EICR apparently not done properly

hanb

Hi all,

Hoping someone might be able to help when google hasn’t.

When we bought our house 3 years ago, the EICR said that everything was fine which although a relief was a surprise as there were some sockets that looked like they had issues.

Anyway, said sockets are not causing issues (smells and tripping the house) so we’ve had an electrician out to let us know what needs doing. They’ve said that the checks can’t have been done properly as the sockets and some wiring wouldn’t have passed them if they had been.

I’m assuming little can be done about this but it’s looking like we will need quite a bit of work doing to resolve which we hadn’t expected based on the report and being told all was good for 5 years. Is this just a ‘suck it up’ situation or is there anything we should/could do about it?

Thanks in advance

Hannah

phill99

Playing devils advocate, the original electrician who did the EICR could simply say 'It was fine when I tested it'. It is then up to you to prove otherwise.


The cost of getting repairs done is probably a lot less than litigation.

Risteard

As @phill99 has stated.

Also, the Report won't have stated that "all is good for 5 years". That is completely misinterpreting it. What it is stating is that considering the condition of the electrical installation at the time of the periodic inspection and testing, that in the considered opinion of the Inspector it should be further inspected and tested after an interval not exceeding five years.

However damage, deterioration etc. can continue to occur and there is no guarantee it will be fine for this period.

Furthermore if you read the notes it clearly states that the recommended date of the next inspection is subject to all remedial works being carried out - so if these issues were not addressed then the Report never suggested that it could be left for 5 years.

As for "everything being fine" I obviously don't know what was written on the Report but I can tell you that 95% of EICRs and PIRs I issue declare the electrical installation to be in an unsatisfactory condition. It is quite rare for there to be no issues requiring either immediate or urgent remedial action or further investigation without delay.

G_M

Who instructed the EICR? You or the seller?

sevenhills

hanb wrote: »

Anyway, said sockets are not causing issues (smells and tripping the house) so we’ve had an electrician out to let us know what needs doing. They’ve said that the checks can’t have been done properly as the sockets and some wiring wouldn’t have passed them if they had been.

Maybe your electrian is hoping to get some work?

Ectophile

The trouble with EICRs is that they are down to the opinion of the person carrying them out. One person's code 1 may be another's code 2. One person's code 2 may be given no code by another.

hanb

Thanks all. It was the seller’s electrician that had carried out the inspection. There were not notes or advisories or anything and was just ticked off.

The electrician that came round suggested getting another to see what else could be wrong on top of what we asked him to look at and wasn’t pushing for work (we have another coming out for another opinion).

But as said, impossible to prove otherwise I’m sure. Just frustrating that that’s the case.

Thanks again, much appreciated!

Ectophile

That makes it even harder to do anything. The original electrician is only answerable to the person who employed them. And they gave that person exactly what they wanted - a bit of paper saying everything was fine.