Can one company do all three?
It can, and this is the combination people ask for most often, because the three certificates are usually needed at the same moment: a property being let, a building changing manager, or a compliance audit that found three gaps at once. The EPC is produced by a registered domestic or non-domestic energy assessor. The EICR is produced by a qualified electrician against BS 7671. The alarm testing is carried out against BS 5839 for the system's grade and category. Different competencies, different qualifications, one instruction — which is the part that saves you time. You get one contact, one schedule and one invoice, and the three renewal dates start aligned instead of drifting apart.
What each certificate is for
It is worth being clear about which duty each one discharges, because they are frequently confused.
- EPC — required to sell, let or newly build; band E or better to let under MEES; valid ten years
- EICR — condition of the fixed electrical installation; renewed at least every five years for a let, sooner if the report says so
- Fire alarm testing — servicing and functional testing under BS 5839 to keep the detection system reliable and its logbook current
- Fire risk assessment — a separate duty again, covering the building's common parts; can be added to the same instruction
How the visits are sequenced
For a single dwelling, all three usually happen on one day: the energy survey takes under an hour, the EICR takes longer and needs the power off in stages, and the alarm test happens around it. For a building with common parts and multiple flats, we run the communal work in one pass and the flat-level work around resident access, with a time window per flat. Either way you get one schedule in advance and a named coordinator, and if an occupier blocks access on the day we tell you exactly what is outstanding rather than issuing a report with silent gaps in it.
What the reports tell you to do
The point of a compliance instruction is the action list, not the certificate. The EPC comes with the measures that would move the rating and what each is likely to cost. The EICR itemises C1 items that are dangerous now, C2 items that are potentially dangerous, and C3 items that are improvements only — with prices, so you can decide rather than guess. Alarm testing produces a logbook entry and a list of any devices that failed. And all of it comes with a covering summary written in plain English, so a landlord, an agent or a leaseholder can read it without a technical translator.
What it costs
The EPC element is £69 for a one to three bedroom flat, £89 for a house up to four bedrooms and £119 for a five to seven bedroom house, plus £7 per extension, £10 for a loft conversion, and travel by zone. The EICR is priced on the number of circuits and the size of the property; alarm testing on the number of devices and the system's grade. Both are quoted in writing with the EPC before anything is booked, and the bundled total sits below three separate instructions. For several properties or a whole building, ask about the portfolio compliance programme instead.
