Seller has an EIC for an electrical job, but no building regulations compliance certificate

Falesh

Hi there,

I'm a bit confused about this. The seller had some electrical work done, including a new consumer unit, and have provided a EIC. Our conveyancer has said that the seller doesn't have an electrical building regulations compliance certificate for the work though and so we need indemnity insurance. I thought an EIC was good enough, but obviously not. 

Rather than getting insurance we would like the correct documentation in case we want to sell. Does anyone know how we would get that building regs certificate retrospectively? And if so what sort of costs are involved? Cheers!

vacheron

If the installer was NICEIC registered they can self register the installation of a new domestic consumer unit in accordance with Part P of the Building Regulations.

If they were not, a Part P registered electrician (or Building Control) would need to re-test / sign off the installation.

Changing a CU is notifiable work and a legal requirement, however when I had my CU replaced a couple of years ago, the amount of electricians who quoted to do the work, yet were not certified to sign it off was about 50%.

Also not one of them volunteered this information until I specifically asked them the question! 

Falesh

Thanks for that. So if they were not Part P registered they could provide an EIC but not the buildings regs certificate?

We were thinking of having an EICR done anyway, could we ask a Part P electrician to provide a buildings regs certificate as part of/additionaly to that to save a bit of money?

Grizebeck

Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill regarding this. It's very very minor

Noneforit999

If the vendor had not told you about the new CU, would you have noticed and asked for the paperwork?

Most houses have had lots of electrical work done over the years, if you are getting an EICR done anyway then I would just go ahead with that. 

As somebody has said above, this is a very minor thing to quarrel about. Ensure you have a survey done and if the vendor will allow, get an EICR done to put your mind at rest.

ProDave

This also assumes you are in England or Wales.  There is no part P in Scotland for instance.

When was the CU changed?  It might already be beyond the time limit for BR enforcement?

GDB2222

In the unlikely event that BR get involved, the indemnity policy would help you rectify the situation. However, it would not cost all that much just to install a completely new CU.

warwick2001

This happened when I sold my house in 2022. The indemnity policy was £15. I paid it, and moved on. I suggest you do the same.

Falesh

The new CU and other bits were done 7 months ago. It's more that we are concerned about the impact of missing documentation if we sell in the future.

If its just a case of having it tested as part of having an electrician in we might as well, but would we have to have the whole thing redone? That seems strangely excessive.

Thanks for all the replies, they are very much appreciated!

EssexHebridean

I wouldn't worry too much about the future - chances are that at some stage you will get electrical work done yourself anyway, at which point you might elect to get the whole lot checked and signed off at that stage. Otherwise - as you are being advised now, there are always indemnity policies to solve the issue!