Home-owners
Information for home-owners, home buyers and home sellers
Testinspect, based in Dorset, can help you make your home electrics safe. Our electrical safety services are available in Poole, Bournemouth, Ferndown, Wimborne, Christchurch and the whole BH postcode area, for home-owners, and for those buying or selling a property in this area.
If you’re buying a house or flat you want to know the electrics are safe. A brand new property should come with an installation certificate from the contractor who installed the wiring, along with a certificate of compliance with Part P of the Building Regulations. This will be issued either by the contractor’s regulatory body, e.g. NICEIC, ELECSA or NAPIT, or by the local Council Building Control Department itself. Either way a Part P certificate has been a legal requirement for all new full installations since 1 January 2005.
Certain other works also require a Part P certificate. If you are installing a new fuseboard, a whole new circuit, e.g. to a new room in an extension, a shower or a garden building not attached to the property, or extending an existing circuit in a kitchen or bathroom, then a Part P certificate is required along with an installation certificate.
Home buyers may be advised by their surveyor to have an electrical inspection undertaken before buying the property, to be sure that any issues arising from wear and tear or poor DIY can be dealt with before the purchase is finalised.
Home sellers now have to provide the necessary certification for any work done, as listed above, and their solicitor will make sure they provide it. If for any reason the certification is not available, it will be necessary to arrange a Regularisation Report to sort things out which will only add to costs and cause delays.
Testinspect are regularly asked to step in to inspect properties in these scenarios and to retrospectively arrange the necessary paperwork. Our membership of the NICEIC’s Domestic Installer self-certification scheme means that when we install new circuits or accessories we can provide all the necessary certificates ourselves, with the Building Control Dept of the Council being advised electronically of compliance with Part P. This takes the onus off you and makes the whole process simpler, quicker and cheaper. You even get a 6 year insurance-backed guarantee if the work is registered for Part P!
If you are a home-buyer and we provide you with an electrical safety report, other wise known as a Fixed Wiring Inspection or Periodic Inspection Report, we will always provide an estimate of costs to remedy any issues. We will also be very pleased to discuss any improvements you may want to make once you move in, such as extra sockets, running power to a loft or out-building or upgrading lighting to be greener and more energy-efficient.
Follow this link for an example electrical safety report.
