Section by section through the A4:2026 model EIC: what each part asks for, the regulation behind it, and the gaps that most often make a certificate incomplete.
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Written and reviewed by Andrew Moore, founder of Elec-Mate, against BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, IET Guidance Note 3 and the IET On-Site Guide.
The short answer
An EIC based on the BS 7671 Appendix 6 model has ten parts: client (A), installation and extent of work (B), design, construction and inspection signatures with any departures (C), the next inspection interval (D), signatory details (E), supply characteristics and earthing (F), installation particulars (G), the schedule of inspections (H), comments on the existing installation (I) and the attached schedules (J). It is only valid with the schedules of inspection, circuit details and test results attached.
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01 · Certificate Guide
Regulation 644.1 requires an Electrical Installation Certificate on completion of a new installation, or an addition or alteration to an existing one, including the replacement of a distribution board or consumer unit. It is issued to the person who ordered the work.
For the borderline cases, see when an EIC is required and EICR vs EIC.
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02 · Certificate Guide
Section A is the client. Section B is the installation address, a description of the installation, and the extent covered by this certificate, ticked as a new installation, an addition, or an alteration to an existing installation.
The extent defines what you are certifying. "Consumer unit replaced, circuits 1 to 9 reconnected and tested" is defensible; "electrical work" is not. Anything outside the extent stays outside your certificate.
03 · Certificate Guide
Section C has three declarations: for design, for construction, and for inspection and testing. One person can sign all three on a single-signature form where they did all three. Regulation 644.5 requires the certificate to be signed or authenticated by skilled persons competent to verify that BS 7671 has been met.
If there are no departures, write "None". A blank box leaves the reader unable to tell whether departures were considered.
04 · Certificate Guide
Regulation 644.4 requires the recommended interval between initial verification and the first periodic inspection to be recorded. On the form the designer states the installation should be inspected and tested after an interval of not more than so many years or months.
The model notes say the interval should reflect the maintenance the installation is likely to receive. GN3 Table 3.2 gives the usual starting points: 10 years for a domestic installation, 5 years for commercial premises, 3 years for industrial, and shorter for places such as swimming pools and caravan parks.
05 · Certificate Guide
Section E gives the name, company and address for each signatory in Section C (up to two designers, the constructor and the inspector).
Section F records the supply: the earthing arrangement (TN-C, TN-S, TN-C-S PME, TN-C-S PNB, TT or IT), the number and type of live conductors, nominal voltage and frequency, prospective fault current Ipf, external earth fault loop impedance Ze, and the supply protective device. It also confirms supply polarity and flags any other sources of supply.
Ipf is the greater of the prospective short-circuit current and the prospective earth fault current, by enquiry or measurement. See prospective fault current explained.
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06 · Certificate Guide
07 · Certificate Guide
Section H is the schedule of inspections, items 1.0 to 14.0, from the consumer's intake equipment through ADS, basic and additional protection, distribution equipment, circuits, isolation and switching, identification and notices, bath or shower locations, other special locations, and the prosumer's low voltage installation.
Section I is for comments on the existing installation when the work is an addition or alteration. Regulation 644.1.2 requires defects in the existing installation found during the work to be recorded, so far as reasonably practicable; defects that affect the safety of the new work must be put right before the certificate is issued.
Section J lists the attached schedules and continuation sheets. The schedule of test results carries the circuit-by-circuit readings: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, Zs (check against maximum Zs values) and RCD operation.
08 · Certificate Guide
The model EIC includes guidance for the recipient. It tells them to keep the original safe and show it to anyone working on the installation, to press RCD test buttons six-monthly, to test AFDDs with a manual test button six-monthly, and to check SPD status indicators. Explain these at handover; they are the parts of the certificate a client actually acts on.
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