Electrics not to standard

momoosa

Hi all, I am i the process of purchasing a property and decided to request a full survey. which returned the following "We noted that the consumer unit is an older rewireable cassette item which ideally should be upgraded to a more modern RCD or trip switch item. From the extent of our inspection we advise that whilst the electrical installation was found to be in working order, we believe that if it were formally tested it would be found not to comply with the current requirements of the Institute of Electrical Engineer"

What options do i have?
Will this affect home Insurance if i do nothing? 

Sunsaru

Options are buy the house or not. 

The electrics were put in a time when they met the standards of that period. Time moves on and the surveyor is basically saying they don't meet current standards but they work fine. If in doubt, you can get a sparky to have a look but it won't affect your home insurance. 

tacpot12

You can get the consumer unit replaced for a modern unit for about £500, but the electrician may find other problems that must be corrected because they are unsafe, so the cost could go up to c£4000 if all the wiring needs to be replaced.   

user1977

momoosa said:

the current requirements of the Institute of Electrical Engineers

I wonder what the surveyor thinks those "current" requirements might be, given the IEE hasn't existed for 15 years... (it's now the Institute of Engineering and Technology)

momoosa

Im presuming if the consumer unit is old so is the wiring.. so would it be prudent to get an electrician out and have a look as if its going to cost £4k for a full rewire then i should be able to negotiate with the seller?

AdrianC

Negotiate on the basis of what? That the electrics are perfectly safe?

The current version of the wiring regulations (BS7671) dates back to February 2020 (18th edition, 1st amendment).
The last major revision was 2018 (18th edition).
The previous major revision (17th amendment) was 2008, with three amendments between release and 2015.
The previous major revision to that (16th amendment) was 2001, amended in 2002 and 2004.

How often do you think houses are rewired, on average?
If a house has not been rewired in the last 18 months, it may not meet the current regs.

That does not mean it's unsafe... It just means the regs have changed. Houses do not have to meet the current regs at all times.

Having said that, a rewirable fuse CU is ancient... And, yes, replacing it probably will unearth a can of worms.

But did you need a survey to tell you that?
A half-decent layman's knowledge would have told you that at a glance, pre-offer, so it does not give reasonable grounds for renegotiation imho. Renegotiating is for things you could not reasonably have been expected to know.

You can, of course, just replace the CU. You may want to rewire - if the electrics are that old, then you will probably want more sockets, different lighting, etc etc. That is not something you can reasonably renegotiate based on, either...

FreeBear

momoosa said: Im presuming if the consumer unit is old so is the wiring..

Rewireable "cassettes" sounds like a vintage Wylex fuse board. Just the four fuses ?

Might be from the 1970s, or it could be from an earlier time when rubber coated cables were used along with bakelite switches & round pin sockets.

As long as the current cables are PVC insulated, you should be safe for a while as long as there hasn't been any ham-fisted DIY bodges repairs done. Certainly worth budgeting for a rewire in the near future.

Weathergirl_76

Hi there, I am in the process of selling and had this issue come up. My buyers wanted a fixed wire test (or EICR) to confirm the electrics were safe. I know some other things came up in the survey so I was half expecting them to make me lower the price. They didn’t, they wanted the electrics tested and anything that meant it wouldn’t pass for me to pay. The first electrician told me the whole house needed a re-wire and I was looking at around £4K. I got a second option, and glad I did. The second electrician completed some minor works, replaced the consumer unit and provided a certificate total paid £700. A lot less than a re-wire, which will cause untold disruption and mess, not to mention all the making good.  

I appreciate I could have refused, and technically the CU would have been visible (in the larder) on viewing, but to keep my sale on track, and because I half expected to have to drop the price because of some other things the buyers survey pointed out, I agreed to do it. 

JGB1955

Our electrics aren't 'up to current day standards'.... but does that matter?  Not to me. They don't need to meet them....and , even oi the did, they will probably be out of date next year....

Weathergirl_76

JGB1955 said:

Our electrics aren't 'up to current day standards'.... but does that matter?  Not to me. They don't need to meet them....and , even oi the did, they will probably be out of date next year....

I agree, it doesn’t matter to me either, I never had an issue and everything works. It would be impossible to keep up to date with  regulations unless you bought a new build. 

Blue_bell_20

We bought a house that had an old fuse box (maybe circa 80s). We asked an electrician to update it to rcd. Half a days work- £420ish including other minor work. It was functional but we didn’t fancy unscrewing the box, figuring out what each one is linked to etc compared to the ease of a switch when it trips. 

You could always hire an electrician to check the electrics for piece of mind.