Survey results - advice needed about electrics

Noneforit999

As said, you may not 'need' a rewire but if the consumer unit is fairly old, you may find some/most electricians recommend one and some may not even upgrade the CU without a rewire.

It really depends on the results of an EICR as this will tell if you if there are any major safety concerns. If the cabling is uPVC (even older colours) and the cables have earthing conductors in (even if not used), you may get away with remedial works in terms of earthing the circuits and bonding as well as upgrading the CU.

However if there are lots of test fails during the EICR which are caused by cabling issues, you might find a rewire is the best option if you need to cut into walls to fix lots of cabling issues anyway.

A require is a fairly big job, its going to require cutting into walls, lifting floorboards etc. 

TTM

Thanks everyone for the additional info, it’s been educational and hugely helpful. 

I’ve booked in a test and will see what the report comes back with.

Weathergirl_76

I recently sold my property (1950-1960 build) and the buyers wanted something to show the electrics were ‘safe’, and if not I rectified whatever it needed to make them safe. 

 I got an electrician in, who said I needed a new consumer unit and a couple of extra tasks done to make lighting into the garage ‘safe’ (even though I lived there for 18 years with no issues). To keep the sale on track I agreed to pay for the works, which gave me a report to confirm the electrics passed a safety test. It costs me around £800 in total. It meant I kept my buyers and I was able to purchase the house I wanted. 

Appreciate not everyone will agree with my decision, but my house had been on the market last year (when it was a hot market) for 6 months, and I needed to sell. 

macman

The EICR will probably tell you little more than you already know: that the system does not meet current regs. Which would be true of about 95% of UK installs, since they predate the 18th edition. That does not mean that it is in any way unsafe, or illegal.
You already know by visual inspection that it needs a modern CU with RCD protection, and some additional sockets. 

TTM

macman said:

The EICR will probably tell you little more than you already know: that the system does not meet current regs. Which would be true of about 95% of UK installs, since they predate the 18th edition. That does not mean that it is in any way unsafe, or illegal.
You already know by visual inspection that it needs a modern CU with RCD protection, and some additional sockets. 

So a test is a waste of money?  If so, should I just be getting an electrician in to quote if they can update the unit and what that would cost for now?

youth_leader

Another poster on here had a test and discovered there were problems with the earthing, her surveyor told her to let the vendors know pronto.  I'd go for the full test and then you can decide what to do.

Noneforit999

TTM said:

macman said:

The EICR will probably tell you little more than you already know: that the system does not meet current regs. Which would be true of about 95% of UK installs, since they predate the 18th edition. That does not mean that it is in any way unsafe, or illegal.
You already know by visual inspection that it needs a modern CU with RCD protection, and some additional sockets. 

So a test is a waste of money?  If so, should I just be getting an electrician in to quote if they can update the unit and what that would cost for now?

It could be if all everything is fine other than some things do not conform to current regs.

However if there are a myriad of issues which do need sorting, it will pickup on those. 

In theory, you could have a host of issues.

Undersized wiring - Its possible someone had added a cooker circuit with a cable not big enough for the load.
Broken socket circuits - Socket circuits are often ring meaning they feed back to the CU to form a ring and if someone breaks the ring (some dodgy DIY maybe), it could mean the cables are no longer able to support the level of load on them.
Earthing issues - Older houses often have no earthing to the lighting circuits, although its debatable if this is a safety issue if the owner is aware and has no plans to use metal faceplates or fittings.
Earthing bonding issues - Gas and water pipes need to be bonded, some older houses don't have this. 
Any other issues - You don't know who has worked on the electrics in the past X years. Many things are able to be done DIY so in theory, there are no checks for a homeowner installing additional sockets or lights etc or even extending electrics into the garden or outhouses.

Chances are, the report will just list a load of very minor things that are fine from a safety standpoint but technically don't confirm to the latest regs (and nor do they need to) but for the sake of £200, you could find there are a load of safety issues which actually do need fixing. 

TTM

I know so little about this I’m happy to pay someone to tell me where things stand.  It’ll be money well spent I think. 

Many thanks again to everyone’s very helpful advice.

[Deleted User]

sourpuss2021 said:

I live in a Victorian terrace that was converted into flats in the late 1990s.   The wires under the floorboards look like this.   Electrician told me that they're fine, no need for a re-wire.  Though the consumer unit needs replacing as it has no RCD protection.  So it may well be a similar situation in the property you're looking at.

That's fine as long as you don't want to make any changes to anything.

If you want to add additional sockets you will probably need to replace at least some of that wiring. You may also find that you experience electrical issues like lights blinking or the sound on your TV dropping out momentarily when something is switched on, due to previous owners adding spurs on top of spurs, or simply because that wiring is a bit on the thin side for the amount of modern appliances you want to run. It was fine back when appliances were much simpler, but not so much now.

Then again it may also be completely fine.

Moving is a golden opportunity to get a re-wire done if you think you might ever want one. As I say, it creates an incredible amount of mess that is impossible to contain. Having it done in an empty house is a lot easier then after you moved in.

Weathergirl_76

TTM said:

I know so little about this I’m happy to pay someone to tell me where things stand.  It’ll be money well spent I think. 

Many thanks again to everyone’s very helpful advice.

I paid £120 for an electrics test, the electrician pointed out the items classed as ‘dangerous’ and I rectified those and paid for them myself in order to keep my sale on track. 

As other people have commented, a re-wire is a big job with lots of mess and making good. If you have to do this, I would not be living there whilst that work is going if at all possible. Good luck.