I think that there are illegally installed electrics in a house that I am interested in. If I want to buy the house what should I do?
Illegal installation
- Thread starter Theo61
- Start date
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Call the police.
As Lectrician said Call the Police - you don't need a survey to negotiate - there is nothing to negotiate - abstracting electricity is a criminal offence.
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If this concerns the hard-wiring of the installation and not erroneous activities regarding abstracting of power(then the electrical supplier should be informed, I would leave the police to them).
Firstly ask the estate agent for electric installation documents and building control compliance certificates. Or ask your solicitor to source these.
I doubt a survey is going to state any illegal activities, they may mention that the electrics need inspecting but that seems to come generic with the reports regardless of condition. Ideally you need to speak to your solicitor regarding your issues and ask for some clarification on this.
The correct procedure to find out if the installation is safe for continued service would be via an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), the report will not state of any illegal installs though but will state non-conformities, relating to potential dangers and an estimated time when alterations could have been made.
There are limitations to the extent that a EICR report goes, generally the fabric of the building is not removed (so no walls broken in to or floors lifted) there maybe parts of the system that are inaccessible also, that will limit the extent of the report, so be aware of this.
With a little investigation you could then by the help of building controls find out whether something illegally may have been installed, but this would purely concern notifiable work.
This can become a can of worms.
But out of interest what do you think maybe illegal about the installation?
Firstly ask the estate agent for electric installation documents and building control compliance certificates. Or ask your solicitor to source these.
I doubt a survey is going to state any illegal activities, they may mention that the electrics need inspecting but that seems to come generic with the reports regardless of condition. Ideally you need to speak to your solicitor regarding your issues and ask for some clarification on this.
The correct procedure to find out if the installation is safe for continued service would be via an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), the report will not state of any illegal installs though but will state non-conformities, relating to potential dangers and an estimated time when alterations could have been made.
There are limitations to the extent that a EICR report goes, generally the fabric of the building is not removed (so no walls broken in to or floors lifted) there maybe parts of the system that are inaccessible also, that will limit the extent of the report, so be aware of this.
With a little investigation you could then by the help of building controls find out whether something illegally may have been installed, but this would purely concern notifiable work.
This can become a can of worms.
But out of interest what do you think maybe illegal about the installation?
What leads you to believe that illegal electrical work has been carried out?
I didn't mean that electricity was being abstracted, I meant that the chap had installed the electrical system around 30 years ago but then upgraded is with new lighting circuits a couple of years ago.
T
Probably not actually illegal then.
As has been said, ask the seller to pay for an EICR and use the results of that to negotiate a lower price.
As has been said, ask the seller to pay for an EICR and use the results of that to negotiate a lower price.
Or, even if it is, it will be illegality of such a "technical" nature that there has not been one single prosecution for it since it became "illegal" nearly 9 years ago.
Theo - have you got as far as your solicitor asking the vendor questions, including whether any work has been done which required Building Regulations approval?
What are the new circuits and what rooms are they installed?
My "call the police" was a tongue in cheek comment! There are not "illegal installations", just non compliant ones.
Even if totally compliant with regulations, the work may have been undertaken 'illegally' (i.e. without notification as required by law) - but the OP doesn't seem even sure that the work was undertaken 'illegally'.
As for "illegal installations", I suppose that one which didn't comply with Part P (or other legislation) (i.e. dangerous installations) might be regarded as that - but, again, we have no reason to believe that the installation the OP is describing is dangerous.
Kind Regards, John
Indeed there are - more likely millions. However, the OP appears merely to have 'suspicions' that work may have been undertaken withoutrequired notification, and has not even suggested that there appears to be anything wrong with the installation. In that situation, if I were the seller, I think I would tell him what he could do with any request for a price reduction!
If, as seems probable, he is merely concerned about possible 'repercussions' of buying a house which may have had non-notified electrical work carried out on it, I think he should just be told to not worry.
Kind Regards, John
And what makes you think this was done illegally?
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