Electrics and gas
An EICR in the pack is marked unsatisfactory and the survey did not retest. Why should you read the certificate rather than ask the survey to repeat its codes?
Read the certificate, because it holds the codes and the survey did not retest, so it cannot repeat them. The electrical installation condition report in the pack is marked unsatisfactory. That document, not the home survey, is the inspection which produced the observations and the codes. Asking the survey to repeat them asks for a test this visit did not do. The survey has noted that an unsatisfactory report is in the pack. It has not reissued the codes, has not cleared them, and has not ranked the observations. The certificate is the record. The home survey is not a second edition of it.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
An unsatisfactory electrical report means the person who wrote it found matters which kept the result from being satisfactory. The codes and the written observations are the detail, and they sit in that certificate. A home survey that has not retested has no new readings to put in their place, and it should not invent milder ones. Looking at a consumer unit, if that happened, is still not a retest. The way to see what was unsatisfactory is to read the pages that say so.
Give the certificate to the solicitor and, if the codes need action, ask an electrician what work they imply. GOV.UK guidance on electrical safety in rented homes is about that kind of inspection. The home survey has not repeated it. Do not ask the survey to rewrite the codes into a satisfactory result, and do not ignore the certificate because the home survey is shorter. The unsatisfactory mark belongs to the electrical report. Reading it is how you see what was not retested.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you leave the installation untested on this visit?
- Is the unsatisfactory mark the certificate's, rather than a code you reproduced?
- Which observations sit only in the electrical report?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the electrical certificate for its codes.
- Do not ask the survey to repeat a test it did not do.
- Ask an electrician what the unsatisfactory codes require.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the consumer unit looks tidy, can the unsatisfactory mark be set aside?
No. A tidy enclosure is not a retest, and the survey did not retest. The unsatisfactory mark and the codes live in the certificate. How the box looks does not clear them. Read those codes. The home survey has not replaced them with an impression of the board.
Does a newer home survey refresh an older electrical certificate?
The survey has not said so, and it did not retest the installation. A later home survey does not refresh an electrical report or cancel its codes. Read the certificate for what it found and for the date printed on it. Any new electrical inspection would be a new instruction, not a paragraph added to this report.