No certification for rewire, how do I get some?

[r44flyer]

Hello all,

Our house (two bed terrace) was rewired approximately 5 years ago, including new consumer unit etc. The house is being sold and I cannot find the certificates for the work, if I ever had them.

I'm currently completing a property information form which is asking for one of either a) signed electrical safety certificate, b) building regs compliance certificate, or c) building control completion certificate. I have none of these, so how do I resolve the sitution?

Will a periodical inspection report be sufficient?

Thanks.

[oldnbold]

If you can't track down the company that did the work and obtain a copy of the certificate they issued at the time, I guess you are going to have to pay for an Electrical safety inspection.

[nikaiyo2]

I think its quite impractical to get one retrospectively, an inspection would be to current regs and almost certainly throw up loads on non compliance. You can get indemnity insurance for not a lot of money, about £50 if my memory serves. Your solicitor should be able to sort.

[CAPP0]

If an indemnity policy is available for this then you may as well save yourself the hassle and pay for that policy - because if not you can be absolutely certain that your solicitor will "discover" another issue with your sale that requires the purchase of such an insurance

I have spoken to several people who have sold reasonably recently, and it seems that the sale of an indemnity policy is virtually de rigeur these days.

[Drumroll]

When we had our consumer unit rewired We got a copy of the certificate and was also told it was registered online.

[r44flyer]

Emailed solicitor, indemnity for £16, win!

[andy43]

r44flyer said:

...indemnity for £16...

[Spudler]

andy43 said:

r44flyer said:

...indemnity for £16...

Cheaper than the solicitors email !

[paulrockliffe]

r44flyer said:

Emailed solicitor, indemnity for £16, win!

What are you indemnify as the seller?

As a buyer I wouldn't be happy to indemnify something that is safety critical such as the electrics.. There's no chance of enforcement action from the Council, which is why the indemnity is cheap. But I can't see it washing with many buyers. It would be certificates or the cost of a rewire off the price.

[r44flyer]

paulrockliffe said:

What are you indemnify as the seller?

As a buyer I wouldn't be happy to indemnify something that is safety critical such as the electrics.. There's no chance of enforcement action from the Council, which is why the indemnity is cheap. But I can't see it washing with many buyers. It would be certificates or the cost of a rewire off the price.

Yes, this is a very good point, and the right thing to do. I will do both, indemnity and consult an electrician.

[andy43]

Rewire was done 5 years ago - so it's already out of date / illegal / likely to murder your entire family.
Compared to 99% of properties it's probably safer, with rcds, resettable mcbs and the newer much safer brown and blue wires
If a buyer won't buy because a piece of paper is missing at this early stage, I think the seller is getting off lightly.

[AlmostUseful]

I might be in a similar position in a few years, had a guy in to do my kitchen wiring and no certificate has been forthcoming, clearly my fault for paying before I had the paper in my hand, he's being a properly slippy bugger about getting me the cert too, so I'll be revisiting this thread in a few years when we sell!

[Evolved]

Sub'd

[jason61c]

I wouldn't worry about it. If someone wouldn't buy it because you've not got an electrical certificate they'd only cause niggles further down the line.

[markiii]

You can get a safety certificate without it meeting current regs

They will just caveat on the certificate those areas that don't meet current regs

Edited by markiii on Friday 24th July 23:02

[Ganglandboss]

nikaiyo2 said:

I think its quite impractical to get one retrospectively, an inspection would be to current regs and almost certainly throw up loads on non compliance. You can get indemnity insurance for not a lot of money, about £50 if my memory serves. Your solicitor should be able to sort.

If it was done properly, you should be able to get a copy of the original certificate. You cannot get a new one at all, as the certificate needs the signature of the designer, installer and tester (on a domestic installation, this would be the same person 99.9% of the time). The installer and designer are certifying that the installation has been designed and installed in accordance with BS 7671; once floorboards are down and cables are plastered over, another electrician cannot confirm it complies - that is why we have an installation certificate and a periodic report.

When I bought my house, my solicitor requested this - right at the end, so things could be dragged out even longer. I told them I was gutting the house, so all this crap was useless. They told me it was a mortgage requirement, to I tang YBS who told me it wasn't.

If I was buying a house with a view to retaining the installation, I would have serious reservations if there was no certificate. Since part P came in, this has been a legal requirement. A lack of certificate is a good indication of a cowboy job, and I would be wondering what other corners he has cut. Without a certificate or indemnity, my offer would be revised on the basis a rewire is needed. Some may think this is being picky, but what buyer in their right mind would want to take on that risk on what is a practically brand new installation that should be trouble free?

The current edition of BS 7671 was introduced in 2008; there have been amendments, but nothing that would affect a simple domestic installation, so if it complied five years ago, it should comply now.

[Sheepshanks]

Ganglandboss said:

If I was buying a house with a view to retaining the installation, I would have serious reservations if there was no certificate.

What if you were buying a house that was built before Part P?

[paulrockliffe]

Sheepshanks said:

Ganglandboss said:

If I was buying a house with a view to retaining the installation, I would have serious reservations if there was no certificate.

What if you were buying a house that was built before Part P?

You assume it probably needs a rewire and get a periodic inspection to see where you're at. You price in the risk.

The issue is that a complete stranger is saying it was rewired, but can't provide proof that it was done to the right standard. If you take it at face value the missing bit of paper doesn't matter. But the buyer is risking a lot of money against the honesty of a complete stranger.

Mind you, any mortgage company is unlikely to be satisfied without the certificate regardless of the buyers attitude to the risk.

[Ganglandboss]

Sheepshanks said:

Ganglandboss said:

If I was buying a house with a view to retaining the installation, I would have serious reservations if there was no certificate.

What if you were buying a house that was built before Part P?

Periodic inspection and then think what action is needed. If it was a horror story, I would be looking to get the cost of a rewire knocked off the price. If it seemed okay, (or flagged up a few easily rectified faults), I would still be considering the fact I am taking on some risk in my offer, but probably wouldn't try to knock as much off. My point is if you are buying a house that has been rewired, you should be taking on almost no risk, and this will be reflected in the price.

Before part P, all installations had to be certified to comply with BS 7671, but in practice, it often did not happen. Part P has effectively made BS 7671 a legal requirement, so a recent installation with no cert would scream 'cowboy job' more than it would for an older installation.

[dazwalsh]

Like above, get a periodic inspection done if you can't get original cert, about £150 or so. It might well highlight some areas which don't meet current regs but I can't see there being much within the last 5 years. I just had a periodic done on a rental which had a rewire about 6 and a half years ago and all was fine.