What Is BS 7671, the Wiring Regulations?
Every EICR is judged against BS 7671. Here is what that standard is and why it keeps changing.
Every EICR measures your installation against a single benchmark: BS 7671. It is the rulebook behind the entire inspection.
The national wiring standard
BS 7671, also called the IET Wiring Regulations, is the British Standard that defines how electrical installations should be designed, installed and tested to be safe. When an engineer records a C1, C2 or C3, they are measuring what they find against this document.
Why it changes over time
The standard is revised periodically as technology and safety knowledge move on — new editions bring requirements like RCD protection and arc-fault detection. That is why a perfectly compliant installation from years ago can pick up C3 observations today: it is safe, but no longer matches the current edition.
A C3 is a recommendation to improve, not a failure. We explain exactly which edition your report is measured against.
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