Buying flat without Electrical Certificate

hristina922

Hi,

We put on an offer for a flat, however, we found out that there is no electrical certificate. Is this expensive to be done? Can we request from the seller to do it before we conclude the purchasing? Or we could lower our offer to cover this ourselves? Thanks

worried_jim

Is this a new thing? I’ve never had one or heard of one?

Robin9

You can get a test done but its a bit like an MOT - only good on the day the test is done.

Cost about £150

Slithery

I'd estimate that 99% of houses in the UK don't have a valid electrical certificate (whatever that means).

If you want to get an electrician to produce an EICR for the property you are buying then by all means go ahead, but expect to pay for this yourself (without lowering your offer).

In all the property purchases that I've been involved in over the years I've never bothered.

hristina922

I am just not aware whether this is somthing important for the flat to have, if it is a necessity and the price at all.... If it is something vital and cost 2000 I would lower the offer of course.. If it is not, that is okay

Browntoa

Unless it's a 1930's house that's never had the electric cables updated it will be fine

flashg67

Has this been flagged up in the survey? it's usually the case that surveyors suggest checks to cover their backsides as they're not qualified to check electrics/gas etc.

Get one done if you're worried, but if I was selling, I'd be reluctant to pay for this, I'd expect the buyer to.

The fact is that 'most' houses won't be upto the latest code because the rules change so often. This in no way means the electrics are unsafe, or even need replacing.

G_M

Do you have concerns about the electrical system?

Does the age of the property, and apparant age of the plugs, sockets, consumer unit /fuse box worry you?

Have you had a survey done in which the surveyor highlighted an obvious electrical concern (not just a vague "I'm not an electrician so....." or " the electrics may not be to current building regulation standard.")?

Are you by instinct an ultra-cautious person/risk averse?

If yes, find an electrician and pay him to inspect for you.

The seller has lived there for years without (I assume) any electrical issues, and is about to leave, so he has no reason to need an electrical report - whereas you are the one worrying about it.

You don't expect him to pay for your survey, or your legal searches, so why the electrical report?

RXT156

I found myself in the same situation a week ago. Solicitors spoke to vendor and they are arranging an electrical check at their own cost. After finding out that there wasn’t one, I felt uneasy about it so I am glad the vendor is arranging one 😊

buggy_boy

How old is the property? have a look at the consumer unit, is it old style pull out fuses or more modern rcd's (google to see the difference). have a look at the switch's and ceiling roses, are they modern? Unscrew a ceiling rose and see if there is a live, neutral and earth.

If the consumer unit has fuses you probably want to change that, if the ceiling rose only has live and neutral then the entire lighting circuits need to be replaced and likely a complete rewire. Have a look at the consumer unit how many fuses/rcd's do you see? Old wiring usually has few as they never had many sockets in each room, (depending on size of house), usually these days if you have a good sized kitchen I would expect that to be on its own ring...

If its really old wiring you might be able to use the above to guestimate if it needs a rewire, generally 1960's houses and older if they have not had a rewire will likely need a complete rewire, mid 70's and newer you are probably ok as long as someone has not done some bodge job on an extension etc.

eddddy

Do you mean an 'Electrical Installation Certificate' (EIC) or an 'Electrical Installation Condition Report' (EICR).

If the property has been rewired, or a new circuit added, or similar, the electrician that did the work should have provided an 'Electrical Installation Certificate'

If no 'Electrical Installation Certificate' is available, it means that the work my have been done by somebody unqualified - perhaps a DIYer.

If work has been done on the electrics with no 'Electrical Installation Certificate', that might be a cause for concern.


The 'Electrical Installation Condition Report' (EICR) is a quick safety test. It isn't really a substitute for an 'Electrical Installation Certificate'.