Buying a new home?
There's so much to think of when buying your new home, it's not as simple as finding the place you like, you then need to negotiate a price, engage a solicitor/conveyancer, get searches done, you've got a deposit to pay, finance to arrange, insurance and the Building & Pest Inspection.
But did you know, the all important Building & Pest Inspection typically won't cover Electrical and Plumbing?
Don't get me wrong, it's extremely important to understand the condition of your home, being aware of cracked tiles, perhaps moisture in the bathroom walls or cracks in ceilings and walls, but I'm yet to hear of any of these things being the cause of a house fire or killing somebody. So why, with something as critical as Electricity, is it not the norm to have a Pre-purchase Electrical Inspection. I wish I knew, but I don't have an answer for you.
Recently we have seen more Pre-purchase Electrical Inspections taking place, and often when defects are found, these items are pushed back to the seller to rectify prior to completion of contract, but it is still not the norm for these inspections to take place prior to purchase.
Often what does happen, after the contract is finalised and the new owner is getting settled, they engage an electrician to either make some changes (new lights or extra power points) or to fix something they have discovered is not working after moving in. It as at this stage, the electrician often finds more serious faults, leading to unforeseen expense for the new owner.
In our experience, most aren't aware that the Building & Pest inspection specifically excluded Electrical and Plumbing.
Some examples of recent faults found by TroopKen Electrical, that would have been identified if a Pre-purchase inspection had have been completed:
- Safety Switch/ELCB faulty - Although the home did have a Safety Switch, it was faulty and provided absolutely no protection for the occupants of the home against electric shock. Should one of the children stuck something in a power point (for example) they would have been electrocuted. Worst of all, they had a false sense of security, as it was confirmed in the building a pest inspection, that the home had a safety switch (it was never tested though)
- No Main Switch - At no time has it ever been acceptable to not have a Main Switch so that you can isolate the supply from the street to your home. With no main switch on this particular premises, should there have been a need to isolate the power, the home owners would have had to know to turn off all individual circuits.
- Air Conditioner wired direct to main switch - There was no isolation, no overload protection and no earth leakage protection for an AC unit in this home. The installer had wired direct to the main switch, leaving the home owners at risk of fire from overload or electrocution should they touch a live portion of the unit.
These are just a few examples that were extremely dangerous and ended up costing the new owners unexpectedly, to rectify.
Unfortunately, to have a Pre-purchase Electrical Inspection completed, does add to the cost of purchasing a home, but in many cases, this cost is overshadowed by the savings against having to complete repairs that you weren't aware of, or more importantly, the piece of mind of knowing that your family is safe.
Hopefully more will become aware of the importance of a Pre-purchase Electrical Inspection and hopefully it does become the norm.
Speak to us at TroopKen Electrical, if you'd like to hear more.
TroopKen Electrical, for all your electrical needs - 1300 876 676