Level 2 Survey old style fuse box

dimbo61

I hope I have not offended anyone but asking the seller to have a EICR survey carried out is going to cost about £150.
Some vendors would be happy to arrange this while others will not want to pay for something that shows defects in the property !
It would be the same for a Gas Safe Certificate ( needed annually for BTL properties ) 
However how many homeowners have an annual service on the gas appliances ?
If you buy a property with Gas appliances and gas heating I would strongly recommend you have the equipment serviced and checked for your own safety.

bflare

desthemoaner said:

bflare said:

dimbo61 said:

Well you can ask your solicitor to request the Owner has an EICR report done and the owner can say NO.
Where do you go from there ?
When was the property built as the electrics look rather old.
If the Landlord has been renting out the property since 1999 I think it's long overdue for a rewire and lazy Landlord has been failing to carry out his legal obligations.
Skimping on the electrics means skimping on other things 

I have no problem paying for the EICR myself. I am a first time buyer and to be honest I wasn't sure who's responsibility it was to have this test done. The property has never been rented. The house was built in 1985 according to the surveyor but I'm not too sure about that as the first record of sale was in 1999. Since 1999 it's had the same owner. 

You came here in good faith, and admitted your lack of knowledge on the topic when you asked for help. Nobody has the right to accuse you of "naivety", nor are they justified in talking down to you.

However, its worth repeating the point: solicitors are there for the legal stuff, and your contact for arranging surveys, contractors' visits etc is the seller's EA. If you're particularly concerned that a seller won't allow you to organise such checks there are two options: 1)Walk away, or 2)Factor in significant expense for potential remedial works, and get the EICR done when you move in. Hopefully costs will be modest.

I expect to be treated poorly on forums and that's the sad but harsh reality. It says more about those people than me. 

Thanks for your clarification. I've contacted my EA this morning and asked if they could ask the vendor if he would allow the needed checks which I would pay for. I await their reply.

TheJP

desthemoaner said:

bflare said:

dimbo61 said:

Well you can ask your solicitor to request the Owner has an EICR report done and the owner can say NO.
Where do you go from there ?
When was the property built as the electrics look rather old.
If the Landlord has been renting out the property since 1999 I think it's long overdue for a rewire and lazy Landlord has been failing to carry out his legal obligations.
Skimping on the electrics means skimping on other things 

I have no problem paying for the EICR myself. I am a first time buyer and to be honest I wasn't sure who's responsibility it was to have this test done. The property has never been rented. The house was built in 1985 according to the surveyor but I'm not too sure about that as the first record of sale was in 1999. Since 1999 it's had the same owner. 

You came here in good faith, and admitted your lack of knowledge on the topic when you asked for help. Nobody has the right to accuse you of "naivety", nor are they justified in talking down to you.

However, its worth repeating the point: solicitors are there for the legal stuff, and your contact for arranging surveys, contractors' visits etc is the seller's EA. If you're particularly concerned that a seller won't allow you to organise such checks there are two options: 1)Walk away, or 2)Factor in significant expense for potential remedial works, and get the EICR done when you move in. Hopefully costs will be modest.

My comment about naivety was not meant to offend. The remark was based on the OPs comments that they first asked the EA to get the vendor to get an EICR completed and then after advice from forum members that this is something the OP should do went and asked their solicitor to sort out. Im trying to offer advice to the OP so that they can move things along swiftly. 

On reflection we have all been guilty of being naive at some point of buying a house and with that i apologise OP for my comment. 

desthemoaner

TheJP said:

desthemoaner said:

bflare said:

dimbo61 said:

Well you can ask your solicitor to request the Owner has an EICR report done and the owner can say NO.
Where do you go from there ?
When was the property built as the electrics look rather old.
If the Landlord has been renting out the property since 1999 I think it's long overdue for a rewire and lazy Landlord has been failing to carry out his legal obligations.
Skimping on the electrics means skimping on other things 

I have no problem paying for the EICR myself. I am a first time buyer and to be honest I wasn't sure who's responsibility it was to have this test done. The property has never been rented. The house was built in 1985 according to the surveyor but I'm not too sure about that as the first record of sale was in 1999. Since 1999 it's had the same owner. 

You came here in good faith, and admitted your lack of knowledge on the topic when you asked for help. Nobody has the right to accuse you of "naivety", nor are they justified in talking down to you.

However, its worth repeating the point: solicitors are there for the legal stuff, and your contact for arranging surveys, contractors' visits etc is the seller's EA. If you're particularly concerned that a seller won't allow you to organise such checks there are two options: 1)Walk away, or 2)Factor in significant expense for potential remedial works, and get the EICR done when you move in. Hopefully costs will be modest.

My comment about naivety was not meant to offend. The remark was based on the OPs comments that they first asked the EA to get the vendor to get an EICR completed and then after advice from forum members that this is something the OP should do went and asked their solicitor to sort out. Im trying to offer advice to the OP so that they can move things along swiftly. 

On reflection we have all been guilty of being naive at some point of buying a house and with that i apologise OP for my comment. 

