Home Buyer Reports For Buyers

Home Buyers Survey Or Report Says I Should Get Gas & Electrical Checks Done

I hear this a lot. You're presumably buying a new house and, rightly, you've had a survey carried out by an experienced Surveyor. On the report, it will mention that the gas installation and electrical installations have not been checked and that they should be checked by a competent person.

Your Surveyor is unable to check whether the wiring, fuse board, sockets, central heating, radiators, heating controls and boiler are in a safe and working condition. He isn't qualified to check whether the plumbing and central heating is working satisfactorily. The Surveyor has done his or her job and advised you what to do next. It covers their back in case there's something seriously wrong with the property.

Why Do I Need A Home Buyers Survey For Gas and Electric Safety?

Your boiler could be dangerous because of a gas leak or not working efficiently due to not being serviced properly for a long time. It could have an internal water leak which could be causing corrosion. It may not have been fitted properly by a Gas Safe registered engineer. There could be problems with the heating system or heating controls not working properly or efficiently. The plumbing and central heating could have major issues with efficiency and taps and radiators could not be functioning how you would expect them to be.

The wiring could be unsafe due to overloading or heat damage. Sometimes wrongly sized cables are used to connect cookers or showers which require more KW power than the average socket. Sometimes the fusebox needs upgrading to a new consumer unit with fully protected RCD's which can isolate the power in case of an electrical fault - potentially saving a life. Sometimes there are cracked sockets or dangerous pendant lighting which could become live or have no earth, in case of a fault occuring. You need to have the gas and electrical checks carried out for safety reasons.

How Much Is a Home Buyer Report?

There are different levels of report, please take a look at the sample report so you know what you are ordering.

Home Buyer Report – Standard £229

Includes:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Add Boiler Service +£40

Home Buyer Report – Bronze £339

Includes:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Plumbing Condition Report
Central Heating Condition Report
Add Boiler Service +£40

Home Buyer Report – Silver £409

Includes:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Plumbing Condition Report
Central Heating Condition Report
Smoke alarm(s) checked – real smoke
Carbon monoxide alarm(s) checked – real CO
Estimate of all remedial works required
Accompanying photos of all defects identified

Home Buyer Report – Gold £449

Includes:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Plumbing Condition Report
Central Heating Condition Report
Smoke alarm(s) checked – real smoke
Carbon monoxide alarm(s) checked – real CO
Estimate of all remedial works required
Accompanying photos of all defects identified
Boiler Service

Home Buyer Report – Platinum £479

Includes:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Plumbing Condition Report
Central Heating Condition Report
Smoke alarm(s) checked – real smoke
Carbon monoxide alarm(s) checked – real CO
Estimate of all remedial works required
Accompanying photos of all defects identified
Boiler Service
Portable Appliance Test

Details of what's included

Gas Safety Certificate

• 18 point check
• All gas appliances inspected and tested
• Check for boiler Building Control Compliance and Certificate
• Check for adequate boiler service history (a typical Worcester or Vaillant boiler must be serviced annually to maintain its (minimum 5 years and maximum 10 years) parts and labour warranty
• A check for gas leaks on all appliances and associated gas pipework and connections including the gas meter and regulator
• Operating Pressure checked on all appliances to ensure pipework is not undersized
• Heat Input checked on all appliances to ensure correct amount of gas is being used
• Full flue gas analysis to check correct mix of gas and CO and adjustment to ensure optimal and efficient combustion – saving you money in the long run
• All appliances checked for functioning safety devices (including gas cut off valves)
• All appliances checked for adequate room ventilation
• Emergency Control Valve (ECV) checked visually and functionally
• A check for equipotential earth bonding to gas meter
• All defects identified (Not to Current Standards defects)
• Labels and warning notices issued (At Risk or Immediately Dangerous defects) for dangerous appliances

Electrical Installation Condition Report

• 107 point check
• The most thorough report for existing installations
• Full inspection and testing schedules
• Damage, deterioration and defects which may give rise to danger identified
• Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory report provided and observations for improvement given
• All dangerous defects coded accordingly: C1 – Danger present, C2 – Potentially dangerous, C3 – Improvement recommended
• A full check of the fuse board and associated cabling
• A full check of the visible wiring (limitations: cabling that is concealed in conduit, under floors, inside plastered walls) and a full check for continuity (if concealed)
• Checks for correct wiring to all sockets including missing earth, reversed live/earth, live/neutral reverse and missing neutral
• Checks for broken or loose sockets
• Checks for exposed live wiring
• Checks for potential overloading or overheating to all circuits
• Checks to identify any risk of electrical shock and/or fire hazard
• A check for adequate earth bonding arrangements to gas pipework and water pipework
• A check for adequate RCD protection and trip times in case of electrical shock
• A check for adequate protection and support for all cabling
• A check for provision of fire barriers, sealing arrangements and protection against thermal effects
• A check for supplementary earth bonding conductors where required

Plumbing Condition Report

• Mains water pressure check – poor water pressure (less than 1 bar) means less powerful showers and more time to fill up a bath
• Mains water flow rate check – poor water flow rate (less than 6 litres per minute) means only one hot water outlet can be used at one time
• Check for adequate hot water
• Internal stopcock checked
• Summary of findings
• Plus everything below