Confused About Electrician Sign Off on small work

Pivot Eoin

Hi All,

Can someone tell me if they know about Electrician work, signing off, making new additions etc.? From looking around it all seems pretty confusing.

I want to add a couple of new plugs and light fixtures into a house that I'm purchasing.

The Electrical work on the house is somewhat older but had been maintained over the years.

From Surveyor speaking to neighbours (In Identical Properties) they all still have the original electrics (70s) and havent had a problem. Surveyor has stress tested all the electrics and found no issues.

With regards to the work I want to do, I understand that most electricians would probably recommend a re-wire and would refuse to sign off on the Electrical cert for my property for the renovation work I am doing... which is frustrating. I don't really need to do a re-wire, and certainly don't have the €8-10k spare to do it.

All i want is a couple of new plugs, isolation switches for appliances in the kitchen and a few spotlights... is there a way of getting this work completed and signed off without having to re-wire the whole house?

Thanks.

Eoin.

JL spark

Pivot Eoin wrote: »

Hi All,

Can someone tell me if they know about Electrician work, signing off, making new additions etc.? From looking around it all seems pretty confusing.

I want to add a couple of new plugs and light fixtures into a house that I'm purchasing.

The Electrical work on the house is somewhat older but had been maintained over the years.

From Surveyor speaking to neighbours (In Identical Properties) they all still have the original electrics (70s) and havent had a problem. Surveyor has stress tested all the electrics and found no issues.

With regards to the work I want to do, I understand that most electricians would probably recommend a re-wire and would refuse to sign off on the Electrical cert for my property for the renovation work I am doing... which is frustrating. I don't really need to do a re-wire, and certainly don't have the €8-10k spare to do it.

All i want is a couple of new plugs, isolation switches for appliances in the kitchen and a few spotlights... is there a way of getting this work completed and signed off without having to re-wire the whole house?

Thanks.

Eoin.

What does stress tested mean ?
Get in a electrician and pay him to do a PIR cert , that will tell you the condition of installation, just because next door says there house is ok means nothing,
I see this all to offen , house bought and no proper testing done before purchasing,
Expensive in long run , 1970s house , 50 year old wiring , I’d say it’s well in need of a rewire

Lenar3556

There is nothing stopping you engaging an electrician to carry out your new works, however they would not be supposed to connect it to an installation which was not otherwise safe, and their could lie an issue.

If the house has an operative ESB connection, you won’t have any particular need for certification or ‘sign off’. However if there are serious deficiencies that you don’t want to repair at the present time, an electrical contractor who becomes aware of these is required to formally notify you in the form of a Notice of Potential Hazard, which may then make its way to the Health and Safety Authority. While you cannot generally be forced to undertake upgrades, this is not a situation that most homeowners would like to be in.

An installation carried out in the 1970’s will typically have exceed it safe working life, so aside from your proposed new works, it’s worth having the system inspected and tested in detail by a registered electrical contractor.

I would suggest having a meeting with a trusted electrical contractor to see what you have and discuss the best way to proceed.