Previous owner bodged electrics. What can I do legally, are they liable.

[Richie_A]

Hi all,

First time using DIYnot but I have heard good things.

I have just bought and moved into a house (3 bed farm house with separate annex) and please see the pictures attached showing the state of my consumer unit.

I have only lived at the house for 3 weeks but it appears that most of the house has all been bodged electrically. The main house has two electric showers with one being fed from the upstairs socket ring and the other from the upstairs lights ring and is not isolated. The annex looks all up to regs and safe but the main house seems to be years of adding and bodging.

I know I need a complete rewire ASAP as this should be condemned but legally, is there anything I can do from a legal point of view against the previous owner.

thanks in advanced

 

[ETAF]

did you do a survey on the property?
did they provide a seller pack, anything mentioned
What did your solicitors advise, during the purchase process

EDIT
the seller pack i mentioned , is a TA6 form - Section 12 specifies Electrics 12.1 & 12.2

it asks has any

Has the property been rewired or had any electrical installation work carried out since 1 January 2005?

I maybe wrong, but the colour for power cable before around that date was RED/BLACK

you have the new BROWN/BLUE - on at least 1 of the cables

Harmonised cable colours - 2004 changes UK cable colours

Harmonised cable colours in the UK explained - post April 2004 - .

www.diydata.com

1st April 2004

The new colours came into effect on 1st April 2004, however there was a two year overlap between the old and new colour coding. Until 31st March 2006, either the old colours or new colours could have been used (but not mixed).

might be worth looking at the colour of the cables - and also do you know the date they moved into the property

 

[RandomGrinch]

In addition to above, who is to say that the previous owners were to blame?
The work may have been performed by a cowboy and the owners accepted the work in good faith.
Caveat emptor, I'm afraid

 

[Minjeeta]

Hi all,

First time using DIYnot but I have heard good things.

I have just bought and moved into a house (3 bed farm house with separate annex) and please see the pictures attached showing the state of my consumer unit.

I have only lived at the house for 3 weeks but it appears that most of the house has all been bodged electrically. The main house has two electric showers with one being fed from the upstairs socket ring and the other from the upstairs lights ring and is not isolated. The annex looks all up to regs and safe but the main house seems to be years of adding and bodging.

I know I need a complete rewire ASAP as this should be condemned but legally, is there anything I can do from a legal point of view against the previous owner.

thanks in advanced

You obviously knew the place needed a rewire before you bought it so what action do you think you should take now you have bought it?

 

[thomp1983]

Why do you think it's all bodged are parts not working?

Depending on the draws of the showers they could be perfectly safe wired as they are, yes it's unusual having a shower on a light circuit but there's nothing saying its dangerous to do so if the shower is rated less than the circuit, I don't think it's a requirement to have an isolator either if the shower has an on off button

 

[conny]

The shower on the lighting circuit is not acceptable because the smallest shower is around the 7kW mark. This will cause the lights to dim significantly, especially in the autumn/winter when you will probably be using more lighting earlier in the day. Lights are usually protected by no more than a 6A mcb or 5A rewireable fuse so with a few lights on and someone jumping in the shower, the odds are something is going to trip/blow.
I wouldn't be happy about the shower on the ring either. Showers should be on their own circuit and have a local isolator fitted in my opinion.

First enquiry on Google popped this up;

Installing a Shower – Electrically !

Wiring a Shower. Perhaps one of the easiest circuits to install is the one that feeds a shower. Although it’s just a simple radial circuit there are a few pit holes you’ll need to avoid…

the-regs.co.uk

 

[conny]

As regards any come back against the seller. Unless you had an electrical inspection and test report done with your survey then you haven't a leg to stand on. As mentioned above, you simply won't have proof it was the previous owner who did the work and, if they did, they can simply say a guy from Yellow Pages did it but didn't leave any paperwork.

As RandomGrinch stated, Caveat emptor, which basically means Buyer Beware.

 

[thomp1983]

About 15 years ago my parents had a small electric shower that only required 3a supply so that would of been fine on a light circuit albeit that's not the usual way to do it, so as I said it depends on exactly what is installed and how

 

[oldbutnotdead]

As above, did you have a survey of your own done (not the mortgage valuation one), if yes and the state of the wiring wasn't mentioned then you might have a claim against your surveyor, depends what type of survey you commissioned.
If no then you're on your own. You could chase the owner for erroneous information on the questionnaire but probably better spending the money on the rewire instead of solicitors.

 

[conny]

A case of cut your losses and learn from the experience.
It's a part of life. Not nice but very valuable if you learn from it.

 

[Bosswhite]

I would have thought that your House Insurance company would insist on seeing a copy of the safety of Electrics/Gas etc before they insured the property .
That would guide you with your problems of safety .

 

[mrrusty]

I would have thought that your House Insurance company would insist on seeing a copy of the safety of Electrics/Gas etc before they insured the property .
That would guide you with your problems of safety .

Rubbish. I have insured houses for 40 years and never been asked for any certificates for anything, ever.

The only failure here is the buyer not commissioning their own inspection. No chance of going after the vendor, unless there is blatant fraud involved.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I would have thought that your House Insurance company would insist on seeing a copy of the safety of Electrics/Gas etc before they insured the property .
That would guide you with your problems of safety .

Not sure where that's standard practise but it's not England....

 

[Bosswhite]

Not sure where that's standard practise but it's not England....

Renewed my House Insurance cover this year , Insurance company insisted on copy of recent Electrical/Gas safety notice , ( as it is an older property ) and it is England .
IMO its a sensible move why should Insurance Companies take on dangerous properties (things are a`changing .)

 

[mrrusty]

Which company? one to avoid!! Or is this a specialist listed building cover or similar? Or landlords building insurance?