Is it worth upgrading the consumer unit or add RCD protection before selling the house?

[Bilbo80]

I got some renovations done in my house 5 years ago in my house and the builders who did work added new downlights to several rooms including the bathroom ( Zone2).

In CU there are two circuits for upstairs and downstairs lighting and none of them have RCD protection, I checked guidelines and it says if we fit downlights the circuit should have RCD protection. Please correct me if wrong. I wasn't aware of this at the time , first time buyers so we were new to all this at the time.

Now I'm planning to put the house on the market, so I'm wondering what to do with the electrical situation.

Current consumer unit has RCD protection only for the newly rewired kitchen which was done by the previous owners.

1. Consumer unit must be reasonably old so is it possible to find compatible RCD's to upgrade the circuits?
2. Is it worth upgrading the consumer unit or are there any comebacks for me if I don't do it.

I obviously want it to be safe and legal before going on market. but no point wasting money if it's not needed.

I'm asking for advice before I advertise the job and get few quotes in , I don't know any electricians so I will have to advertise the jobs on mybuilder so I want to make sure where I stand before advert gets posted.


Thanks.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Thread title and 2. - No.

 

[Bilbo80]

Thanks , the CU in question is below

Are there any legal ramifications after the sale if I sell it as it is?

 

[JohnW2]

Are there any legal ramifications after the sale if I sell it as it is?

No.

'Legal ramifications' are only a possibility if you lie about (or try to hide) the "as it is" in the course of the selling process.

Kind Regards, John

 

[plugwash]

In CU there are two circuits for upstairs and downstairs lighting and none of them have RCD protection, I checked guidelines and it says if we fit downlights the circuit should have RCD protection. Please correct me if wrong. I wasn't aware of this at the time , first time buyers so we were new to all this at the time.

Under the current version of BS7671, most circuits in a domestic property require RCD protection (though you won't find a reg that explicitly says that, instead you will find a bunch of regs that say "x requires RCD protection" and when you put all the different x's together you find they cover almost everything.

There is however no obligation in a regular owner-occupied property to upgrade your installation to meet the latest edition of BS7671. "Part P" of the building regs themselves does not explicitly require compliance with BS7671 only requiring that
“Reasonable provision shall be made in the design and installation of electrical installations in order to protect persons operating, maintaining or altering the installations from fire or injury.”, furthermore a broader principle of the building regs is that you aren't required to bring things up to current standards, only to leave them no less compliant than when you started.

It's also worth noting that the current building regulations guidance does not refer to the latest edition of BS7671.

BS7671 says little about working on existing installations and therefore different electricians may take different attitudes. Some may take the attitude that any new work has to be to current regs and therefore RCD protection is required before they add on anything. Others may take the attitude that as long as they aren't leaving the installation as a whole worse than it already was and as long as the installation isn't outright dangerous it's ok for them to make minor extensions/alterations without bringing things up to current standards.

If I was going to be occupying the house i'd be more worried about the lack of RCD protection on the sockets than on the lighting circuits.

1. Consumer unit must be reasonably old so is it possible to find compatible RCD's to upgrade the circuits?

I'm pretty sure current MK RCBOs (combined MCB and RCD, like you currently have on the kitchen sockets) will still fit the unit you have.

It doesn't make sense to do so though. It's a plastic case so even with all RCBOs it won't be compliant with the latest edition of BS7671. By the time you pay for the RCBOs and the labor to connect/disconnect them and the inspection and testing that goes along with such a change you may as well replace the whole unit with one that complies with the latest edition.

As for selling your house, i'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that houses in the UK are basically "sold as seen" and as long as you are not deliberately dishonest you should be fine.

 

[sxturbo]

As has been said, leave it.

It won't make the property worth any more

 

[Bilbo80]

Great thanks everyone.

I'll be honest and explain everything as they are in the selling process and leave the current system alone.

 

[Taylortwocities]

As above. Leave it alone. It’s up to the buyer to worry about the condition of the house before they buy it.
They may ( it’s a buying tactic) try snd get some money off because of many things.
If you agree to shave a bit of the sale price, you never give the full whack.

Let’s say an upgrade to a new CU is £600. You’ll never give them that much off the price. You’ll say that it’s them that will be enjoying the benefit of the new CU, so you’ll cut the price by £200 to secure the sale. Better not to even mention it. It is up to the buyer to raise concerns. You have NO responsibility for the property once the sale has been completed, unless you lied about the sink hole that appeared in the front garden last year.

Lastly, really, do not use trade sites like My Builder. People like you are those people’s natural prey. If you want an electrician, for your next house, try here https://www.electricalcompetentperson.co.uk/

 

[ericmark]

My father-in-law died, we sold his house, and my brother-in-law spent a lot of money getting the central heating working before it was sold, it was all ripped out on being sold and new central heating fitted. So total waste of time and money, make it look good yes, but don't spend money.

Answer questions asked truthfully, yes in 2016 the 17th edition was in force, and you should have had installation certificates and minor works certificates and compliance and completion certificates when the work was done, and likely you will be asked for them, I think 2004 was the cut off point, after that there should be paperwork.

However I lost the paperwork for mothers house, and was told no problem just need to take out insurance, I tried to get replacements, so applied to council, seems it would take 4 months and they would not say how much it would cost, it seems these traceable records are not very traceable. I did find it all in the end, but as said no real problem if you can't find them.

I would not approach the council, with one job on mothers house I did, and it caused many problems, your paying a solicitor, let him do his job, just answer any questions truthfully, if you can't remember getting paperwork from the builder tell him you can't remember.

The paperwork for this house was part of the Jackanory series, but there is no way to prove it.