5-yearly electricity test certificates

Be_Happy

Putting house on market and had survey done for Home Report (Scotland), really puzzled by one of the survey comments.

Very good survey with only 3 minor items recommended for future repair or replacement. However, one of the items under 'Electricity', states:

"It is recommended that all electrical installations be checked every five years to keep up to date with frequent changes in safety regulations. There is no recent test certificate available."

We do have storage heaters, but this does not seem to apply to them as they feature in another category of Heating and Hot Water, where the report says "There are no obvious defects affecting the heating system."

I've never heard of this requirement for test certificates?

Ebe_Scrooge

It's not a legal requirement for a domestic property. It's just the surveyor covering his backside. Note that - in Scotland - a safety check IS required if the property is being rented out to tenants. But for a normal "family" home there is no legal requirement.


Yes, it's probably sensible to get the electrics checked every so often, especially if they're quite old. And a purchaser may well pay for a check to be carried out - any defects could then be used to negotiate a discount.


Worth pointing out - regulation changes are not retrospective. So a new installation would have to comply with the current regulations, but if the house was built 30 years ago, it would have had to comply with the regulations in force at that time. There is no requirement to bring it in line with current regs. Of course, you may choose to do so for your own peace of mind, or to increase the saleability of the house - but there's no legal requirement to do so.

Strider590

It's like everything else these days, not a damn given about safety, only about having someone to blame if anything goes wrong.

Risteard

Contrary to the incorrect information you have been given there is a legal obligation in Scotland to have a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report for a tenants property.

bris

Risteard wrote: »

Contrary to the incorrect information you have been given there is a legal obligation in Scotland to have a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report for a tenants property.

Nobody said anything about a tenants property so where is the incorrect information?

Ebe_Scrooge

Risteard wrote: »

Contrary to the incorrect information you have been given there is a legal obligation in Scotland to have a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report for a tenants property.

I do know that - but the OP is talking about putting their house on the market and having a home report done. So the law regarding tenancy doesn't apply. And that's what I meant when I referred ( somewhat ambiguously, perhaps ) to "domestic" situations - I meant to imply that the law for landlords is different to that for ordinary housebuyers.

Be_Happy

Yes it's an owner occupied house, no tenants.

Did feel that the surveyor was only trying to find fault, having given everything except 3 items a rating of 1 (no problem).

Was only surprised that we'd never heard of 5-yearly testing. House was built in 1970s, but has been very well maintained and did, in fact, get a new fuse box fitted (with an electrical completion certificate) around 8 years ago when electric shower was installed.

Davesnave

Be_Happy wrote: »

Did feel that the surveyor was only trying to find fault.....

Not really. It sounds like part of a copy and paste job he always does in the report and nothing personal.

Ebe_Scrooge

Be_Happy wrote: »

Did feel that the surveyor was only trying to find fault

To be fair, he was probably just covering himself. He's not an electrician, and as such cannot really comment on the electrics. And the 5-year check is merely a "recommendation". It could be argued that it's not unreasonable to "recommend" an inspection. In fact, it's usually pretty standard on most reports.


You say the house was built in the '70s, so the wiring is probably 40-ish years old ? As long as you've not noticed any problems ( e.g. circuit-breakers constantly tripping ) then there's no need for concern. And if you've had a new Consumer Unit fitted recently, I would say there's even less cause for concern - any problems would have come to light then.


As I said before, the purchaser may wish to have a check carried out ( at their expense ) before completing the purchase. That's not unreasonable, but don't let them try and kid you that the house absolutely MUST be rewired just because it's old, and please can you knock £5k off the price to allow for this

Heedtheadvice

Regarding the 5 year check.....
I presume Risteard was only clarifying the statement that, if taken by itself, is strictly incorrect and might lead to someone being misled if taken outside the context of this thread.
The statement would be fine if the caveat "(except for rented property)" or some such were added?

Can I suggest an edit to post 2 Scrooge?

Ebe_Scrooge

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

Regarding the 5 year check.....
I presume Risteard was only clarifying the statement that, if taken by itself, is strictly incorrect and might lead to someone being misled if taken outside the context of this thread.
The statement would be fine if the caveat "(except for rented property)" or some such were added?

Can I suggest an edit to post 2 Scrooge?

Fair point - original post edited.