House survey and electrics

[tabbypurr]

2 pole fused presumably. Such setups were sometimes joined up to make 2 ring circuits, each run on 4x 15A fuses.

NT

[bert]

This is not a condition report

Thank you for you non advice. If it hasn't been inspected how can you rate it?

The former.

[bert]

Building regs electrical regs gas regs to the best of my knowledge are never retrospective. But it is a while since I bought/sold a house.

[bert]

ROTFL

[charles]

I suspect there were fuses on the neutal, too. Certainly no ring. Oh and theer were a couple of 5A sockets off the lighting fuses for downstairs.

[tabbypurr]

It's not that cut & dry. If you keep your 1st edition wiring regs compliant installation & it kills someone, as it may well, you'll be looking at jail time.

NT

[tabbypurr]

ie 2 pole fused

Part of the thinking behind the design of he ring circuits we use now was that 2 old 15A radials could be joined by a new bit of cable, now operating as a 30A ring, and unlimited 13A sockets be added. The resulting ring of course then ran off no less than 4 fuses! But it worked.

those are still permitted & increasingly popular. Now they're used for lighting.

NT

[Steve Walker]

In the event of needing a payout, how could the insurance company even show that there ever was a surveyor's report?

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

Yes, I fitted four in the conservatory - one three gang switch operates the ceiling lights, wall lights and 5A sockets. Of the four sockets, only one is normally used (for a table lamp), but as Christmas approaches, another is used for Christmas tree lights and the other two for a lit wreath and a string of lights. One switch for all four sockets is very useful, allowing switching off from the doorway, before closing tha patio door for the night.

SteveW

[John Rumm]

There is a limited liability time on building regs violations. So the LABC can't chase historic cases, unless they represent an immediate danger. I don't much fancy your chances recouping the cost of historic substandard work years after the fact.

Not necessarily. You may only need it heated for short periods of time. Things like IR radiant heating (i.e. heat the people, not the building) can make such spaces comfortable when required.

[John Rumm]

Having had a long discussion with our surveyor last time, I did not find that to be the case... The full structural surveys are frequently way over the top unless there is a particular concern about some element of structure - and then you normally need to decide what you are having tested and why. The "home buyer's report" style give (a bit) more detail than your normal valuation survey - but the are usually very limited in scope and only suitable for fairly "standard" property types, and normally allow for only short comments on problems. The surveyors doing valuation surveys often have quite a bit more scope to tailor the survey to your actual needs than say going for the HBR.

So when getting ours done last time we moved I actually found the basic valuation survey with some extra instructions was the most flexible. (which was basically were "concentrate on anything that looks like it could be a serious issue, and ignore anything plumbing or wiring related as I can assess that myself!")

[Fredxx]

By asking the question, "did you have a survey"? If the house is mortgage it's a near certainty.

Or do you still get drive by valuations?

[Jeff Layman]

Well, we had underfloor heating (electric film - 1.8kW) installed in our conservatory. Big, expensive mistake. If any form of heating is unsuitable for a conservatory, it is underfloor heating. As it happens, we use our conservatory mainly for growing plants (we do sit in it in spring and autumn, and cooler days in summer. At other times it confirms the definition that "a conservatory is a room which is too cold in winter and too hot in summer"!).

The underfloor heating is set to come on at 10°C in winter. Other "heating" is supplied by a 400W dehumidifier, as we find that condensation from the plants is a real issue. The dehumidifier has a major effect on discouraging black mould. If really cold weather is expected (below -5°C), then a 1kW thermostatically controlled fan heater is used to keep the temperature above 8°C, as the underfloor heating cannot cope, especially if it is windy.

[Tricky Dicky]

BS surveys are usually only concerned with the valuation and on new builds can often be no more than a "drive by". On older properties the extent of the survey depends on age, size of mortgage and general state. Our last house a 1957 semi a mortgage condition was the standard have the wiring checked and it was pretty obvious why they wanted that. However, it was not a case of having a portion of the mortgage witheld as can sometimes be the case. I in fact was able to get an addition to the mortgage as the heating and plumbing was dire and we wanted to have all the disruption in one go.

It might seem perverse that BSs do not seem too concerned about the state of some property but they do cover their arses by making building insurance mandatory as part of the mortgage offer which kind of knocks the ball into the insurers court. The bottom line can the BS get its money back should they need to reposes?

Richard

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Do you mean the earths weren't connected at all - or a fault between CU and true ground?

[ARW]

A fault. This was a 4mm 30A radial. It was quite obvious (we gutted the place) that when the kitchen was fitted a screw had gone straight through the T&E. The burn marks on the cable suggest that the fuse probably blew. This destroyed the cpc before the first socket in the house.

I would guess that the fuse was replaced and that as the sockets then worked nothing else was said about it.

[Andrew]

Sounds like my house. Previous occupants drilled through the 30 amp cooker cable while fitting a new kitchen. The blanking plate above the wired fuses had two large crescent-shaped melted out burn marks above the two 30 amp fuses for cooker and ring main (one for whole house).

I also found many sockets with no earth because the same people removed the fancy brass sockets before moving out but snapped the 1mm cpc behind two non-adjacent sockets when putting the original 1976 contract jobbies back.

Many years later I discovered that the first owners had hammered a kitchen wall fixing through the ring main, explaining the other melted burn mark in the wylex fuse box.

[David]

Further information.

The boiler is old (similar to the one in the property we moved into in

1984) so no fancy pressurised bits, nor room sealing.

I am assuming those large "lift off" burners like an industrial oven which are cleaned by lifting out and wire brushing then vacuuming or blasting with air. However I didn't look.

The boiler is inside a large airing cupboard with a closing door and there is ventilation through the suspended floor.

So potentially less risk than if it was free standing in e.g. the kitchen.

Safety check is sensible, but the boiler needs to be running for frost protection.

Cheers

Dave R

[David]

Further information.

The "conservatory" isn't a large separate area where you would grow plants in the summer and not heat in the winter. It is a small extension to the dining room with walls to knee height, double glazing to ceiling height, and a sloping roof with double or triple layer plastic glazing. Integral with the dining room and with a radiator.

It wouldn't come up to current standards for insulation primarily because of the roof but the additional heat loss doesn't seem that large.

I wouldn't even describe it as a "conservatory" because it is just a dining room extension with a glazed roof and windows all round. Oh, and an external door.

Cheers

Dave R

[tabbypurr]

it doesn't change anything, either you test it or cross your fingers.