Electrics and gas
Bonding was not seen on the oil pipe where it enters. What electrical test is still outstanding?
The electrical test still outstanding is a test of whether the oil pipe is bonded, and of the continuity of that bonding back to the installation. Bonding was not seen where the pipe enters. The survey has not carried out that test and has not produced an electrical installation condition report. Absence of a visible clamp is an observation. It is not a measurement of resistance and not a pass or a fail under test conditions. The outstanding work is an electrician's test, not a second look from the hallway.
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?
Bonding, where it is required, is there so that metal services do not sit at a different potential from the electrical installation. An oil pipe entering the building is a metal line the surveyor can look at for a clamp and a conductor. Not seeing one is as far as the eyes go. The clamp may be hidden, or it may be absent. Only a test distinguishes those, and this survey did not test.
Ask an electrician to inspect bonding to the oil pipe and to include it in whatever electrical report you instruct. Tell them the home survey did not see a bond at the entry and did not test. Ask the solicitor whether any existing electrical certificate mentions the oil service. Do not fit a clamp yourself and call the question closed. Until the test is done, the outstanding item remains exactly that: an electrical test of bonding that the survey neither saw completed nor carried out.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where the oil pipe enters, did you see any bonding clamp or conductor?
- Did you test continuity, or only look?
- Which electrical test are you leaving outstanding?
What are the typical next steps?
- Record that bonding was not seen on the oil pipe at the entry.
- Do not treat the missing clamp as a completed electrical test.
- Ask an electrician to test the bonding and report on it.
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 a green and yellow cable is nearby, has bonding been proved?
No. A nearby cable is not a test, and it may not be connected to this pipe. The survey did not see bonding on the oil pipe where it enters and did not carry out the electrical test. Continuity was not measured.
Does a plastic section of oil pipe remove the question?
Only for the plastic section you can see. The survey's point is the entry where bonding was not seen. If part of the line is metal, the electrical test is still outstanding until an electrician does it. The test is still outstanding.