How to Price a Commercial EICR
A commercial EICR is priced on the number of distribution boards and circuits, the sampling extent, and access — not on floor area. Scope it precisely and the price follows.
Commercial and industrial Electrical Installation Condition Reports are a world away from a domestic EICR. The price is driven by the number of distribution boards and final circuits, the agreed extent of sampling, and the practicalities of accessing live premises — often outside trading hours.
This guide covers how to scope the report, agree the sampling extent under BS 7671, count what actually drives the time, and quote a commercial EICR that covers your work without pricing yourself out. It assumes periodic inspection and testing in line with BS 7671 and IET Guidance Note 3.
Key takeaways
- Price on the number of distribution boards and circuits, not floor area.
- Agree the sampling extent and any limitations in writing before you start.
- Access, isolation and out-of-hours working drive the labour on live premises.
- A commercial EICR needs planning — you can't just switch off a running business.
- Scope creep is the enemy — define the extent and price changes separately.
Scope before you price
You cannot price a commercial EICR from the outside. You need to know how many distribution boards and consumer units there are, roughly how many final circuits they feed, the age and type of installation, and how much of it you can realistically isolate and test. A pre-inspection survey or a good conversation with the duty holder is essential.
The count of boards and circuits — not the square footage — is what sets your testing time. A small unit with two dense distribution boards can take longer than a large open warehouse with a handful of circuits.
Agree the sampling
For large installations, 100% testing is rarely practical. Agree the sampling extent and record the limitations on the report — and price to the sample you've agreed, not an open-ended promise.
Access and out-of-hours working
On a live commercial site you cannot switch off circuits at will — servers, tills, chillers and production plant may need to stay on, or can only be isolated at agreed times. This often pushes testing into evenings, weekends or shutdowns, which changes your labour rate and your programme.
Factor the practicalities: escorted access, working at height, moving stock or furniture to reach accessories, and coordinating isolations with the client's staff. These are real hours that a naive floor-area quote ignores.
Doing this on a job? Job pricing calculator — part of TradePlanr. Free to start, no card needed.
Building the quote
Price the report on the board and circuit count against a realistic rate, adjusted for access and out-of-hours working. Include the reporting time — a commercial EICR with dozens of circuits generates a substantial schedule of test results and observations, and writing it up properly takes real effort.
Quote the inspection and report as a defined package to the agreed sampling extent. Price any remedial works separately once the report identifies them — never bundle unknown remedials into the EICR price.
Code and report on site
Use TradePlanr to record every circuit's results and code observations C1, C2, C3 or FI as you test, so the commercial EICR and its schedules assemble themselves instead of costing you a weekend of write-up.
Presenting to the duty holder
Commercial clients want certainty. Give them a clear scope (which boards and circuits, what sampling), a firm price for the inspection and report, the access arrangements you're assuming, and a note that remedials are quoted separately. This professionalism wins the work and protects you from scope creep.
From guidance to action
Frequently asked questions
How is a commercial EICR priced?
On the number of distribution boards and final circuits, the agreed sampling extent, and access — including any out-of-hours working needed on a live site. Floor area alone is a poor guide to the time involved.
Do I have to test every circuit?
On large installations, 100% testing is rarely practical, so an agreed sampling extent is used and the limitations recorded on the report. Agree the sample in writing before you start, and price to it.
Should remedials be included in the EICR price?
No. Price the inspection and report as a defined package, then quote any remedial works separately once the report has identified them. Bundling unknown remedials into the EICR price is how contractors lose money.
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