Vendor not allowing EICR till exchange

[LookingOptimistic]

Ok so when we had our survey it showed the electrics needed updating and the consumer unit wasnt to modern day safety standards (was missing something or other); my solicitor asked vendor to get an electrical inspection condition report, which he flat out said no to - fair enough.

We are hopefully exchanging next week to complete on 19th March; so i have asked vendors EA if i can arrange an EICR, to which the vendor has said only after exchange.

Its easier to test all this with no furniture in the way so i want to do it before i move in; and the way its looking we may only have 2 days between exchange and conpletion, so not posdible to arrange this in between.

My only thought is he thinks we will haggle or demand something last minute on the basis of this report, i have gone back to EA and said if this is the case i can assure him i will do no such thing - the price is what its worth in its current condition as the survey confirmed.

Anyone else had something like this refused before exchange?

FYI house built 1979 and electrics were tested ages ago, current owner has had it 10 years...oh and its vacant as he is living in his other house in portugal.

I can't see that furniture will be a big hindrance to electrical testing.
I'm afraid if I was the vendor I wouldn't let you in to do pre purchase testing either. You've had the survey done, you know some work may be needed (and of course, it may not, just because something is not completely up to date doesn't mean it's not safe). Like him, I would be concerned you would try and get money off. I have only has buyers in to measure up after a survey, not for any other reason.

@longearedbat the survey specifically said it wasnt safe which is why my solicitor asked for the inspection (i didnt ask); its missing a circuit breaket or something, so i wanted to get inspection to then organise the consumer unit to be replaced soon after completion.

Dont particually want to move straight in then the electrics trip and or goes up in flames because they dont trip as thecircuit breaker isnt there!

Well you could either arrange longer between exchange and completion, or delay moving in for a few days while you get it fixed. I can't see any other way round it. However, your survey must specify what the problem is, so perhaps you could show the report to your electrician and see what he thinks? Surely if it was that dangerous that it might catch fire your surveyor would have told you?

@longearedbat

The surveyor said:

The consumer unit does not include a residual current device and/or miniature circuit breakers. Modern electrical systems usually incorporate a residual current device (RCD) and miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) that provides a higher level of protection against electrocution and fire.

We can't have any longer between exchange and completion at this stage as my mortgage offer expires end of March; my buyer is also one half of a divorce case (the one moving out), so he is going to be homeless after the transfer of existing home to his ex-wife takes place next week. I also can't afford for my furniture and other items to be put in storage and have two removal days, let alone short term accommodation (have 2 cats also that we are moving).

The vendor has three properties in three different countries; is currently living in his Portugal house and just wants to get rid of his UK base, I really didn't expect him to say no to an inspection before exchange.

The fact that the electrics do not meet current standards does not mean that they are therefore unsafe. Just that they are not as safe as they could be and ought to be.

We live in a 1970s house and we had the consumer unit replaced while doing some electrical work during our first year here. There was surprisingly little mess, and no upheaval at all.

I think it is a non-issue. The wording is just a little alarming if you are not familiar with it.

Moving the furniture in won’t affect the inspection but if you’re very nervous stay a couple of nights in an Airbnb so you don’t need to use them.

Perhaps this is the issue - taken from a website explaining how the EICR is carried out:

"Your electrician will visit your property, make a visual assessment, and then carry out a series of checks on your electrical systems. If they find any ‘code one’ problems, ie problems that are immediately dangerous, they will need to arrange to fix those there and then or at least make them safe. They’ll note any other ‘code two’ problems that are potentially dangerous, and will provide a quote to fix them at the end of the process, along with any ‘code threes’, which are recommendations not deemed unsafe."

If any code 1 problems are found then they are required to fix; but if its before exchange (or to be honest completion) they cannot fix it, as it is not our property...so I guess I have to suck it up and leave it be till completion really.

I wouldn’t allow you to do that either unless it sounded like it were a deal breaker, and you’ve already made it clear you are committed regardless. There is no upside for the seller. He risks you renegotiating the price, panicking or having your electrician knock a hole in the wall.

It's at the vendor's discretion whether to allow further surveys etc prior to exchange, so they probably know that it's not a deal breaker for you so why not have the security of waiting until after exchange. I can see both sides tbh.
Our buyer wants to do something similar after exchange. Tbh if they wanted to do it beforehand I'd be wary that it would be used as a negotiating tool, and by the time you get close to exchange everyone gets jittery that it could all fall apart after so much money and time already invested.

I am having my consumer unit replaced in the summer as ours is like one you describe, I don’t envisage the furniture being in the way. If you know it needs replacing anyway I wouldn’t bother with electrical testing beforehand because it will all need testing afterwards anyway. I expect to pay about £500-£800 for this work, which I was told will take about a day. Loads of houses still have these consumer units as you don’t have to upgrade them unless you want new electrical work doing.

