Full Re-wire needed

REFLINE1

Hi, im interested in a second hand house thats come back onto the market.
According to the EA the previous person who was sale agreed was trying to negotiate a discount based on the need to rewire the house. The surveyors report recommended change in the fuse board but not a full rewire.(according to the EA!)

Ive attached a couple of pics ,but how do you determine whether a house needs ar rewire? is it simply a case of getting an electrician to review/test? or is there an age cut off whereby you should rewire. (House is 1980's era)

2011

Neither an estate agent or a surveyor (unless he / she is a qualified electrician) is qualified to determine whether a rewire is determined or not.

For a definitive answer a survey would be required.

However it is worth noting that regulations have changed since the eighties. Also technology has moved on as has people's requirements.

Obviously it is the interest of the estate agent to say that very little needs to be spent on any property that he / she is selling. I would take what any estate agent says with a large pinch of salt.

meercat

Your fuse box certainly needs replacing but it's a 30year old installation so would benefit from a Rewire soon. Currently there's no rcd protection for sockets(that's a rcbo for your shower I assume).i would also be doubtful about mains cable sizing and earthing being to current standards. I would allow for a full Rewire before any decorations to your new home.

Gashmuncher

Agree with both responses, Allow for a full rewire. It's much easier to get it done when the house is empty and before anyone moves in.
My estimate would be anywhere between 4k to 8 k depending on requirements and the size of the house.

REFLINE1

Apologies if this is a stupid question but if the electrics are functioning fine as is what is the benefit if a full rewire? is it a safety aspect in that wires mightnt be to current spec and could be an ignition source , or is it more future proofing to upgrade now? im in an older house currently with a similar wire standard id imagine and theres no problems. thanks for responses..appreciated.

Gashmuncher

A rewire of an house is basically a replacment of the electrical distribution system. There are a number of reasons why electrical systems eventually need to be replaced.
1 Electrical wiring and equipment degrade with age. The cables in your electrical installation were installed about 40 years ago. (This can be determined by the DZ fuse distribution board installed) The insulation on the cables in particular will have degraded over these 40 years and will not perform as well as modern insulation. Also the switches and sockets will have lots of use and will never be as good as modern equipment
2 The design of the original installation was suitable for the expected loads of 40 years ago. In today's world, we have different requirements of an electrical installation and a full rewire will provide this.
3 Safety systems which automatically disconnect circuits have vastly improved since the DZ fuse distribution board in your photos was installed. When things go wrong you need the safety systems to act as quickly as possible to protect from electric shock and fire. Modern systems use Circuit Breakers to disconnect if a circuit is overloaded. These act much much faster and are more reliable than the fuses in the older system. There is also a second level of protection called RCD (Residual Current Device) protection utilised in modern installations. This device simply looks at the electrical current flowing into and out of the installation and disconnects if it sees a difference between what's going in and what is coming out. This device cannot always be retro fitted onto an old system because the original wiring system might not have fully segragrated the circuits.
4 The current wiring rules are a vast improvement on the rules that were followed when the original installation was fitted. A rewire will give you the full benifet of these improved rules.

To sum up, if you were to drive a 40 year old car from Dublin to Cork it would get you there. There might be no seat belts in the car, there will be no air-bags,, no ABS braking system, no traction control systems but the old car will still do the job and get you to Cork. But if you go to Cork in a new modern car you will have much better safety systems in place if something were to go wrong. Leading on from this if something goes wrong you have a much better chance of getting out unscathed in a modern car, and also in a modern electrical installation.

Millrace

While a rewire would be the best and give you peace of mind. I would upgrade dB board and get it tested. Your insurance company may ask for these anyway. If you're getting work done from time time upgrade the electrics as you go. That's what I would do if funds were low. But then again I can't call that particular premise.