Before putting your house for sale on the property market, you must ensure you have all the paperwork in place. One such important document is the Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) that serves as proof of the electrical installation works done on the property and if it satisfies the building regulations. But the question is do you need an electrical certificate to sell your house? The answer is selling your house without producing this certificate is actually a contravention of the law.
Any additions or alterations you make to your house after 2005 must comply with Part P of the Building Regulations. This applies to whether you did the work by yourself or had a professional do it. This means that both full or partial rewires as well as other additions you make to the existing electrical installations must comply with this regulation. This regulation applies to extensions, new homes or alterations. Why do you need an EIC and why does the legislation matter? According to the Local Authority Building Control (LABC), any electrical works carried out on property must be certified and an EIC issued within 30 days of completion. Consequently, being in breach of this 30-day condition will amount to a contravention of the regulations of the local authority. LABC could force you to have the electrical work done again, removed or altered based on the circumstances or nature of the breach. Additionally, you may also be required to pay a fine. The regulation governing electrical works came into place to protect homeowners from any risk of injuries by electricity. This is articulated in Part P of the regulation that requires a realistic provision to be made for the design as well as installation of electrical installations with the view of protecting people who are either maintaining, operating or altering installations from injury or fire. These regulations were revised in 2013 to minimize the range of work that is notifiable to the local building control. Consequently, not all electrical work will require this all-important notification. Some of the installations that are exempt from this revision include installation of a new cooker, adding a new plug socket in the kitchen or introducing new security lights outdoors. Even then, you will have to notify LABC for some other kinds of electrical work like;
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