Re-testing domestic electrical system

[nigelord]

Having recently put my house up for sale, I decided to have the electrical system inspected and get an Electrical Installation Certificate to pre-empt any problems which might hold up the sale. The company I employed did a thorough (very thorough) job of checking everything and came up with a list of around four C2 items and a further half-dozen C3s on the EICR.

The bill for the inspection came to around £400 - which I thought rather steep for the time it took (just over two hours), so I elected to do the work myself along with my son-in-law - an electrical engineer, but not qualified to issue a safety certificate. All the work was actually visible and conformed precisely to what was highlighted on the EICR (both C2s and C3s) - but obviously, I knew I would have to get the company back to check the work and test it again properly before a Electrical Installation Certificate could be issued.

However, on contacting them, I was told that they could not re-test the installation and that whoever had done the work should have issued a safety certificate. They insisted that they were not legally allowed to check the work of another contractor. I pointed out that when they had originally tested the installation they were effectively checking someone else's work, but they insisted they were not able to return and check that the work had been properly carried out - leaving me no option than to get another firm in to check the system from scratch.

Anyone know if this is correct? Is it really not possible to carry out work listed on an EICR and have it checked by the company that issued it?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

my son-in-law - an electrical engineer, but not qualified to issue a safety certificate.

There is no such thing as a "safety certificate". And there are no qualifications formally required to issue certificates of compliance with the Wiring Regulations.

However, on contacting them, I was told that they could not re-test the installation and that whoever had done the work should have issued a safety certificate. They insisted that they were not legally allowed to check the work of another contractor.

Basically they are right - they may not issue an Electrical Installation Certificate.

I pointed out that when they had originally tested the installation they were effectively checking someone else's work

No they weren't - they were reporting on the present condition of an electrical installation.

but they insisted they were not able to return and check that the work had been properly carried out - leaving me no option than to get another firm in to check the system from scratch.

If you want another EICR done you should get the original company back (for another £400), or you run the risk of a different inspector finding different things "wrong", and ending up in a never-ending sequence of inspection-remedial-inspection-remedial-etc.

Or you can stop throwing good money after bad and forget the whole idea of a pre-emptive EICR - it'll make precious little difference to a sale.

Anyone know if this is correct? Is it really not possible to carry out work listed on an EICR and have it checked by the company that issued it?

People can only certify what they have done. You can, of course, have multiple inspections done, and build up a collection of condition reports. The only person who can issue an EIC for the work your S-I-L did is him.

 

[PBC_1966]

The bill for the inspection came to around £400 - which I thought rather steep for the time it took (just over two hours)

Way too expensive. Did you not agree on a price beforehand?

my son-in-law - an electrical engineer, but not qualified to issue a safety certificate

As stated already, there are no specific qualifications set down anywhere for somebody to issue either an installation certificate or an inspection certificate. If he's an electrical engineer, he should be more than qualified enough to do either. Whether certain people will accept a certificate from somebody who is a not a member of a certain scheme is another matter.

They insisted that they were not legally allowed to check the work of another contractor. I pointed out that when they had originally tested the installation they were effectively checking someone else's work, but they insisted they were not able to return and check that the work had been properly carried out

Wrong. They may not legitimately be able to issue an installation certificate (since they did not do the work), but there is nothing to stop them returning and carrying out another inspection. But at £400 a time, I wouldn't be asking them!

Or you can stop throwing good money after bad and forget the whole idea of a pre-emptive EICR - it'll make precious little difference to a sale.

^ This. Anyone who is really interested in the house won't be put off by a few minor electrical works which are needed. Some of the things may be so unimportant as to be of no consequence to many buyers anyway, especially given the way that some people inspecting throw codes around for the most trivial of things. A few people might try to use the report to beat you down in price, but it shouldn't be by so much that it's worth you spending a whole load more money on inspections etc. Just explain that you've already allowed for whatever minor work you think anybody might want to do in setting the asking price and leave them to it.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

What remedial work did you carry out?

 

[nigelord]

I'm sorry, but it's simply not the case that an up-to-date Electrical Installation Certificate will make "precious little difference to a sale". I've known house sales fall through on much less. In fact, friends of mine recently risked loosing a sale of a £400k house over electrical work estimated at £700. (Bizarrely, the estate agents offered to drop their commission to ensure the sale went through). In any case, my insurance company are also asking for an up-to-date certificate in order to continue their coverage of the property - which by the way, is thatched.

The work listed on the EICR included the wrong rating junction boxes under an outside porch, the need for a switched fused spur for an outside workshop, earth bonding for a Calor gas pipe, a lost connection on a ring main and an incorrect cable supplying the cooker hood. The rest were C3 'recommendations' - all of which have been acted upon.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

friends of mine recently risked loosing a sale of a £400k house over electrical work estimated at £700. (Bizarrely, the estate agents offered to drop their commission to ensure the sale went through).

Was it late on in the sale, after their buyers had been chipping away at the price and/or been PITAs in other ways, and that £700 was the last straw?

In any case, my insurance company are also asking for an up-to-date certificate in order to continue their coverage of the property - which by the way, is thatched.

Do they stipulate who can do the inspection?

 

[JohnW2]

I'm sorry, but it's simply not the case that an up-to-date Electrical Installation Certificate will make "precious little difference to a sale". I've known house sales fall through on much less. In fact, friends of mine recently risked loosing a sale of a £400k house over electrical work estimated at £700.

There will obviously be exceptions 'which prove the rule' but, in general, I agree with BAS about this. A close family member of mine runs a business which has been buying and selling large numbers of houses for many years (on average, at least one or two sales per month). A lot of the buyers attempt to 'demand' price reductions at a late stage on the basis of (usually minor) work that they have discovered probably needs do as a result of surveys, inspections etc. If an offer has already been made and accepted, 'our' approach is always the same - to say that the offer (price) was accepted in the knowledge that various works would probably need doing, and that the prospective buyer was free to walk away from the sale if they so wished. Given that the buyer will usually have expended considerable time, effort and money by that stage, the great majority back down in response to that.

In appropriate cases, we sometimes even attempt to pre-empt the haggling at the time of 'accepting an offer', particularly if it is appreciably below the asking price, by indicating that we are accepting the offer because we know that an appreciable amount of work will probably be required.

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The work listed on the EICR included the wrong rating junction boxes under an outside porch, the need for a switched fused spur for an outside workshop, earth bonding for a Calor gas pipe, a lost connection on a ring main and an incorrect cable supplying the cooker hood. The rest were C3 'recommendations' - all of which have been acted upon.

Okay and what period of time did the EICR state as the next test date, once all C1/C2 where corrected.
As nothing major in regards of electrical work/installation has been undertaken and only sounds like small remedial works has corrected the issues, I would ask an electrician to confirm that any code 1 & 2 flagged up on the EICR have been corrected and job should be a good one, a would suspect that a minor works cert/certs would cover those items you have mentioned.
If your son-in-law is skilled in the electrical industry, it should be quite simply for him to complete the required document/documents.