These two get confused constantly, and the confusion is expensive — people either pay twice for overlapping work, or think one certificate covers them when it does not.
The simplest way to tell them apart
Stand in a room and look at a socket. Everything behind that socket — the wiring in the walls, the consumer unit, the circuits, the earthing — is covered by an EICR. Everything you plug into it — the kettle, the computer, the extension lead — is covered by portable appliance testing.
What an EICR is
An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a periodic inspection of the fixed electrical installation. A qualified electrician assesses the consumer unit, circuits, earthing and bonding, and socket outlets, then reports observations using classification codes:
- C1 — danger present, immediate action required
- C2 — potentially dangerous, urgent remedial action required
- C3 — improvement recommended, not a failure
- FI — further investigation required
Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory, and the remedial work must be done and confirmed before the installation is considered safe.
What PAT testing is
In-service inspection and testing of the appliances connected to that installation: visual inspection, then earth continuity, insulation resistance and, where relevant, leakage testing, appropriate to the appliance class. The output is a pass or fail per item, a label on each appliance and an asset register.
How the two differ in practice
| EICR | Appliance testing | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Fixed wiring and installation | Plug-in appliances |
| Carried out by | Qualified electrician | Competent inspection engineer |
| Typical frequency | Every 5 years for rented homes; up to 5 years for commercial | Risk-based — months to years by environment |
| Output | Condition report with coded observations | Certificate plus per-item asset register |
| Disruption | Power down circuits | Minimal — item by item |
Do you need both?
In almost every commercial or rented setting, yes. They answer different questions and neither substitutes for the other. A landlord with a valid EICR and no appliance records has evidenced the wiring but not the washing machine they supplied. An office with a full asset register and a twelve-year-old installation has the opposite gap.
Sequencing them sensibly
If you are starting from nothing, get the EICR first. A fault in the fixed installation — a missing earth, a faulty RCD — undermines the safety of every appliance plugged into it, and appliance results can be misleading until it is corrected. Then bring the appliances onto a risk-based cycle.
We focus on the appliance side. If your EICR is out of date we will say so and tell you to get one, even though it is not work we do. Ask us what you need.