purpose of an EICR is not to say if a fan is working

[chris day]

We carried out an EICR in a large 5 bedroom house for a house purchaser

The EICR found various issues with the house from a safety standpoint however now they have moved into the property the owner has said some rooms dont have enough light fittings and sockets, an extractor fan is not working and there is a faulty dimmer switch.

I have stated in the EICR that the wiring was done to 16th edition standards and that older properties can have many issues that you will need to take a view on and that we are only highlighting items that impact safety.

The home owner is saying i should have highlighted things like a bedroom only has 1 socket and a faulty dimmer, my response was socket numbers are something that could be commented on but by no means a safety departure under BS7671, what are your views ?

 

[snowhead]

What did the home owner initially ask for, just an EICR (and did they know what that meant) or more than that?

And for some people 1 bedroom socket might be enough where for others 10 sockets might not be enough.

Did they not look around themselves and notice sockets / switches etc.?

 

[westward10]

I would definitely comment on a faulty dimmer switch and non-functional extract fan,
5.18 of the Inspection Schedule suggests this.
As for inadequate points then no this is not an issue of safety.

 

[chris day]

What did the home owner initially ask for, just an EICR (and did they know what that meant) or more than that?

And for some people 1 bedroom socket might be enough where for others 10 sockets might not be enough.

Did they not look around themselves and notice sockets / switches etc.?

The Solicitors just asked for an EICR with no special comments on advise on the layout etc

 

[timhoward]

The EICR found various issues with the house from a safety standpoint however now they have moved into the property the owner has said some rooms dont have enough light fittings and sockets, an extractor fan is not working and there is a faulty dimmer switch.

I find it almost comical that they think you would know what their needs in terms of sockets would be! They didn't pay you to look at their old house too. I wonder if they are also complaining to the surveyor.

I'd either just ignore the letter.
Or more likely reply along the lines that my focus was the safety of the fixed wiring and the safety of the accessories permanently connected. To show goodwill I might change a dimmer for them FOC as I'd be thinking I should have noticed that.
But I'd say that extractor could have failed at any point post inspection and will need diagnosing and if required replacing as a new job. If they want a quote for that get in touch. etc.

 

[James]

I would write back stating that the EICR was a report on the condition of the fixed wiring at the time it was inspected.
a bathroom fan can fail at any time and for many reasons, offer to quote to diagnose and repair / replace.

again, dimmers not your problem, it was working at the time? Could just be that the new owner has replaced a failed filament lamp with an led lamp?

I would not be offering to fix anything for free as a gesture of goodwill as it implies that you may have made mistakes and will do more harm than good to your reputation.

save your good will gestures for little old ladies who need it in their time of need.

 

[baldelectrician]

Point out the limitaions and it was not a 100% EICR as only a sample was checked.

 

[Risteard]

As for inadequate points then no this is not an issue of safety.

My potential exception to this would be where this has resulted in either numerous extension leads piggy-backed onto each other, or where inadequate socket-outlets is causing extension leads to cause a serious trip hazard or something like that. But if there isn't evidence of this happening then a single socket-outlet in a room would just be a case of "unfortunately that's the way it used to be done - it's not ideal but what can you do?"

 

[123]

We carried out an EICR in a large 5 bedroom house for a house purchaser

The EICR found various issues with the house from a safety standpoint however now they have moved into the property the owner has said some rooms dont have enough light fittings and sockets, an extractor fan is not working and there is a faulty dimmer switch.

I have stated in the EICR that the wiring was done to 16th edition standards and that older properties can have many issues that you will need to take a view on and that we are only highlighting items that impact safety.

The home owner is saying i should have highlighted things like a bedroom only has 1 socket and a faulty dimmer, my response was socket numbers are something that could be commented on but by no means a safety departure under BS7671, what are your views ?

Them not checking number of socket outlets I can almost forgive as what may have appeared to be power points could be an extension lead well hidden by furniture etc...but light fittings?

 

[Vortigern]

They are buying the house as seen and they can see how many sockets there are. Caveat Emptor it is up to them to make their own enquiries and satisfy themselves as to the suitability of the electrial fittings prior to purchase. Cheek of it!