The problem
Landlords in England must have the electrics in a rented home inspected and tested at least every 5 years, and each report sets the date for the next one. Five years is long enough for a landlord to forget who did the last one. If a firm issued 8 landlord EICRs a month five years ago and only 3 of those landlords ring back when they fall due, 5 retests a month go to whoever they find first.
What the AI does
Powered Now's Professional plan lists automated certificate and service reminders. Its help center describes switching on reminders for each certificate type, setting how many days after the certificate is confirmed the reminder goes, and sending it by email, text or both, in your own wording. You can also get an internal reminder before the customer does, so you can ring the landlords and agents who matter most. Reminders only cover certificates done in the app, so this pays off for firms that have issued EICRs from Powered Now for a few years.
A worked example
A two-person electrical firm in Leicester has issued EICRs from Powered Now Professional since 2021, about 8 a month for landlords, but never switched reminders on. They set EICR reminders by email and text at 1,765 days after confirmation (5 years of 365 days, less 60), with an internal reminder a week earlier.
Before
About 3 of the 8 landlords whose EICRs fall due each month rebook with the firm
After
About 5 rebook after the reminder: 2 more retests a month at $239£180€214A$346C$338 each
What it's worth
About $287£216€257A$415C$406 a month in profit, at an assumed 60% margin on $479£360€428A$691C$677 of extra retests (2 more a month at $239£180€214A$346C$338), since testing is mostly labor. It costs nothing extra on the Professional plan the firm already pays for: $85£64€76A$123C$120 a month for two users, excluding VAT. Any remedial work found on those retests comes on top.
How to set it up
- Keep every EICR's next inspection date, as written on the report, in your own job diary or certificate list, and check it on the first of each month. That record comes first; the app's reminder is the backup.
- In Powered Now's settings for forms and certificates, open the EICR's reminder settings, switch the reminder on and set the days after confirmation, such as 1,765 for a 5-year report reminded two months early.
- Write the reminder in your own words: which property it's for, that the report is coming due, your price and how to book. Send by email and text, so one bounced email doesn't lose the job.
- Turn on the internal reminder so you hear before the landlord does, and phone your biggest landlord and agent customers yourself.
- Where a report sets a shorter interval than 5 years, put that date in your diary and contact the landlord yourself, since the reminder runs on one setting for each certificate type.
- At each retest, quote remedial work on the day: landlords must have it done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says.
What goes wrong
- Reminders can fail silently: an agent's email changes, a landlord's number is wrong, a setting gets switched off. The monthly check against your own list catches what the app misses.
- The reminder is counted from the day the certificate is confirmed, with one interval per certificate type. Reports that set a shorter interval need their own diary entry.
- The help center article's screenshots date from 2022 and 2023. Send a test reminder to your own email and phone before relying on it.
- The duty is the landlord's, not yours. Never suggest a report lasts longer than it says, and remember the 5-year rule here is England's; Wales and Scotland have their own rules.