@JellySlice Thanks for the reassurance; this will be our second home, and our first was a new build (we are 2nd buyers in it not the original ones) so had all modern electrics and certificate and growing up I have lived in some old houses where most appliances would trip the electrics and the sockets were not in great condition - so was just a little worried.

The survey does not say that the wiring is unsafe, if you say that to the vendor or EA then they won't take you seriously - regulations change all the time and they've changed since that consumer board was fitted, that's all!

Furniture will be no problem either.

I understand there are a lot of people out there that will use this information as ammunition to renegotiate the price; its frustrating because it means the few that wouldn't (us) are not in the least bit trusted, I can understand they wouldn't want an electrician damaging the place that makes perfect sense.

Our furniture is big and not easy to move (i cant move the sofa or wardrobes for instance with my partner, and he cant move them along either), so if they are covering up sockets won't these need testing at inspection? that's what i meant with furniture in the way (FYI bedroom has sockets on every wall so unless you plan to put your furniture in the middle of it, sockets are going to get covered up).

OP, when we moved here (2002) we had similar. In fact the fuse board was original to the house (1975), the fuses were the sort where you fixed them with fuse wire if they blew, something I hadn't seen for ages. Like you, this was picked up in the survey. It was not dangerous, just old fashioned. We left it for at least 4 years until my oh replaced it with a modern board with circuit breakers (a simple job for him, he is an electrician, but home stuff always comes last!). This was no messier or disruptive than, say, putting up a shelf, and we never had any electrical problems either. I honestly think you are worrying too much. Line up an electrician for when you've moved in and get it sorted then.

The consumer unit we have is from about 1980/1990s and many houses must have had similar ones, we are mainly having ours done because I would like more sockets and maybe a cooker point or the shower may need replacing and we can’t have those without a new unit, ours works perfectly well and doesn’t trip the electrics and an electrician said our wiring looked fine.

@longearedbat @RedRiverShore

I don't really need to worry about this then, so will as you suggested arrange an electrician to visit shortly after completion (don't know any - never had the need so far so will look some up on check a trade).

Good to know its likely that I wouldn't necessarily have to get it all updated immediately too; given that you did it 4 years later means there should be little risk in these types of houses, re-wiring is something I was looking at in the distant future to then get more sockets - especially since there are the odd few single sockets so we would prefer more.

I think its not too expensive to just get the consumer unit replaced so we will see when I have moved in.

I really don't think anyone would use that to get money off the purchase price - it's not an essential or dangerous.

I would expect the electrical inspection to be visual only - looking at the age of the sockets/switches and the consumer board tbh. I wouldn't expect them to be drilling holes into the wall to check the wiring but I suppose it depends what you ask them to do.

Buying a house is very stressful but you do seem to be getting hung up on the wrong thing here, OP - even if you did get the inspection done and it was a disaster, you're not going to get a reduction or do any work until you have the house - it's not worth your energy right now!

Hope the exchange and completion goes ahead smoothly and you are in your lovely new home celebrating very soon.

An electrician will, for domestic EICRs, typically test a sample of points on each circuit. The fact that you have furniture won’t prevent the EICR. There may be some damage if downlights need to be removed (sometimes they can pull off some plaster).

If you do find an issue and want a desire, that’s where no furniture might be better. But you can’t do a desire in two days anyway.

Rewire not desire

A new consumer unit is not expensive nor disruptive to fit. Not meeting current standards does not mean unsafe. Just have it done when you move in.

@ChicCroissant Thanks :)

I wasn't ever looking for a reduction; never even crossed my mind, my offer was for the property as it is so it wouldn't change at any stage.

The survey stated it was worth the money we were paying for it in its current condition and I believe the surveyor in this respect; it is a very good property in a lovely area, so I wouldn't ever change the price.

We are so near the end; all contracts are signed and questions answered, just need transfer of buyers house to ex-to complete for deposit funds for them and then we can exchange - so it is all a done deal really.

It’s more of a pain in the arse to have an old consumer unit than anything else as you can’t have new sockets or anything like that done, we did manage to have one socket fitted but it had to be an RCD one.

I’d recommend getting a new consumer unit with RCDs in any case. They’ll save your child’s life if, like I did as a child, he gets curious with a paper clip and fan heaters....

@RedRiverShore That's alright I will get a new consumer unit soon after I move in.

@ramanoop The consumer unit will be replaced; and will aim to rewire the whole house before any little ones are running around (only me, my partner and two cats moving into this 4 bed house), so means I got a few years yet!

Our house electrical problems came up on the survey. They allowed access for an electrician to do a full check but this then came back as needing some rewiring as some parts weren't safe and new fuse box. We agreed half the cost of the fuse box (3 years ago the work cost £500 pm split between us, £250 each).

We then arranged twice with the vendors for our electrician to come out to fix before completion as I didn't want to move into a dangerous property with young children but each time they cancelled on the day and then refused to allow access before completion. Was very annoying and meant we lost our electrician as he refused to do anymore jobs for us understandably as he'd lost out on work those days. But we had to suck it up in the end.