Yes. A C2 code makes an EICR unsatisfactory, and an unsatisfactory report means the property has failed. It does not matter how many things passed or how minor the C2 looks on paper — one C2 is enough to fail the whole report, and for a rented home in Wales it has to be put right within 28 days.
What C2 actually means
The codes are about risk, not about how expensive something is to fix.
- C1 — danger present. Something is unsafe right now. Exposed live parts, for example. The electrician should make it safe before leaving.
- C2 — potentially dangerous. The fault is real, but it needs something else to happen before anyone gets hurt: a cover coming off, a fault developing, someone touching the wrong thing. It is not safe to leave.
- C3 — improvement recommended. Not dangerous, would be better if it were changed. C3 does not fail.
- FI — further investigation required. Something could not be established during the inspection and needs looking at properly. FI also fails the report.
So the pass/fail line sits between C2 and C3. C1, C2 and FI all make the report unsatisfactory. Only C3 can appear on a report that still passes.
That is also why two properties can get very different results from work that looks similar. A plastic consumer unit in a normal position is usually a C3 and does not fail. The same board under a wooden staircase, where it forms part of an escape route, becomes a C2 and does.
The C2s we find most often
In older South Wales housing stock, the same handful come up again and again:
- No RCD protection on circuits that need it — sockets, cables buried in walls, anything outdoors. Very common on boards fitted before the mid-2000s.
- No earthing or bonding, or bonding that is undersized or missing to the gas and water services.
- Damaged or overheating accessories — scorched sockets, cracked faceplates, signs of arcing behind a switch.
- Exposed conductors where a cable enters an accessory or a board, with insulation stripped back too far.
- Old rubber or fabric-insulated cable still in service. It goes brittle, the insulation crumbles, and it is well past its life.
- Borrowed neutrals and other unsafe historic practices, usually found where lighting has been altered over the years.
- DIY work that was never tested — a spur added off a spur, an outdoor socket on an unprotected circuit, a shower on a circuit that cannot carry it.
What happens next if you get one
The report lists each fault with its code and location. The remedial work is whatever it takes to clear the C1, C2 and FI items — not everything on the report.
That distinction matters, because it is where people get oversold. You do not have to act on C3s. If an electrician tells you a full rewire is required because of a list of C3 codes, get a second opinion.
Once the C2 items are fixed, the installation is retested and a satisfactory report issued. If the same electrician does the remedial work, that is usually a single return visit rather than a fresh inspection.
The costs, honestly
It depends entirely on what the C2 is. A damaged socket is a small job. No RCD protection across the whole installation usually means a new consumer unit.
- New fuse board (consumer unit): from £700 + VAT (£840 inc VAT), usually fitted in a day. A modern 18th-edition board with RCBO protection clears most RCD-related C2s in one go.
- EICR itself: £200 + VAT (£240 inc VAT), fixed, for a standard residential property.
- Smaller remedials — a socket, a bonding conductor, an accessory — are quoted individually in writing before any work goes ahead.
The honest answer on the bigger ones is that a board change often costs less than fixing half a dozen separate C2s one at a time, because the protection comes from the board.
If you are a landlord in Wales
The timescale is the part people miss. Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act:
- The EICR has to be done at least every five years.
- The certificate must reach the contract-holder within 14 days of the inspection.
- Any C1, C2 or FI has to be remedied within 28 days of the report, or sooner if it says so.
- You then have to give the contract-holder written confirmation the work is done.
Miss those and the property can be treated as unfit for human habitation — even where the wiring itself was never the problem.
Getting it sorted
Renovolt does fixed-price EICRs at £200 + VAT (£240 inc VAT) across Bridgend, Pencoed, Cowbridge, Porthcawl, Barry, the Vale and Cardiff, with the signed report back the same or next day so the 14-day window is never the thing that catches you out.
If something comes back C2, Aled prices the remedial work in writing before touching it, does it himself, and reissues the certificate. No subcontractors, and no list of C3s dressed up as a rewire.