Electrics and gas
The only hot water is an immersion in a cupboard cylinder. Has the survey switched that immersion on?
No. The survey has not switched on the immersion that is the only hot water, in the cupboard cylinder. It can record the cylinder and the heater head if the cupboard was opened. It does not turn the element on, time how the water heats, or prove the thermostat. A warm tap, if one was run, is not that test. There is no boiler paragraph hiding behind this setup unless a boiler was actually there. Ask an electrician to test the immersion if you need to know it works, and do not treat the survey as that test.
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 immersion is an electric heater in the cylinder, not a boiler the surveyor services. The visual check is the cylinder, the heater head, the wiring in view, and any leak or staining. Switching it on, leaving it, and checking the water temperature would be a test. A standard home survey does not do that, and it does not produce an electrical installation condition report. The sentence that this is the only hot water describes what was present, not a passed trial.
If hot water matters to your decision, ask an electrician to test the immersion and the circuit that feeds it, and ask a plumber only if the cylinder itself looks to be leaking. Say clearly that there is no other heater. Do not twist the thermostat on a viewing to see if the light comes on. Keep the electrician's note with the survey so a warm pipe on the day is not later described as a test the surveyor never ran.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see the immersion head on the cylinder, or only the cupboard and a warm pipe?
- Was any other heater, coil or boiler present, or was the immersion the only one?
- Did you run a hot tap, and do you distinguish that from switching the immersion on?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the survey as a visual note of the cylinder and immersion, not a test.
- Ask an electrician to test the immersion if you need to know it heats.
- Do not switch the immersion on yourself during a viewing.
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 tap ran warm, has the immersion passed?
No. Stored heat can leave a tap warm long after the element last worked. The survey did not switch the immersion on or time a reheating.
Is an immersion an electrical installation condition report in miniature?
No. Looking at a heater head on the cylinder is not an electrical installation condition report, and it does not test the immersion circuit.