Electrical inspection

Submitted by Kay Hammond on Tue, 2010-06-01 09:37

 

Hi, I was wondering if an electrician could help with out? We've sold our house
and we're out viewing other houses at the moment. We found one we
really like today, but I'm not sure about the electrics. Is there such a thing as an electric inspection before you buy a house, and if so how would I go about this?
I'd rather an electrician looked at it than just a surveyor who would probably just
recommend we got an electrician in?

Comments

1 comment posted
Hi Kay, Congratulations on

Hi Kay,

Congratulations on selling your house! You are correct when you say what the surveyor would recommend. There are two types of electrical inspections you can have carried out in this instance.

1) A visual inspection carried out by a suitably competent person

2) A Periodic inspection report ( PIR )

No. 1 may be enough to fulfil any mortgage requirements but personally they are not worth anything for your own piece of mind. A visual inspection is making sure there are no exposed cables or sockets / switches hanging off the walls etc..

No. 2 would be carried out by a qualified electrician, carrying out No.1 and also taking readings and carrying out tests on the electrical infrastructure & installation right back to the electrical distributors main supply. If all is well you would also get a legal document / certificate stating " Satisfactory ". If the installation is not satisfactory then you would also receive a certificate outlining the problems found and marked "Unsatisfactory". This you could then of course use to reduce the price of the property you are buying accordingly.

The industry standard prices, dependent on how many circuits are in the property, for the above are as follow:

1) £80 - £140
2) £180 - £240

Please visit the MyLocalElectrician directory of electricians to find a local electrician in your area.

I hope I have been of help.

Gazza.

Gazza's picture
Posted by Gazza on Tue, 2010-06-01 09:53