EICR Limitations: What the Report Does and Does Not Cover

Limitations are not free text bolted onto the end of an EICR. They live in a named part of the model form: Section D — Extent and limitations of inspection and testing, which the form itself cross-references to Regulation 651. Section D has four entries, and each one wants something different.

The requirement behind the form is Regulation 653.2. It states that the Report shall include (a) details of those parts of the installation that have been inspected and tested and (b) any limitations of the inspection and testing. Regulation 653.1 requires the report to be based on the model given in BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 Appendix 6, taking account of the notes for the person producing the report. Section D is not housekeeping — it is what the declaration in Section G is qualified by, because the inspector declares the report to be an accurate assessment of the installation taking into account the stated extent and limitations in Section D.

The two boxes are not interchangeable, and putting an entry in the wrong one weakens it. The difference is when it was settled and who agreed it.

The extent of the installation covered by the report is also to be agreed before the inspection and testing is undertaken — not decided afterwards to match what you managed to reach.

Before you write anything, the model Condition Report already excludes certain things. The agreed-limitations box carries pre-printed wording that applies unless specifically agreed between the client and inspector prior to the inspection:

This is why repeating "concealed wiring not inspected" in your own words adds nothing — it is already there. What earns its place in Section D is anything beyond the printed defaults, or anything that narrows them further.

The Schedule of Inspections points back at Section D

Two items on the Condition Report Schedule of Inspections explicitly refer the reader to Section D, because they cannot be answered without knowing what you could see:

If Section D says the concealed cabling was not inspected, those two items cannot honestly be marked as verified. The two documents have to agree with each other.

A standard EICR covers the fixed electrical installation from the origin to the final circuits and accessories. Regulation 651.2 sets the method: periodic inspection is carried out without dismantling, or with partial dismantling as required, supplemented by appropriate tests and measurements from Chapter 64.

Two checkpoints that catch people out

Regulation 411.3.4 — introduced with BS 7671:2018 itself, not by a later amendment — requires that within domestic (household) premises, additional protection by an RCD with a rated residual operating current not exceeding 30 mA shall be provided for AC final circuits supplying luminaires. Regulation 421.1.7 covers arc fault detection devices, and the Schedule of Inspections carries a matching item: confirmation of indication that AFDD(s) are operational (421.1.7; 532.6; 651.2(e)).

The extent entry should specify which circuits were tested, how many distribution boards were inspected, and whether the inspection covered the whole installation or a defined part of it.

On larger installations — particularly commercial premises with many circuits — testing every circuit and accessory is not always practical. The inspector then uses a sampling approach, tests a representative proportion, and records what was sampled.

Guidance Note 3 Chapter 8 Reg 8.2 describes sampling as the procedure where, for groups of similar circuits, not all are tested if an appropriate sampling plan is justified. The conditions attached to it are the part people skip: sampling shall be documented, justified by risk assessment, and the details included in the Schedule of Inspections and Schedule of Test Results. It is not a percentage you negotiate over the phone.

"10% sample of lighting circuits tested — circuits 4, 7 and 11 of 30" is informative. "Sampling applied" is not a limitation, it is a shrug.

The most significant limitation on any EICR is concealed wiring. In most properties, the majority of the cabling is hidden — buried in walls, run under floorboards, routed through ceiling voids, or enclosed in trunking. During a standard EICR the inspector cannot see it, and the model form says so before you do.

Instead, the inspector infers condition from test results. Insulation resistance testing at 500 V DC (Table 64, minimum 1.0 MΩ for circuits up to and including 500 V) can reveal degraded insulation. Continuity testing can find broken or high-resistance conductors. Earth fault loop impedance testing can expose problems with the protective conductor. None of these detects physical damage to cable sheathing, a non-compliant cable route, or mechanical damage that has not yet changed the electrical properties.

Insulation resistance where equipment cannot be disconnected

Regulation Group 643.3 was redrafted at A2:2022 and the requirement is a two-stage test, not a reduced one. Under Regulation 643.3.3, where connected equipment is likely to influence the measurement or result of the test, or be damaged, the test shall be applied prior to the connection of such equipment, in accordance with Table 64. Following connection of the equipment, a test at 250 V DC shall be applied between live conductors and the protective conductor connected to the earthing arrangement, and the insulation resistance shall be at least 1 MΩ.

So the 250 V test does not replace the Table 64 test, and its acceptance threshold is not lower than the 1.0 MΩ that Table 64 sets for low voltage circuits. Where you could only perform the second stage — because the equipment was already connected and could not be taken out — that is a limitation and belongs in Section D, for example: "IR at 250 V DC with equipment connected; sensitive electronics on lighting circuit 3 could not be disconnected."

For most properties, accepting the concealed-wiring limitation is reasonable. Where the wiring is very old, where there is a history of electrical problems, or where a previous report reported overheating, the client may want to commission invasive inspection of specific areas.

Knowing what falls outside the scope matters as much as knowing what is inside it — and one of these is more nuanced than the usual shorthand suggests.

If you are a landlord or property manager, commission the right inspection for each system. An EICR alone does not cover everything, and the intake-equipment line is the one most often misread in both directions — it is inspected, but it is not tested and it does not drive the overall result.

Recording limitations is a professional skill. Generic statements do not serve the purpose. Every entry should name the thing, name the place, and give the reason.

The second column tells the reader exactly what was excluded and why. That matters for accountability: if a fault later develops in an area recorded as a limitation, Section D shows it was outside the inspection, and the Section G declaration is expressly qualified by it.

In the app

Get the limitations section right first time

Elec-Mate prompts you to record the extent and limitations as you work through the EICR. Pre-populated options for common limitations…

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The limitations you meet vary by property type. Common ones:

Recording extent and limitations properly is one of the clearest markers of a competent inspector. It shows you thought about scope and were straight about what you could and could not assess.

In the app

Record extent and limitations as you inspect

Elec-Mate walks you through the extent and limitations section as part of the EICR workflow. Common limitation templates plus free text…

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