Advise regarding a shower.

[thequietone]

Hi, I'm after some advise really. I'm looking at exchanging house's from South Cambs DC to Cambridge City council and a house that we looked at and liked the homeowner is putting in his own power shower in the upstairs bathroom. I did ask him who was installing it and he said he was, I then asked him if he was NICEIC registered and would it be certificated to which he replied that his mate was and he'd certificate the work.

Now I'm not an electrician but I thought that you had to be qualified to carry out this work. He also said that he had put the shower in but it was 'faulty' and had taken it out again and was going to get another one. There was also a shower room downstairs that had a washing machine/tumble dryer in it. I asked him if that room still had a shower in it as you couldn't see behind the appliances and he said he had taken that out. All this fills me with dread.

What is the rules regarding installing this shower and do you know if the council would do a test on the electrics on this house before any exchange happened? Any help on what I should be asking him or telling the council would be greatly appreciated.

 

[trev]

As it's a council house permission should be obtained before any work is undertaken or they could rip it out and charge the tenant for it. If he goes agead and does this I think your position should be when you move in tell the council what you know and they'll most likely send someone out to check it over however, the logic of installing a shower in a house you're going to move out of escapes me.
You don't have to be qualified, the phrase is "competent" but this is notifiable work and should be carried out by a member of a competent person's scheme or be checked over by the authority's building control department.

 

[Des 56]

There is nothing in the electrical regs to stop anyone doing electrical work
There are procedures for non registered persons,electricians included,to conform to part p of the building regs,which says that electrical work in certain parts is notifiable work and it can be a criminal offence if its not followed

The council are the duty holders of the house and are responsible for its safety,if you as the user feels its unsafe,they have to assure you that it is indeed safe
If the work carried out was found to be done illegally then they would be foolish to neglect their responsibility

The other tenant would also probably have in their tenancy agreement a clause saying that permission has to be sought off the council before alterations are carried out




Trev just said it all,which |I then repeated,he surely must have a faster brain than me lol

 

[thequietone]

Thanks Trev,I don't get why he's putting one in as he's moving out either. The house did need some serious decorating etc and I think maybe he's trying to make it look better for exchange. Do you think I'm within my rights to request the council have a look before I sign anything as I don't want to be lumbered with a house full of stuff that needs putting right.

 

[thequietone]

Oh ok, thanks Des. I think I'm going to speak to someone at the council as it's their house but I don't want to pee the tenant off and the swap going through.

 

[trev]

When my mother in law came out of hospital last time we were going to convert a large downstairs cupboard into a toilet for her, the hoops we had to jump through for the housing authority were seemingly endless. The process involved many forms, plans and inspections before the work could be started. Inspections while work was carried out and immediately after before the toilet could be used so I'd guess your council will have a similar procedure after all, if you owned an asset worth £100k (maybe more) would you allow any tom dick or harry to mess about with it?

 

[trev]

Thanks Trev,I don't get why he's putting one in as he's moving out either. The house did need some serious decorating etc and I think maybe he's trying to make it look better for exchange. Do you think I'm within my rights to request the council have a look before I sign anything as I don't want to be lumbered with a house full of stuff that needs putting right.

If you like the place and you're in a hurry then move in. Be prepared to make a list of remedial works though. I don't like the sound of all this if I'm honest, the council have a duty of care to you as a tenant so if you think something is dodgy (which it certainly sounds it to me) then they should make sure that the place is safe to use/live in. You don't have to use the shower until you get it checked over.

 

[thequietone]

I know what you're saying, I just want it to be safe before I move in. I think I need to speak to the council.

 

[MDJ]

Trevs right, move in if you like the place and make a remedial list for the council, they will have to come and take a look as they have a duty of care for their tennants as trev mentioned, theres no way they can ignore your concerns, just don't let it put you off moving in ASAP if you really like the place.

 

[thequietone]

Thanks Mike and thank you all for the advise.