Condition ratings
The garage consumer unit is rating 3. Has the house consumer unit been given the same number?
No. A garage consumer unit at rating 3 has not given the house consumer unit the same number. The garage board is in the outbuilding. The house board, if it was seen, has its own line. If the house board was not seen, it is not inspected, which is still not the garage's rating. Do not tell an electrician the dwelling failed because the garage did.
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?
A consumer unit in the garage serves the garage. Rating 3 means the surveyor judges that board, from a visual look, to be serious, urgent, or both, and you should get written quotations before legal commitment. Services are not safety-tested, so the number is not a test certificate and not a set of electrical codes. The house consumer unit is another board. If it was seen and needs no repair now, it can be rating 1. If it needs ordinary replacement but is not serious or urgent, it can be rating 2. If it was behind stored goods or a screwed cover that stayed shut in a way that hid it, it is NI. NI is not the garage's 3, and it is not rating 1.
The what to do now note advises you about the garage board. It does not invoice the seller to rewire the house. Concealed cables between the two buildings are not guaranteed sound. Ask the surveyor to confirm the house board's mark in words. When you instruct an electrician, say which board was rating 3. Do not hand them a sentence that the home electrics failed, unless the report has actually rated the house board at 3 as well.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is rating 3 only the garage consumer unit?
- What mark did the house consumer unit get, or is it NI?
- Are you clear neither board was safety-tested?
What are the typical next steps?
- Quote the garage board, not the house, unless both are rating 3.
- Ask for the house unit's rating in words if the table is unclear.
- Do not describe the dwelling electrics as failed.
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 garage is fed from the house, does one rating cover both?
No. A supply between them is a connection. Each board still needs its own look.
Can the house board be rating 1 while the garage is rating 3?
Yes. What was seen in the house can need nothing now while the outbuilding board is serious.