Well said, an excellent response. 

desthemoaner

bflare said:

desthemoaner said:

bflare said:

dimbo61 said:

Well you can ask your solicitor to request the Owner has an EICR report done and the owner can say NO.
Where do you go from there ?
When was the property built as the electrics look rather old.
If the Landlord has been renting out the property since 1999 I think it's long overdue for a rewire and lazy Landlord has been failing to carry out his legal obligations.
Skimping on the electrics means skimping on other things 

I have no problem paying for the EICR myself. I am a first time buyer and to be honest I wasn't sure who's responsibility it was to have this test done. The property has never been rented. The house was built in 1985 according to the surveyor but I'm not too sure about that as the first record of sale was in 1999. Since 1999 it's had the same owner. 

You came here in good faith, and admitted your lack of knowledge on the topic when you asked for help. Nobody has the right to accuse you of "naivety", nor are they justified in talking down to you.

However, its worth repeating the point: solicitors are there for the legal stuff, and your contact for arranging surveys, contractors' visits etc is the seller's EA. If you're particularly concerned that a seller won't allow you to organise such checks there are two options: 1)Walk away, or 2)Factor in significant expense for potential remedial works, and get the EICR done when you move in. Hopefully costs will be modest.

I expect to be treated poorly on forums and that's the sad but harsh reality. It says more about those people than me. 

Thanks for your clarification. I've contacted my EA this morning and asked if they could ask the vendor if he would allow the needed checks which I would pay for. I await their reply.

You shouldn't expect to be "treated poorly".  On occasion posters effect a level of knowledge they clearly don't possess, and to some extent they deserve derision. You did not. 

michael1234

Given the electrics were installed in the 80s the EICR is likely to throw up other issues. But you inspected the house before you put in your offer and you saw it was an 80s house and you saw the fuse box.

If I was asked to pay for an EICR and pay for the remedials I'd put it back on the market immediately. Everyone is different though and many might not be as annoyed as me !

bflare

michael1234 said:

Given the electrics were installed in the 80s the EICR is likely to throw up other issues. But you inspected the house before you put in your offer and you saw it was an 80s house and you saw the fuse box.

If I was asked to pay for an EICR and pay for the remedials I'd put it back on the market immediately. Everyone is different though and many might not be as annoyed as me !

I'm glad I don't get as annoyed as you do over something completely unrelated to me. Thanks for your input though. Hope it's released some of that tension?

michael1234

bflare said:

michael1234 said:

Given the electrics were installed in the 80s the EICR is likely to throw up other issues. But you inspected the house before you put in your offer and you saw it was an 80s house and you saw the fuse box.

If I was asked to pay for an EICR and pay for the remedials I'd put it back on the market immediately. Everyone is different though and many might not be as annoyed as me !

I'm glad I don't get as annoyed as you do over something completely unrelated to me. Thanks for your input though. Hope it's released some of that tension?

I was just saying what I would do in your vendors situation which I will be in shortly as I'm putting my house on the market.

I'm not annoyed at all. I should have been clearer and said "annoyed as I would be in the vendor's situation".

I'm sorry if I caused any offence.

bflare

I think I'd just like to clarity things although I really shouldn't have to defend myself. 

As stated I am a first time buyer. I have absolutely no idea about the buying process. I'm 42 and rented since I was in my 20's. My Dad passed away tbis February after a short battle with cancer. He was the one i would normally ask advice from. I've been relying on a lady at work to help me and it was her who suggested that I ask the vendor to pay for the tests as she did when she sold her house. In hindsight I now see this as a mistake hence my email this morning to the EA saying I've no issue with paying.

I did not inspect the fuse box as I believed the  house was built in the early 90's and I believed the electrics shouldn't be an issue. Obviously i was wrong. 

GDB2222

bflare said:

I think I'd just like to clarity things although I really shouldn't have to defend myself. 

As stated I am a first time buyer. I have absolutely no idea about the buying process. I'm 42 and rented since I was in my 20's. My Dad passed away tbis February after a short battle with cancer. He was the one i would normally ask advice from. I've been relying on a lady at work to help me and it was her who suggested that I ask the vendor to pay for the tests as she did when she sold her house. In hindsight I now see this as a mistake hence my email this morning to the EA saying I've no issue with paying.

I did not inspect the fuse box as I believed the  house was built in the early 90's and I believed the electrics shouldn't be an issue. Obviously i was wrong. 

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about your dad passing away. 

On the electrics, it's likely that the cables in the walls and under the floors are fine, if they are less than 40 years old. I would replace the consumer unit, because I would want RCDs, but that's an easy job to do - I would guess a cost of around £300-500.

I'd be more concerned about needing new sockets. You can get those fitted with cables run in conduits on the surface of the walls, but that's a bit unsightly. If you want the cables buried in the plaster, that's possible, but it creates an awful lot of dust, and afterwards the channels will need filling, and it will all need redecorating. 

You mentioned a new burglar alarm. That's a bit of a red flag to me, for a 2 bed home. I would ask, through the solicitor, whether the owners have ever been burgled or there has been an attempted break-in. I would also check the crime stats for the area. 

By the way, I recently replaced a lot of double sockets in my house with 4 way sockets. That's a DIY job, and the sockets cost around £10.  There'll be howls of derision from the sparkies in a moment.