Getting the electrics checked before you buy a house

Why the survey does not cover it

A building surveyor is not an electrician and does not test. They look at what is visible, note the apparent age of the consumer unit and add a recommendation that a qualified electrician inspects the installation. That is entirely proper, and it means the electrical section of your survey contains no information about condition.

The gap matters because electrical remedial work is one of the larger unexpected costs a buyer meets after completion. A rewire and board upgrade on a period property can run into five figures, and it is a great deal easier to raise before exchange than after.

What an EICR before exchange gives you

An EICR is a tested, documented verdict: satisfactory or unsatisfactory, with every finding coded. C1 means danger present and requires immediate action. C2 means potentially dangerous and requires urgent remedial action. C3 is improvement recommended and does not by itself make a report unsatisfactory. FI means further investigation is required.

That coding turns a vague worry into a costed list. You will know whether you are looking at a couple of hundred pounds of remedials, a board upgrade, or a full rewire, and you will know before you are committed.

• A tested verdict rather than a visual guess
• Findings coded by severity so you can price them
• Evidence of earthing arrangement and bonding adequacy
• A schedule of circuits, useful for years afterwards

Certificates the seller should have

Ask for the paperwork for anything visibly newer than the rest of the house. A consumer unit change, a new kitchen, an extension, an outdoor supply, an EV charger or a loft conversion should all have an Electrical Installation Certificate and, where notifiable, building regulations notification.

Missing paperwork is common and is not necessarily a disaster, but it does mean nobody has evidence the work was tested. Your options are a retrospective inspection, a regularisation application, an indemnity policy, or a price adjustment. An EICR is the thing that tells you which of those is proportionate.

Using the findings sensibly

Get the remedial work priced by a registered electrician, then decide what to raise. C1 and C2 findings are legitimate negotiation points because they need doing. C3 items are improvements and pushing hard on them tends to annoy a seller for little return.

Two approaches work. Ask for a price reduction reflecting the quoted remedial cost and do the work your way after completion, which is usually the better route because you control who does it. Or ask the seller to complete the work before exchange and provide certificates, which is faster but leaves you with whoever they choose.

• Price the remedials before raising them
• Focus on C1 and C2 findings, not C3 improvements
• A price reduction usually beats seller completed works
• Budget for a board upgrade in any property with rewireable fuses

What else to look at while you are there

A viewing is a short window, so use it. Photograph the consumer unit with the cover on and, if the vendor is comfortable, the label inside. Count the sockets in the main rooms, because a house with two sockets per room was wired for a different era and you will be adding more. Look at the meter position and whether there is any evidence of an EV charger or an outside supply.

Look up as well. Ceiling roses with fabric flex, brown bakelite switches, and light fittings with no earth at the switch all tell you about the age of the lighting circuits specifically, which are very often the oldest part of a house because they are the most disruptive to replace. Note anything visibly newer than the rest, since that is exactly the work you will be asking for certificates for.

• Photograph the consumer unit and the meter position
• Count sockets per room, an easy indicator of wiring era
• Check for outside sockets, garage supplies and EV charge points
• Note anything visibly newer and ask for its certificate

Which properties are worth testing

Any property over about twenty five years old with no evidence of recent testing. Any property with a rewireable fuse board or no RCD protection. Anything that has been rented, extended, converted or had a loft conversion. Ex local authority stock in the valleys and older Cardiff and Swansea terraces are frequent cases in our experience, simply because so much of that housing stock was wired a long time ago.

For a newly built or recently and fully rewired house with certificates present, a full EICR before purchase is usually unnecessary. Ask for the certificates and read them instead.