Is my Property Electrical Test and Inspection Report Misleading?

topcat77

Hi,

I bought a property in 2010 and naturally had the electical and inspection report done prior. The report said that 'generally the electrics are in good order but new consumer unit is needed and bonding to gas and water is also needed' The quoted work was £500 in total - no problems with that.

Today I had a SELV fan fitted and the electrician on completion said that the lighting and switches do not have an earth. As such a re-wire is required. I was quoted £2000 approx for this as it will be several days work.

My question, as I do not have an electical background, is the initial report that was provided on the property misleading? There is a big difference between £500 and £2500, and as far as I am aware earthing is important. Are the people who did the initial report liable and/or what steps can I take?

I have the original domestic electrical installation periodic inspection report and it states 'all mains wiring' is covered in the report (the rest I do not understand).

I hope that this makes sense and thanks in advance for any help!

John

darren

No you were not mislead, most likely the inspector reported on what he could see. It is not the inspectors job to open every switch and check all the wiring.

On this side of the pond having no ground in older homes is common. The easiest way around it is to install ground fault recipiticals or breakers thus you have some protection against shock.

mpoulton

I disagree, and would say the inspector's report is inadequate or misleading. It is somewhat common for old homes to have ungrounded wiring, but home inspectors ALWAYS look for this and report it. It's easy to test for, and doesn't require opening boxes. It's important, and there's no excuse for an inspector missing it. If he didn't identify and report a lack of grounding, he didn't do his job.

__________________
I am a lawyer, but not your lawyer. And who cares anyways? We're here to talk construction. This is DIY advice, not legal advice.

Rza

Neither one of you actually read the OP. He said, very clearly, "the lighting and switches do not have an earth".

So A) that is not something that he should spend the money for an electrician to upgrade, nor even waste the money on GFCI breakers and B) This is not something that would be found in a typical home inspection. A Home inspector is not an electrician and shouldn't be opening electrical boxes or a live panel.

bob22

I assume OP is in the UK (used pounds symbol) so perhaps home inspectors there are a different breed of cat and are licensed etc???

Oso954

In my area, almost all of the inspectors will pull the panel cover and include a picture of the inside of the panel. If he is competent enough to do that, he should spot the old wiring without a ground, even in a house where both grounded and ungrounded circuits exist.

If he is not going to do an electrical inspection beyond "the lights came on when I flipped the switch", he should say so before taking the job.

Even a simple disclaimer such as "the house is of an age where ungrounded circuits may exist. Recommend hiring a qualified electrician to determine to what extent the circuits are grounded" would have put the homeowner on notice that further inspection/action may be desirable.

My opinion, the inspector didn't do his job.

mpoulton

True, I missed that. However, ungrounded lighting fixtures are a safety issue. Perhaps more importantly, how is the lighting to be ungrounded while the receptacles are properly grounded? It's not absolutely impossible, but it seems unlikely. Are the receptacle grounds actually proper?

__________________
I am a lawyer, but not your lawyer. And who cares anyways? We're here to talk construction. This is DIY advice, not legal advice.

frenchelectrican

Readers please aware this OP is from UK so the code ( regulations ) are differnt than what you normally see in USA/ Canada side.

That something the Inspector miss that in first place and some of the inspectors do not requried full inspection of the electrique system.

That part the Inspector should caught that one if they were inspecting old twinner cable ( NM cable to Nord Americiane's ) and alot of old twinners do not have earth conductor until late 60's almost right on parallel format as Americiane/ Canadaine system is.

But there is a split from there the lighting circuit useally not required to be RCD if not useing ring circuit otherwise the ring circuit mantory RCD protection.

And I know the UK did went to 17th edition reguations not too long ago so they did tighten up the loophole on the non earthed twinners so they are pretty much have to go. ( they can NOT be extended from oringal unearthed cables )

Kinda depending on which type of inspectors you get it simair to the North Americian side either ya got a good one or a run by nite misfits which they were not really trained to spot the issue at all. ( pretty good part of UK inspectors are licensed but few don't )

Our inspectors in France is reasonable but strict and they are licensed.

Merci,
Marc

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The answer will be based on NEC ( National Electrical code ) or CEC ( Cananda Electrical code ) or ECF ( Electrique Code France )