can be cheaper to test than a small one that has been extended twice. Be wary of very low headline prices that turn into an expensive list of essential remedials.
The recurring findings locally are ageing plastic consumer units without RCD protection, rubber or lead sheathed cable still lurking under floors in pre 1960s housing, and corroded outdoor sockets and garden lighting in coastal spots such as Littlehampton, Bognor and Selsey where salt air is unforgiving. Bonding to gas and water services is another frequent one, especially where a boiler or kitchen has been replaced without the earth bonding being brought up to date.
Clear access to the consumer unit, loft hatch and any sockets behind furniture before the electrician arrives, because inaccessible items get coded FI and may mean a return visit. Dig out any old certificates, since knowing when the property was last rewired saves guesswork.
Plan for the power being off. If you work from home, charge laptops beforehand, and if anyone in the house relies on powered medical equipment or you have a freezer full of food, say so when booking so it can be worked around. Finally, ask for the remedial work to be quoted line by line against the report codes. That way you can see exactly what is a genuine safety issue and what is simply a recommendation you can leave for another day.
Published 29 August 2026
A full rewire is rarely the outcome; most unsatisfactory reports are resolved with a consumer unit upgrade, additional RCD protection or improved earth bonding. A rewire is normally only justified where original rubber or fabric insulated cable is still in service throughout.
No. A new board improves protection, but the report assesses the whole installation including cabling, earthing and accessories, so faults elsewhere will still be coded.
The electrician sets the next inspection date on the report itself, typically five years for a rented property and up to ten for an owner occupied home, though it can be shorter if the installation is in poor condition.
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