Electrics and gas
The immersion heater is fed from a plug and socket in the airing cupboard. What dedicated circuit has that arrangement not demonstrated?
No dedicated circuit has been demonstrated. The immersion heater is fed from a plug and socket in the airing cupboard, which is a plug-in arrangement, not proof of a fixed circuit of its own. The survey has seen the plug and socket. It has not traced the cable back to the consumer unit, has not identified a dedicated way, and has not tested the circuit. A plug in a cupboard is what was there. It is not a schedule saying the immersion has its own protected circuit.
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?
Immersion heaters are a heavy, continuous load, and a dedicated circuit is the usual way to supply one, with its own cable and protective device. A plug and socket can be a temporary or altered arrangement, or a fused connection spur that merely looks like a plug top. The survey saw a plug and socket. It did not pull the socket off or trace the feed, and a home survey does not do that as a test of the wiring. The arrangement has not demonstrated the dedicated circuit.
Ask an electrician to trace what feeds the airing-cupboard socket and to say whether the immersion has a dedicated circuit. Tell the solicitor the survey saw a plug and socket and did not test it. Do not assume the socket is a safe permanent supply because the tank gets hot. Keep any later circuit schedule separate from this visual note.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the immersion fed by a plug and socket, rather than a fixed connection?
- Did you trace that socket back to a dedicated way in the consumer unit?
- What test of the circuit was not done?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask an electrician to trace the airing-cupboard socket and the immersion feed.
- Tell the solicitor a plug and socket was seen and not tested.
- Do not assume the socket is a dedicated circuit because the tank gets hot.
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 socket has a switch, is that a dedicated circuit?
No. A switch on the socket is a local switch. It does not show a dedicated circuit from the consumer unit, and the survey did not trace the feed. The plug and socket are the arrangement that was seen. Switching them does not invent the circuit the note says was not demonstrated.
Did you trace what feeds the airing-cupboard socket?
No. The survey did not trace the airing-cupboard socket back to a way in the board. It recorded a plug and socket feeding the immersion. Where that socket is supplied from, and whether anything else shares it, was not demonstrated. Tracing it is electrical work this visit did not do.