Earth bonding - do we need a certificate?

Francesanne

mlz1413 wrote: »

francesanne I'd be interested to know the outcome of this as neighbours have sold their house and now the buyers mortgage company is insisting on an electrical safety certificate because they had work done before and during an extention 5 years ago.

My fella recently took some of the new electrical tests but has never heard of this before, so I'm beginning to wonder if lenders are taking more precautions.

Hi, this has certainly been a learning curb. We've solved the problem thankfully.
I rang the NIC this morning and they were very helpful. Seems half the homes in this country don't have Earth Bonding but because we had the work done and disclosed the information honestly in the Home Information pack in was picked up. The electrical company we employed (who weren't cowboys) should have reported the work done to the NIC within 30 days of the job been completed and the NIC would have issued a certificate but that wasn't done. However it seems you can apply for a late procedure and then the NIC would issue a certficate. However, as we're very stretched for time as we complete tomorrow and exchange on Friday. We are taking out
indemnityinsurance and that's costing my Mum around £40.00. which is a lot cheper than we were originally told. We're just very relieved it's been sorted out. This might seem a fuss over nothing by some people but when you're under so much stress dealing with everything connected to house buying & moving it's just another problem you can do without. So be warned if you're having any work done that requires a certficate, make sure you get one at the time.This never entered our head because she had no intention of moving at the time.
Would like to thank those people who've made helpful and constructive posts. It's been appreciated.

silvercar

Glad it all worked out.

The joke is that you could have pulled the bonding away and told the sellers that there is now no earth bonding so no certificate is required!

clutton_2

goodness knows how we are all still alive - those of us who have moved house several times without any certification .......

nannying again methinks

Francesanne

silvercar wrote: »

Glad it all worked out.

The joke is that you could have pulled the bonding away and told the sellers that there is now no earth bonding so no certificate is required!

Thank you:rotfl:. When we filled in the home info. pack we didn't know this problem was going to crop up. Couldn't have done what you suggested because it's obviously needed & important. Just got stressed out because it all blew up at the last moment (excuse the pun!). We've exchanged today:T so everybody is happy.

Francesanne

clutton wrote: »

goodness knows how we are all still alive - those of us who have moved house several times without any certification .......

nannying again methinks

How very true! health and safety strikes yet again.

clutton_2

in one week on tele about 6 years ago i saw

a local news piece about the council employing guys to remove all conkers from trees in their school play grounds in case ............

a documentary about children aged 5 on the Mongolian plains riding bare back at the gallop.......

What a fearful and terrified country we have become ...

DVardysShadow

A late thought:

"
Minor works
The Building Regulations allow certain works (known as non-notifiable or minor work) to be carried out without having to notify building control or using a registered electrician. Such work includes:

• Replacing any electrical fitting (for example, socket outlets, light fittings, control switches)
• Adding a fused spur (which is a socket that has a fuse and a switch that is connected to an appliance eg, heater) to an existing circuit (but not in a kitchen, bathroom or outdoors)
• Any repair or maintenance work
• Installing or upgrading main or supplementary equipotential bonding
• Installing cabling at extra low voltage for signalling, cabling or communication purposes (for example, telephone cabling, cabling for fire alarm or burglar alarm systems, or heating control systems).
  
  

If you are not sure whether the work you want to undertake is notifiable, you should contact your local authority building control department for advice.
Minor electrical work can also present a risk to safety. If qualified electricians carry out the work they should give you a Minor Works Certificate which means that they have tested to work to make sure it is safe. If you do the work yourself you may wish to engage a qualified electrician to check it for you."


From http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315206489.html

Thanks to canucklehead for the link.