Electrical and Plumbing Reports - House Purchase

[dawnhindle 10]

We are in the process of buying a house (1960s at a guess) and are having a home buyer's survey done tomorrow. Our solicitor has said they recommend also having an electrical and plumbing report done.

 

Has anyone had these done? Are they worth it? Any idea of costs or recommendations?

 

Thanks, Dawn

[tlangdon12 13]

Hi Dawn

 

An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) will give you an idea whether there are any hidden issues with the electrical wiring in the property, e.g. cables that need replacing, or any problems with the important safety features of the installation, e.g. missing earthing.

 

So if you don't know about electrics, they can help avoid a fatal electrocution and if the house needs rewiring, help justify a reduction in the price of the house.

 

They don't tell you whether there are sufficient sockets for your needs, or what spare capacity there might be to install more or larger appliances, although your electrician can easily confirm this if you can tell him what your plans are.

 

The EICR is therefore a great help in determining what electrical work you might want to have done as soon as you complete your purchase.

 

The odd electrician has been known to overstate the severity of an issue in order to gain work. When you get the report you can seek advice on various internet forums as to whether the electrician has correctly coded the issues that have been found. The following guide to EICRs explains the codes: http://www.niceic.com/Uploads/File5634.pdf

 

Basically, Code 1 issues need to be fixed, you can decide yourself whether you can afford to fix the Code 2 and 3 issues; your electrician should be able to give you an estimate of the cost to fix each issue. You should ask for such an estimate to be prepared at the same time as the EICR.

 

If the house has a fuseboard with re-wireable fuses, I'd strongly recommend replacing this with a modern consumer unit to get the significant safety benefit of RCD protection for all circuits. It will also simplify any future changes you want to make.

 

Good luck with your purchase.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

We are in the process of buying a house (1960s at a guess) and are having a home buyer's survey done tomorrow. Our solicitor has said they recommend also having an electrical and plumbing report done.

 

Has anyone had these done? Are they worth it?

Yes, they are. The time to unearth defects is before you buy, not once you've bought!

[geared 319]

It's only worth doing if you intend to keep and use the wiring.

 

Check it out first when you look round, look at the fuseboard, the state of the sockets and talk to the owner about previous work.

 

Last place we bought it was obvious a complete re-wire was required just from the first viewing, so use that as a negotiating point when you talk about the price.

[Cyclone 10]

We are in the process of buying a house (1960s at a guess) and are having a home buyer's survey done tomorrow. Our solicitor has said they recommend also having an electrical and plumbing report done.

 

Has anyone had these done? Are they worth it? Any idea of costs or recommendations?

 

Thanks, Dawn

 

They always recommend this sort of thing (although normally it's gas and electric).

I wouldn't get one done unless there is some specific reason to do so (for example, fuse board not modern).

[buza 10]

http://Www.mjb-electricalservices.co.uk

 

Happy to assist or give you any info needed

 

Many thanks

 

Matt

[dawnhindle 10]

Thank you very much for the responses everyone. The heating system is really old andcthe radiators look problematic, so we are getting that done thoroughly. The electrics should be fine due to the age of the house, but we have an electrician doing a visual check to be on the safe side.