Giving electrician's report to EA for renegotiating price

NickDurham

Well, the process SEEMS to be coming towards an end at last. All the surveys/checks have been done. The main thing needed is a rewire. The EA has asked for the electrician's report as well as the quote. Is this normal? The electrician (and other people) have told me I should not give it out to others, but I'm guessing the EA wants some kind of proof that the electrics are in a bad way before entertaining the idea of renegotiating the purchase price. Anyone any experience as to what the 'norm' is in this situation in terms of what documents I should give to the EA/vendors?

shirlgirl2004

I guess it depends what the report says. If the report says categorically that the whole house needs rewiring because it's unsafe then yes show it to the EA. If however it says it is old but no immediate danger then they are less likely to agree to a reduction. Mind you if you refuse to show it then you may not get your price reduction. I personally wouldn't reduce the price of my house because someone says it need rewiring. If however I was given a report stating it needed rewiring then I'd be open to negotiation.

NickDurham

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I guess it depends what the report says. If the report says categorically that the whole house needs rewiring because it's unsafe then yes show it to the EA. If however it says it is old but no immediate danger then they are less likely to agree to a reduction. Mind you if you refuse to show it then you may not get your price reduction. I personally wouldn't reduce the price of my house because someone says it need rewiring. If however I was given a report stating it needed rewiring then I'd be open to negotiation.

Well, the repair works needed would cost the same as a rewire and are not far off being a rewire anyway (the same amount of upheaval), which is why the electrician recommended a rewire. Earthing is very poor, the system is overloaded, there's only 1 ring main instead of the 3 needed. All this is in the report, and we were told (though this isn't in the written report) that it's not safe for a child to be in the house as it is (we have a 2 yr old).

typeractive

Hi Nick,

Sounds like things are moving along for you pal. Good stuff. With regards to this situation, could you not suggest to the EA, that they contact the electrician to gain an understanding of what work is necessary. That way you do not need to provide the report you have paid for, but the qualified professional could confirm the state of condition and need for rewiring on health and safety grounds.

Would that be possible? surely you could try that first. Do you mind if I ask how big the property is and how much you have been quoted? Being from a similar area as you know it's handy to keep an eye on local prices for each other - I too will need the property rewired. Far from an expert - it is obvious the previous owners overloaded sockets in practically every room. Not to mention the number of wires on show - sheesh kapeesh!

Good luck!

Strapped

NickDurham wrote: »

Well, the process SEEMS to be coming towards an end at last. All the surveys/checks have been done. The main thing needed is a rewire. The EA has asked for the electrician's report as well as the quote. Is this normal? The electrician (and other people) have told me I should not give it out to others, but I'm guessing the EA wants some kind of proof that the electrics are in a bad way before entertaining the idea of renegotiating the purchase price. Anyone any experience as to what the 'norm' is in this situation in terms of what documents I should give to the EA/vendors?

We renegotiated the purchase price of our property two years ago due to the (full structural) survey results. We didn't give the EA the whole report, but picked out the relevant paragraphs and emailed those over (and let them know we'd be happy to bring it into the office for them to read if they wanted to). Like you, we had small children and we picked out the "must do"s to make the house safe for them. (There was a lot of other "recommended" stuff that could be done over time). Fortunately, the EA thought we were being quite reasonable and the vendors agreed to a reduction straight away.

not_loaded

I don't know what stage of negotiation you are at, but you should probably bear in mind that the property may well have been priced according to its condition.

My daughter recently bought a rundown property for a rundown price. She got a minor reduction for quick completion, but there was no mileage in her pointing out how rundown the property was.

Everyone involved knew that.

NickDurham

not_loaded wrote: »

I don't know what stage of negotiation you are at, but you should probably bear in mind that the property may well have been priced according to its condition.

My daughter recently bought a rundown property for a rundown price. She got a minor reduction for quick completion, but there was no mileage in her pointing out how rundown the property was.

Everyone involved knew that.

It was priced according to cosmetic condition, but structurally and in terms of the services was meant to be fine.

chickmug

NickDurham wrote: »

Well, the process SEEMS to be coming towards an end at last. All the surveys/checks have been done. The main thing needed is a rewire. The EA has asked for the electrician's report as well as the quote. Is this normal? The electrician (and other people) have told me I should not give it out to others, but I'm guessing the EA wants some kind of proof that the electrics are in a bad way before entertaining the idea of renegotiating the purchase price. Anyone any experience as to what the 'norm' is in this situation in terms of what documents I should give to the EA/vendors?

I would expect to have sight of the report as I wouldn't trust anyones word unless I have read it with my own eyes. And NO I wouldn't expect to be chasing the electrician on the phone.

An EA view.

G_M

The electrician (and other people) have told me I should not give it out to others,

Why not? If it helps your negotiations, then use it. Is it a report you paid for, or a quote for works? either way, it's yours to use as you see fit surely?

Strapped

G_M wrote: »

Why not? If it helps your negotiations, then use it. Is it a report you paid for, or a quote for works? either way, it's yours to use as you see fit surely?

I can see why the OP might not want to just hand over a copy of his report - it has a value to other potential purchasers.

G_M

the OP might not want to just hand over a copy

is not the same as

The electrician (and other people) have told me I should not give it out

My point is that what the OP chooses to do is up to him, not 'the electrician.....'