Legal requirement or not?

I don't think it's a legal requirement to retrofit - otherwise millions of homes (including mine) in the UK are 'illegal'. Most likely using the report as leverage to get work done that's desirable rather than necessary.

I would interpret "should really need to be done" as "doesn't need to be done".

There is no need (legally or otherwise) to keep your installation up to current regs, because otherwise everyone would be calling an electrician around every couple of years as the regs get changed. As long as it was compliant at installation and is not dangerous, everything is fine.

Electricians (and buyers) try to make this a bigger thing than it is, in order to drum up trade (and money off the sale price). But there's no reason to do so.

Theo

Or leverage for a price reduction. There is no requirement to have an existing consumer unit replaced just because it's in a plastic case.

Is it still a sellers market? My new neighbours moved in a few weeks ago after buying within a few days of the property being on the market. Judging by the estate agent(s) leaflets shoved through my door there is still a shortage of properties coming to market in my area.

Don't bother getting the work done yourself. The new buyers will probably rip out your existing kitchen and make other modifications to suit their taste so just let them have the work done.

If I was buying I wouldn't let the seller fix anything using some cowboy builder/plumber/electrician :)

Theo <theom+ snipped-for-privacy@chiark.greenend.org.uk> posted

JOOI, what's the reason for it?

There is nothing 'illegal' with wiring to an old standard.

I guess this guy was angling for work.

'It' being the EICR survey? It's a legal requirement for rented properties, and a good idea when buying so there aren't any surprises.

Or 'it' being the metal consumer unit? It's to contain fires that start in the consumer unit, often caused by faulty termination of high current circuits or (less commonly) failed switchgear.

Theo

No.

No building regulation is retrospective

All electricians:-)?

The last thing I need to be doing is swapping CU's just because of a C3 on an EICR [1]

Although I have done many on the HS2 link on the M1 M18 corridor on the compulsory purchased houses - some of which have never been lived in.

What do I get? The Dreamboys. FFS

to minimise fire risk

I think in the circumstance (seller's market) I would have invited them to arrange for their own inspection at their own cost if they wanted one!

There is generally[1] no legal requirement to bring anything that met with the standards of the time when it was installed to current standards.

If something were immediately dangerous (broken accessory exposing live parts for example, or cable / switch showing signs of serious overheating with scorch or burn marks etc). Then I would fix it, but swapping a plastic CU for a metal one would be well down the list of "would be nice if" requirements.

Arf! Sorry but that's funny.

My wife watched a Barbara Streisand film/documentary/concert or something on my Netflix profile not hers... she must have forgotten to swap over. Anyway as a result all the music suggestions on my profile changed from ZZ Top, Metallica, CCR, Bob Weir/Grateful Dead etc. to bloody musicals and shows featuring lots of "kings, queens and in-betweens". Only way to purge the crap was to create a new profile and start again.

Anyway, you'll love The Dreamboys. Snigger.

Dave Smith explained on 30/10/2022 :

Thanks everybody, that's what we thought but it's nice to have so many people confirming it.

When we sold our house in 2018, we were not asked (eg buyer's surveyor via via our solicitor) when it was last rewired - and it was done before

I thought that no part of the wiring regulations is retrospective, except where new work requires associated older work to be brought up to standard - such as adding a new circuit where it requires RCD protection, which may involve a separate CU for that circuit or fitting a RCD(s) or an RCBO to the existing CU. If space dictates that a separate CU cannot be fitted and the existing CU cannot accomodate RCD(s) or an RCBO, then you would have to upgrade.

Earth bonding may also be an issue.

Whether an existing consumer unit is metal or plastic is immaterial.

NY snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net posted

The current edition of the Property Information Form completed by sellers includes the passage "You should answer the questions based upon information known to you (or, in the case of legal representatives, you or the owner). You are not expected to have expert knowledge of legal or technical matters, *or matters that occurred prior to your ownership of the property*."

Yes, that is what I thought too, the grey area of course is when you or for an electrician add something to the installation, after the new specs came in. It then seems to be a very grey area. Also what is the point, since most switches and timers on the circuit are made of plastic. Back in the old days before our rewire in the 70s, there was a very robust lever switch made of metal before the consumer unit, when it was rewired its now just a beefy switch in the plastic consumer unit. Brian

A lot of them branded 'Bill', from what I remember. Impressive looking things.

The company's advertising motto used to be "Bill - you can't buy better gear".