Selling house - Electrics pre 2005

[Fozziebear40]

Hi

This is my first post, thanks in advance for your help.

I am currently selling my house ( sold subject to contract ), 2 bed terrace built 1901. When I bought it in 2002 it had been 'modernised' by a builder which included re-wiring. I never got a Certificate or guarantee for that.

The prospective buyer has had a full condition survey done which the house seems to have passed, we had done the HIP etc. sale progressing. We have since had a list of forms from the buyers solicitor to fill in ( what is the point of a HIP! don't get me started )

One of the questions, 'Have you had any electrical work done on the property since 1st January 2005?' and the answer is No.

But we are stuck without a Certificate for the electric's as a whole. I presume we could get them tested and a certificate issued..... but the 'dodgy' thing is, their is a 13amp fused spur in the bathroom which isolates the whirlpool bath. ( It has it's own waterproof switch on the bath ) again, pre 2005.

The spur could be relocated through the wall to the bedroom on the other side but that would open up another can of worms with the new regs and work done post 2005.

Surely you can sell a house wired to pre-2005 standards or else all houses for sale would have to have been rewired in the last 4 years?

Any suggestions please?

Cheers

 

[Steve]

You're missing the 2005 point.

In 2005, Part P came in. This is not a set of electrical standards. The standards did NOT change until July 2008, when the 17th edition of the wiring regs was released.

Part P sets out who can do what work, and under what circumstances and what locations. The general public is still pretty much ignorant to this, it was not advertised very well, if at all, and the DIY stores do not let much slip about it either, because it would impact their sales.

This is why it asks on your survey. I'll bet it also says "if the answer is yes, do you have a certificate for the work carried out" or words to that effect.

WRT the fused spur, it is probably contrary to the regs now, and probably was before the 17th edition and before 2005. The regs are not retrospective - every installation did not need upgrading in July 2008. Dont worry about it. If it needs shifting, the new owners might ask for £100 off or whatever to cover it.

 

[Chri5]

Pre part P (2005) work could be done by more or less anyone- proper electrical contractors would have produced a EIC- Electrical installation cert.

You haven't made it clear- have you be asked to produce a cert for your house or not ?

If you have then you could simply respond that you never receieved a cert when you arrived as the new owner of the property.

If the cert is a deal breaker, then get a sparks to do a PIR and resolve all code 1 issues hightlighted on the report. A PIR on a 2 up 2 down, 4 or 5 circuits at the board isn't going to be expensive.

 

[Paul_C]

the 'dodgy' thing is, their is a 13amp fused spur in the bathroom which isolates the whirlpool bath. ( It has it's own waterproof switch on the bath ) again, pre 2005.

Where is the FCU actually located in relation to the bathtub? If it's a suitable distance away, it wouldn't even be a problem with a PIR to the 17th edition.

 

[Fozziebear40]

"if the answer is yes, do you have a certificate for the work carried out" or words to that effect.

WRT the fused spur, it is probably contrary to the regs now, and probably was before the 17th edition and before 2005. The regs are not retrospective - every installation did not need upgrading in July 2008. Dont worry about it. If it needs shifting, the new owners might ask for £100 off or whatever to cover it.

Thanks steve, you are spot on about the wording

That has stopped me worrying. Yes deduct a few bob if they ask.

Thanks Chri5. Yes they just asked about still under guarantee I think the builder went bust. I got no certificates for anything, DPC, floor etc.

 

[Fozziebear40]

the 'dodgy' thing is, their is a 13amp fused spur in the bathroom which isolates the whirlpool bath. ( It has it's own waterproof switch on the bath ) again, pre 2005.

Where is the FCU actually located in relation to the bathtub? If it's a suitable distance away, it wouldn't even be a problem with a PIR to the 17th edition.

It's at the side of the bath, just above the skirting. Their is a fixed shower screen on that corner of the bath so you couldn't actually reach it and turn it off while you were sat in the bath.

 

[Adam_151]

At that level, if its within 600mm of the edge of the bath then its in bathroom zone two and shouldn't be there, and would probably get a code 2 on a perioidic.... worry about that when/if the buyer gets a periodic carried out ... just negogate a revised price to cover remedials

 

[Fozziebear40]

At that level, if its within 600mm of the edge of the bath then its in bathroom zone two and shouldn't be there

Even prior to 2002?

 

[Steve]

At that level, if its within 600mm of the edge of the bath then its in bathroom zone two and shouldn't be there

Even prior to 2002?

Yes. The 16th edition came out in the early 1990's, IIRC.

 

[RF Lighting]

1992

 

[flameport]

The prospective buyer has had a full condition survey done which the house seems to have passed

In that case, where is the problem?

If certificates or other documents for electrical work are not available, then that's just the same as the vast majority of properties.
As for a warranty - what planet are the buyers on? Even if the works in 2002 did include some kind of warranty (not likely), it would have expired by now anyway.

Don't bother getting a PIR - if the buyers want one, they can pay for it.
If you do have one done, it will just give the buyers a long list of items which they will use to knock down the price - and as they have presumably already agreed on this, you don't want to go there.

As long as you provide correct answers to the questions about the property, you won't have any problems.

 

[Paul_C]

Yes. The 16th edition came out in the early 1990's, IIRC.

1992, although I think the concept of bathroom zones was introduced as an amendment to the original 16th edition soon after rather than being in the 16th from the outset. Either way, the defined zones for bathrooms are a relatively recent idea.

Prior to that, the basic requirement for a switch or other control located in a bathroom was just that it be "so situated as to be normally inaccessible to a person using a fixed bath or shower" (that precise wording quoted from the 14th edition, but the idea was carried forward to the 15th).

 

[Adam_151]

Its not so different since the 15th anyway; we have just stopped festooning green and yellow wires everywhere, and started installing wonky grey RCD enclosures next to fuseboards instead...

 

[Fozziebear40]

Thanks for all your help, I might not have clicked on thanks button for all.

So fingers crossed, they don't want it tested and that bathroom spur moved, I'll just deduct a bit.

Just to trouble you experts a bit more.... if I have to get an electrician in to move this spur.... I recall a junction box under the floor to this spur and the cable from the pump going under as well.... new timber floor, boxed in bath.... you get the picture

I have an access door in the bath panel to get to the pump and cable but without ripping out the bath panel, bathroom floor or the ceiling in the kitchen below it's not accessible.

Edited out a silly idea

 

[timtheenchanter]

just answer NO, we bought our house 2 and a bit years ago, the same questions asked by our solicitor.

we had a PIR done because it was a request/condition of the mortgage that it was done, and any code 1/2 acted upon, in our case it was just a new CU and bonding up to code.

the door in the bath panel is easy, screw a plate over it so you need a tool to get in, job done.