Buying a house - do i need an electrical condition installation report?

Dhazza

Hello, I'm hoping to get some advice on this as we are currently purchasing a house. The surveyor's report has flagged a possible issue with the electrics but was quite vague about the scope of the work or how urgent it might be. It's quite an old property so, from his cursory look at the electrics he feels we should get an electrician to look at it. The issue is that an EICR report will cost £245+ but might not be necessary. Is it usual to get an electrical report when buying a property and do we really need to get one? Or can we just get an elevtrician to give tbe house a quick check? We are very limited in our budget so we feel if we do get this done and there are problems we could flag this to the vendor who might reduce the price. 

knightstyle

Get a local electrician to have a quick look. 
Have a look here as well http://www.crannistech.co.uk/upgrade-fusebox/

notrouble

Dhazza said:

...... The issue is that an EICR report will cost £245+....

That's a ridiculous price. Shop around.

Ring the surveyor and ask exactly what makes him think there is " a possible issue". He must have noted something specific that caught his attention. What?

Not being an electrician of course, all he can do is recommend you contact an electrician. But whether whatever he saw is sufficiently worrying is unclear.

NewShadow

notrouble said:

That's a ridiculous price. Shop around.

Ring the surveyor and ask exactly what makes him think there is " a possible issue". He must have noted something specific that caught his attention. What?

Not being an electrician of course, all he can do is recommend you contact an electrician. But whether whatever he saw is sufficiently worrying is unclear. 

This. 

There's a difference between: 

"This is an older house and therefore there might be a problem with the electrics. I recommend a specialist checks them" 

AND 

"The electrics are potentially dangerous Red/Level 3 and should be checked by a specialist" 

The first is the standard professional bottom covering; the second is saying he's noticed something but isn't an electrician so it's going to put anything specific in an official report. 

A cheaper option could be to find a local electrician/tradesman that you'd consider hiring to do the actual work and pay them for their time but don't ask for an official report - just a paid quote - given, if you were hiring them to do the actual work you wouldn't need a report. The reason you pay for an official report is so that you can complain/seek compensation if you rely on what they say and they're wrong... so it's up to you if that's worth the extra cash to you. 

dimbo61

Did you take a photo of the RCB fuse box ?
If it is an old property I would guess you might need a full rewire of the property.
Did you notice 3/4 double sockets in each bedroom, any old looking light switches or old sockets.
How many sockets in the kitchen.
Have you got the estate agents details on rightmove to look at ?