How much should you charge for an EICR?
A domestic EICR in the UK typically runs £120–£300 for a standard house — more for larger properties, more circuits, or difficult access. But the price on the invoice is only half the story: the number that decides whether the job was worth it is what you were left doing at 9pm.
What the range actually depends on
- Number of circuits. A one-bed flat with a six-way board is a different job to a four-bed with two boards and an outbuilding. Testing time scales with circuits, and so should the price.
- Property size and age. Older installations throw up more observations, more head-scratching, and more to write up. A 1970s rewire-needed board takes longer to report than a 2019 install.
- Access. Boarded lofts, buried junction boxes, furniture in front of every socket — access is where the hours quietly go.
- Region. London and the South East sit at the top of the range; the rest of the country below it. Price to your market, not a national average.
The cost nobody quotes for
Most sparks price the site time and forget the write-up. A domestic EICR is commonly 45–90 minutes of typing after you’ve packed the van — observations, codes, the schedule of test results, formatting. Across ten certs a month that’s an evening a week you never invoiced for. If your EICR price feels too low, it’s often because the paperwork hours were never in the sum.
How to price it properly
Work out your day rate, estimate the honest total time — siteand write-up — and price the whole job, not just the part with a tester in your hand. If the admin is what’s eroding the margin, the fix isn’t charging more; it’s killing the hour of typing so the price you already quote actually pays.
Should you undercut the cheap EICR merchants?
No. The £80 EICR that finds nothing wrong with a 1970s board isn’t a bargain — it’s a liability with a staple in it, and your name would be on it. Price for a proper inspection and a report you can stand behind. Compete on the report being finished, accurate and issued the same day, not on being the cheapest signature in the county.