It has been suggested that we get an electrical inspection done on a
house we are thinking of buying.

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Mark

On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 19:23:31 +0000, Markmon wrote:

It has been suggested that we get an electrical inspection done on a
house we are thinking of buying.

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Mark

Yes.
Yes.
I doubt you would get it any cheaper. Like all surveys expect it to fail,
you need to spot the difference between the really serious failings and
the minor ones.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

In message .uk, Ed
Sirett writes
On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 19:23:31 +0000, Markmon wrote:

It has been suggested that we get an electrical inspection done on a
house we are thinking of buying.

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Mark

Yes.
Yes.

I guess this is case of if you need to ask the question.....

The electric in this house were obviously in a poor way when we bought
it, a little bit of nosing around confirmed that. but an inspection was
pretty irrelevant because it was obvious it would need rewiring.

I suspect that they are most useful in older (say 20 years) houses
where the electric's might look superficially ok, but there has been
plenty of scope for mods of varying proficiency to have been carried
out.
--
Chris French, Leeds

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 00:47:13 +0100, chris French
wrote:

On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 19:23:31 +0000, Markmon wrote:

It has been suggested that we get an electrical inspection done on a
house we are thinking of buying.

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

I guess this is case of if you need to ask the question.....

True enough.

The electric in this house were obviously in a poor way when we bought
it, a little bit of nosing around confirmed that. but an inspection was
pretty irrelevant because it was obvious it would need rewiring.

On the surface the everything look ok - new consumer unit, fittings,
etc.

I suspect that they are most useful in older (say 20 years) houses
where the electric's might look superficially ok, but there has been
plenty of scope for mods of varying proficiency to have been carried
out.

It's a 50s semi which has been altered and extended over the years.
We've got a structural survey on the place booked for Wednesday, and
I'll get an electrical inspection done now as well.

Thanks.

Mark

In article ,
chris French wrote:
I suspect that they are most useful in older (say 20 years) houses
where the electric's might look superficially ok, but there has been
plenty of scope for mods of varying proficiency to have been carried
out.

And a very difficult thing to check thoroughly given that most wiring is
concealed.

--
*Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Markmon wrote:

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Can't tell without seeing the place! If it's been built in the last,
say, 20 years, and noe indication of bodging, it looks like CYA; if it's
interwar, with fittings of a mixture of ages, the arse that's convered
might just be yours ;-)

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Certainly high for these parts - here in Bristol you're looking at more
like 80 quid for a competent local electrician to spend the 1hr+ doing
the inspection and writing out the NICEIC-or-similar Ree Port...

Stefek

"Stefek Zaba" wrote in message
...
Markmon wrote:

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Can't tell without seeing the place! If it's been built in the last, say,
20 years, and noe indication of bodging, it looks like CYA; if it's
interwar, with fittings of a mixture of ages, the arse that's convered
might just be yours ;-)

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Certainly high for these parts - here in Bristol you're looking at more
like 80 quid for a competent local electrician to spend the 1hr+ doing the
inspection and writing out the NICEIC-or-similar Ree Port...

Stefek

I paid about £70 3 year ago, so £200 seems a bit high


Dave

On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 21:56:45 +0100, Stefek Zaba
wrote:

Markmon wrote:

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Can't tell without seeing the place! If it's been built in the last,
say, 20 years, and noe indication of bodging, it looks like CYA; if it's
interwar, with fittings of a mixture of ages, the arse that's convered
might just be yours ;-)

No obvious bodging, but who knows. We're getting a structural survey
done anyway so we'll have the electrics checked as well.

It was more the way the agent shoved a glossy leaflet at us that made
me ask. Especially as the leaflet seems to be aimed at landlords
rather than buyers.

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Certainly high for these parts - here in Bristol you're looking at more
like 80 quid for a competent local electrician to spend the 1hr+ doing
the inspection and writing out the NICEIC-or-similar Ree Port...

I would have thought it should be about the same price here in
Manchester, so I'll ring round a bit.

Thanks,

Mark

"Markmon" wrote:
It was more the way the agent shoved a glossy leaflet at us that made
me ask. Especially as the leaflet seems to be aimed at landlords
rather than buyers.

Are you planning on renting it out?

If so then I would get the inspection done.

Al

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 09:32:50 +0100, "Al Reynolds"
wrote:

"Markmon" wrote:
It was more the way the agent shoved a glossy leaflet at us that made
me ask. Especially as the leaflet seems to be aimed at landlords
rather than buyers.

Are you planning on renting it out?

No. We're just going to live in it ourselves.

I got the impression that the estate agent hadn't read them, but was
pushing them out to everyone that got to the survey stage. I wonder if
he gets a referal fee.

If so then I would get the inspection done.

Me too.

Mark

"Markmon" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 09:32:50 +0100, "Al Reynolds"
wrote:

"Markmon" wrote:
It was more the way the agent shoved a glossy leaflet at us that made
me ask. Especially as the leaflet seems to be aimed at landlords
rather than buyers.

Are you planning on renting it out?

No. We're just going to live in it ourselves.

I got the impression that the estate agent hadn't read them, but was
pushing them out to everyone that got to the survey stage. I wonder if
he gets a referal fee.

It is a good idea to get one done but I would certainly get a few quotes
before choosing who does it.

If so then I would get the inspection done.

Me too.

Mark

"Markmon" wrote in message
...
It has been suggested that we get an electrical inspection done on a
house we are thinking of buying.

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Mark


We charge £100 = vat for 3 bed property in Portsmouth Area.

Markmon wrote:
It has been suggested that we get an electrical inspection done on a
house we are thinking of buying.

Is this a good idea anyway or is the estate agent just covering his
back?

Also how much should we expect to pay for this? I have been told about
£200 but this seems a bit high.

Mark


Do what I did, ask an electrician to go round and quote for any work
that needs doing. Most do a free quote.

Steve

Steve Jones wrote:

Do what I did, ask an electrician to go round and quote for any work
that needs doing. Most do a free quote.

well, there's dubious ethics there (if you've no intention of getting
the work done); and you may get away with it multiple times if you live
in the smoke or similar large city - in a smaller place you'll exhaust
the supply of goodwill among the few sparkies willing to do speculative
quotes (many are too busy doing paid work anyway).

Sorry if this sounds sanctimonious - you may well have asked for a quote
in good faith. But we can't out of one side of our mouths bemoan the
difficulty of finding reliable tradespeople to do smallish jobs, and on
the other abuse them by getting free advice in the guise of quotes...

cheers, Stefek

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve Jones
saying something like:

Do what I did, ask an electrician to go round and quote for any work
that needs doing. Most do a free quote.

You mean deliberately waste someone's time?

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve Jones
saying something like:

Do what I did, ask an electrician to go round and quote for any work
that needs doing. Most do a free quote.

You mean deliberately waste someone's time?

Maybe that explains why we get so many people complaining about tradesmen
who won't give free quotes!