Before buying your home, it’s always a good idea to get a pre purchase inspection performed.
Most building inspections assess the structural integrity of the home, levels of insulation and moisture issues.
But time and time again, we hear of Electrical Checks being missed or excluded – why?
Because building inspectors are not licenced electricians, and therefore providing advice to you without the suitable qualifications, licencing and insurance would be an even bigger problem than a rotten stump or a squeaky floor.
What to Check:
We’ve compiled a list of the top 5 things we suggest you check! Take this list with you, and take photos during your own inspection – it will help you convey concerns to us quicker, and we can assess whether we should attend the property with you for further investigation either before or after the purchase is made.
- Switchboard: check that the switchboard is updated and looks new. Below are some images of switchboards and fuseboards, to help you differentiate between them. An old switchboard will mean you’d need to upgrade it, before you can legally alter any wiring in the home you’re about to purchase.
In the below three images, the far left needs a full switchboard upgrade. The middle needs a switchboard ‘internals’ upgrade and the far right is the only fully compliant of the three.
2. Rubber Insulated Cabling: If you can see under the house anywhere (deck, pergola, elevated rear of house, or even in the manhole) try see if you can spot any black cabling under the house. It’s not a guaranteed assessment, but if you can see black cabling, it usually means you have Rubber insulated cabling.
This particular type of cabling, circa 1950’s onward, is called Indian Rubber, and it is very prone to failure due to degradation over time. It is brittle, cracks, and can easily cause your home to have multiple faults (especially when you upgrade your switchboard!). Rectifying this issue usually results in a partial or a full house rewire. Doing things like alterations or renovations may force you to do this work sooner rather than later.
3. Cracked or Damaged Switches and Outlets: The easiest item on the list to spot is whether the house has old or damaged power outlets and switches. This isn’t the most costly thing to fix but it does need to be addressed before you paint the house. Nothing can be worse than a newly painted house, then replacing all the outlets and ending up with a missing paint outline around every outlet.
TIP: Consider upgrading your outlets and switches to a newer range of product if you’re planning in replacing a large number of outlets. You’ll probably never tackle this task again so choose carefully.
4. Old Light Fittings: Old light fittings are not so much a problem in themselves, but more an indicator of something else. If a home has old light fittings, it usually suggests old wiring. Old wiring rules didn’t require lighting points to be earthed, which means your old lights may not be earthed. If this is the case, when you choose to replace the lights, you will be legally required to earth each lighting point.
Unless you’re rewiring a house, you’ll need a licenced electrician to run an earthing wire to each light as an additional item – not super costly, but definitely unexpected when all you intended on doing was adding some downlights…
5. Solar Panels: Lurking out of sight on your potential new home is a green energy nightmare – unmaintained solar panels! Not all unmaintained solar panels are problematic, but in most cases a new rooftop DC isolator may be needed, and the system needs to be tested. Just from an insurance perspective, once you move in we highly recommend a precautionary check!
DID YOU KNOW: Solar arrays are meant to be checked every 2-3 years! 70% have not been checked in that timeframe.
There isn’t much you can do during an inspection, but just being aware that you may need to have your solar checked is worth knowing beforehand. Old systems can be hard to fix, or the cost may outweigh the lifespan of the system – a quick assessment by a solar trained electrician will help (A standard domestic electrician knows very little about solar, so choose someone like us or our sister company Solar Rescue
So there you have it, 5 simple things to check during your next home inspection! If you’d like to engage with us to perform a more indepth check for you, contact us through our website or directly on 0428 862 963
