Selling house, what certs do I need?

[jellyfish1979]

Hello

We had a conservatory built about 2 years ago, the plus sockets and the lighting were taken from a spur from our living room sockets.

To cut a long story short the conservatory company refused to issue our guarantees and electrical safety certificates after we refused to pay for a load of extras they had made up and added to the bill.

We are now selling out house and the buyers solicitors have asked for the certificates for the electrical work on the conservatory,

So heres my questions:

Do we need any certificates?
If we do can we get replacements without going to the company that installed the electrics?
If we cant get replacement certificates can we get a competent electrician to test the electrics in the conservatory and provide us with the necessary documentation to give to the buyers solicitors? Any idea how much?

According to the approved part p document we dont as the new sockets were a fused spur to an existing ring and are not in a special location.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jude

 

[Chri5]

I'd suggest you offer up a periodic inspection report (PIR) via an electrician.

While this doesn't cover the non issue MWC or EIC, it will give the purchasers a clear indication as to the standard and state of the whole electrical system.

 

[hairyben]

The nic, and possibly other schemes forbid the withholding of certificates against payment.

 

[jellyfish1979]

Thanks for your advice.

Thats really interesting hairy ben, do you know how I can enforce this?

Jude

 

[il78]

Which ever scheme the electrician was under...Napit, NICEIC etc..give them a call....

Was done two years ago though...is this company still going?

 

[jellyfish1979]

Yes, the company is still going, surprising really with the service they gave us!
Do you think the PIR certificate would be enough to get the buyers solicitors off our back?

Jude

 

[rebuke]

Other than getting a certificate from the people who did the work, that's all you can do. An electrician cannot complete a MWC (Minor Works Certificate) / EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate) for work they didn't do, so all they can complete is a PIR....

Did you need to notify building control for the conservatory for anything (not necessarily the electrics), as if so then having a completion certificate for it might work - given that it should basically state that the conservatory was compliant with the building regs, so therefore given that Part P exists, that should mean they were happy the electrics were compliant...

 

[jellyfish1979]

Didnt have to notify building control as far as I am aware unless the conservatory company did it. But we should have had something through the post if they did shouldnt we?

This Part P is shaping up to be a right pain in the arse! I bet we are not the only ones have had work done but no certificate has been supplied for whatever reason. And I bet we are not the only ones sweating about it when it comes to selling our house!

I am just really concerned that the sale wont go through as a result of this, but that shouldnt happen should it? I am sure conveyancers are coming accross this all the time and they must accept a PIR or something similar otherwise house sales would be falling through all the time.

Jude

 

[ColJack]

you acted in good faith..

give the name of the company to the buyers soliciters and explain that they witheld the completion certificates over a dispute over charges..

let your buyers solicitor chase them if they want them that bad..


failing that, you can apply to the LABC for a standardisation certificate ( or normalisation or something like that.. )

 

[Chri5]

You could always ask a electrician to come and change the socket faceplates and ask for a MWC to cover the work.

This would then mean the circuit and wiring would be tested and his could issue the MWC, however this would be dated at the time of works (March 2009).

I'd suggest that you ask your legals to talk to the other side and remind them that this work was minor and see if a PIR (which covers the whole house) would be okay.

The selling point of the PIR is that you are not JUST getting the newish work checked, but the entire installation.