Gas, heating and electric inspections?

livalicious

Hi there,

We are FTB's and had a survey done on a 3 bed mid terrace house we wish to purchase. The surveyor recommended we check that there are recent test certificates for Gas, Heating, Water and Electrics or if none were available to get them all inspected before proceeding with the purchase.

My question is, is it reasonable for us to expect that the vendors have all of these services tested and certificates provided. Or should we get electricians/engineers out, to check it over and give us quotes of any work needs doing? Sorry for the very naive question, but having been living in house-sharing accomodation over the years, we never had to worry about any of the above, so dont have the first clue about how to go about sorting these things out.

If we did need to get tradesmen out to quote us on work need doing or to check things over, could anyone please recommend reliable electricians/engineers in Kent/Greater London area, or websites I could look up? And also how much should we expect to pay for them to give quotes, or is that usually free of charge??!

Thanks

C_Mababejive

The surveyor is just covering his own backside.

Vendors are under no obligation to have their equipment tested or to be in possession of any kind of test cert.

They may well have a maintenance contract for the central heating.

Andy_WSM

livalicious wrote: »

Hi there,

We are FTB's and had a survey done on a 3 bed mid terrace house we wish to purchase. The surveyor recommended we check that there are recent test certificates for Gas, Heating, Water and Electrics or if none were available to get them all inspected before proceeding with the purchase.

My question is, is it reasonable for us to expect that the vendors have all of these services tested and certificates provided. Or should we get electricians/engineers out, to check it over and give us quotes of any work needs doing? Sorry for the very naive question, but having been living in house-sharing accomodation over the years, we never had to worry about any of the above, so dont have the first clue about how to go about sorting these things out.

If we did need to get tradesmen out to quote us on work need doing or to check things over, could anyone please recommend reliable electricians/engineers in Kent/Greater London area, or websites I could look up? And also how much should we expect to pay for them to give quotes, or is that usually free of charge??!

Thanks

It's not usual for any householder to have certificates to say that any of the services have been checked on a regular basis. I've never seen one for "water", although people may have service contract on boilers - although they may well not nowadays...

With regards getting things checked. Be careful what you ask for. The last house I sold, the buyer insisted on having the electrics surveyed and contacted me to say "the whole house needs rewiring and a new consumer unit fitted" - That was news to me, so I contacted his electrician and the electrician said that the quote was not to see if the current installation was working ok, which he conceded it was, but was a quote to make the house meet the current regulations - not something I was obliged to do to sell the property.

Cardew

As stated above, no requirement for any certificates to be held by an owner and I don't know of anyone who has had them unless the property has been rented - and then only for gas.

In many cases surveyors just 'pass the buck' and, as stated above, cover themselves in case there is a problem in the future. Their report is often used as a stick to beat down the asking price.

livalicious

It may be in many cases surveyors do cover their backs, and Ive read that electrics, etc are the standard things they recommend be checked. However, we would also like to make sure they are all in good working order before moving in, or at least safe.

The surveyor recommended getting the electrics in the shed tested for safety, as well as a drains test/suvey, as the vendor informed him (and us at our second viewing) that when she first moved in, the bathroom flooded because there was a problem with the drains, but they havent had a problem since. Im assuming the drains test is what he means by water test...

We've asked the solicitor to ask the vendor if they could get these checked, but after reading this I have a feeling its going to be a no...

Are there any websites anyone can recommend to find electricians/engineers to do inspections? Anyone? Please?

Canucklehead

Good morning: in regard to the central heating/boiler, you could ask to see a copy of the Benchmark and a Building Compliance certificate for the boiler if installed since April 2005. You can find a RGI here
or you could try the CIPHE for a qualified plumber/RGI.

HTH

Canucklehead

Premier_2

livalicious wrote: »

...If we did need to get tradesmen out to quote us on work need doing or to check things over, could anyone please recommend reliable electricians/engineers in Kent/Greater London area, or websites I could look up? And also how much should we expect to pay for them to give quotes, or is that usually free of charge??!

Thanks

I'm sure the surveyor who strongly suggested you employ the services of an expert in all the stated areas will know someone who he would more than happily recommend to you to carry out the extra work

However, as others state, there's usually no requirement (... and it prevents you suing the original surveyor if it does turn pear shaped)

As with the original surveyor, you should get a quote for free as to how much the extra specialist surveys will cost.