Hello!
After years of renting I'm currently in the process of purchasing our first property. We've had an offer accepted on a 1 bedroom flat in Surrey. However there are questions over the electrics, and knowing little about electrical wiring I'm a bit stumped on how bad the electrics are and how recoverable it is.
The building is three floors hosting nine flats total, with our prospective flat on the top floor. The electrics are all based in a room on the ground floor. The building was erected in the 60s and based on this I requested an EICR certificate from an electrician to confirm the state of the electrics.
He has provided an NICEIC Visual Inspection Report as well as an email, and advised he was reluctant to perform a full test due to his visual checks. He confirmed the wiring is original and needs rewiring. He has also highlighted that the earth loop impedance for the socket circuit is too high due to the consumer unit being based on the ground floor in the electrical room, and there is no earth on the lighting circuit. His recommendation was a full rewire, a new submain to be installed up to the flat to combat the earth loop impedance, and a new consumer unit within the flat with main equipotential bonding installed. His estimate for this is £6000-7000 plus VAT, which seems high and is not a cost we can afford.
The seller has challenged this, as she has had her own electrician to look at the property. After speaking with the seller's electrician he agrees that a full rewire, new consumer unit and bonding is required. However, outside of convenience doesn't see the purpose of relocating the consumer unit to the top floor as there shouldn't be any concerns with earth loop impedance (his example being a town. His estimate was £2800-3500, not sure if that includes VAT but even if it doesn't that is half the price and we could stretch to that.
While I was initially sceptical over the seller's electrician's authenticity I've verified both electricians are registered and I don't doubt either electrician's reputation on the face of it. But I can't reconcile two seemingly opposite statements regarding the earth loop impedance and the approximate costs to repair.
Is the earth loop impedance likely to be an issue without the submain, or is the first electrician trying to make more work than is necessary?
After years of renting I'm currently in the process of purchasing our first property. We've had an offer accepted on a 1 bedroom flat in Surrey. However there are questions over the electrics, and knowing little about electrical wiring I'm a bit stumped on how bad the electrics are and how recoverable it is.
The building is three floors hosting nine flats total, with our prospective flat on the top floor. The electrics are all based in a room on the ground floor. The building was erected in the 60s and based on this I requested an EICR certificate from an electrician to confirm the state of the electrics.
He has provided an NICEIC Visual Inspection Report as well as an email, and advised he was reluctant to perform a full test due to his visual checks. He confirmed the wiring is original and needs rewiring. He has also highlighted that the earth loop impedance for the socket circuit is too high due to the consumer unit being based on the ground floor in the electrical room, and there is no earth on the lighting circuit. His recommendation was a full rewire, a new submain to be installed up to the flat to combat the earth loop impedance, and a new consumer unit within the flat with main equipotential bonding installed. His estimate for this is £6000-7000 plus VAT, which seems high and is not a cost we can afford.
The seller has challenged this, as she has had her own electrician to look at the property. After speaking with the seller's electrician he agrees that a full rewire, new consumer unit and bonding is required. However, outside of convenience doesn't see the purpose of relocating the consumer unit to the top floor as there shouldn't be any concerns with earth loop impedance (his example being a town. His estimate was £2800-3500, not sure if that includes VAT but even if it doesn't that is half the price and we could stretch to that.
While I was initially sceptical over the seller's electrician's authenticity I've verified both electricians are registered and I don't doubt either electrician's reputation on the face of it. But I can't reconcile two seemingly opposite statements regarding the earth loop impedance and the approximate costs to repair.
Is the earth loop impedance likely to be an issue without the submain, or is the first electrician trying to make more work than is necessary?
