Electrical Safety Check before selling.

principlecounts

Hi all,

I've got a few questions, but I'll ask them on a 'question per post/thread' basis to avoid confusion. This one is about Electrics. I've had about 10 viewings on my property and have had no offers to date, and may stop viewings for a while, and come back on the market. One thing I would like to correct are the electrics, for reasons being:

1) Our consumer unit (fuse box) - well it's unsafe - it doesn't have a cover, and needs to really be housed in a proper lockable unit, at the moment it's a loose wooden flap.

2) I moved in 3 years ago, and we've never done an electrical inspection test (and I don't recall seeing one)

3) I don't want to get bugged about it during the legal process.

My question is, what work do I need an electrician to carry out that I can confidently say the property has passed an Electrical Safety Check? To my knowledge I know I need to replace the consumer unit and have an Electrical Periodic Inspection Report, is there anything else?

Many Thanks for reading.

G_M

principlecounts wrote: »

Hi all,

I've got a few questions, but I'll ask them on a 'question per post/thread' basis to avoid confusion.


My question is, what work do I need an electrician to carry out that I can confidently say the property has passed an Electrical Safety Check? .

Please don't. Just put all you Qs in a single post in a single thread. Better than swamping the forum with a whole raft of threads. and better than dragging out a thread with endless new Qs

Periodic Electrical Inspection.

http://www.niceic.com/

Atomix

Roughly speaking, as long as the electrics have an earth wire, the sparky will need to check each unit, (electrical point in the house) then install a new consumer unit (fuse box) which will have the newer fuses and a 30 milliamp trip switch... You'll then get an up to date certificate - my best friend is a sparky and has told me what needs doing here in my property to bring it up to date, even though he's my best mate, he said he'd have to check each cable leaving the fusebox etc (if the house burnt down due to an electrical fault - or someone got a shock / insurance may be void) - therefore it's worth doing properly.

Also a 30 milliamp trip switch cuts off the electrics so in theory a child could stick a metal object in the live socket and the electrics would instantly shut off (it's that safe!!)

Atomix

http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/electrical-items/rcds-explained/

You'll need one of these in your new fuse box basically

Atomix

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p43313?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=googleshopping&utm_campaign=googleshopping&mkwid=AaPSXJ5C&pcrid=46329808463&gclid=CLDjl__-3sACFY_MtAodUC0Atg

To give you an idea this unit comes with 10 fuse switches and x2 30 milliamp trip switches - mk (good make) £60-

And the bar is flexible so you can line up the current wire configuration going into it, hopefully you won't need the house rewiring?

dj1471

Personally I wouldn't bother - let the buyer pay for an EICR if they feel the need.

But if you're going to replace the CU I wouldn't pay for an EICR as well - a decent electrician will check your wiring etc. prior to replacing it and as long as you use a Part P registered electrician you'll get a building regulations completion certificate once it's done (make sure you do, because you'll need it when selling). Also be aware when getting quotes that consumer units cost about £50, so everything on top of that is labour.

However, if your CU is old your wiring likely is too and a re-wire could be necessary before the CU can be upgraded...

Owain_Moneysaver

principlecounts wrote: »

1) Our consumer unit (fuse box) - well it's unsafe - it doesn't have a cover, and needs to really be housed in a proper lockable unit, at the moment it's a loose wooden flap.

Photos please.

principlecounts

G_M wrote: »

Please don't. Just put all you Qs in a single post in a single thread. Better than swamping the forum with a whole raft of threads. and better than dragging out a thread with endless new Qs

Periodic Electrical Inspection.

http://www.niceic.com/

Thanks for the link, but I don't agree with placing a bunch of unrelated questions in one post. I'm of the opinion that if I target the thread around a specific discussion it's much more helpful for others who may have a similar query to me.

principlecounts

(How annoying was that, I had a nice reply for you all and I accidently close the browser tab...grr)

Thanks for your replies folks, much appreciated - 'give and ye shall receive.'

To sum up:

- no need to bother with the EICR, leave that to the buyer.
- a new consumer unit should cost about £60 with new fuses and switches.
- with a new consumer fitted I should receive a certificate.

I did have a quote from an electrician for £300 to refit the consumer unit, my pockets weren't deep at the time, so I thought I come back to it later.

Someone said, photos:

Photo 1: (Covered - not opened)
http://snag.gy/gVzVF.jpg

Photo 2: (Lifting the lid)
http://s3.postimg.org/x6r58tz43/IMG_8684.jpg

Photo 3: (Fuse box exposed)
http://s28.postimg.org/vo0375oh9/IMG_8685.jpg

Atomix

New consumer unit - £60
Mornings work for a sparky -

I'd do it for my own safety - looks like a death/fire trap...

Just bite the bullet on that one!

(You might save a few pennies if you can buy a new cu which is compatable with your fuses...)

The good news - looks like the wiring is ok (modern)

knightstyle

Well you have an RCD, have you tested it?
I would just put in the home owners report that you tested the RCD protection and it worked, let the purchaser update the consumer unit if they want to.