Electrics and gas
No earth clamp was visible where the water pipe enters. Has the earthing been tested, or only noted as unseen?
Only noted as unseen. No earth clamp was visible where the water pipe enters, and the earthing has not been tested. The survey records that the clamp was not in sight at that point. It does not measure continuity, prove main bonding, or produce an electrical installation condition report. A clamp can be painted, boxed, or fitted further along a pipe that could not be followed. Ask an electrician to test the bonding. Do not scrape the pipe on a viewing to hunt for metal that was not showing.
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?
Main bonding is the electrical link between the installation's earthing and incoming metalwork such as a water pipe. The usual sign is a clamp and a green-and-yellow conductor. Not seeing the clamp where the pipe enters means that sign was not visible there. It does not mean a test was carried out, and it does not mean the pipe is certainly unbonded further along. Absence from one place is an observation. Continuity is a different job, done with instruments by an electrician.
Ask an electrician to look along the incoming pipe and to test the bond, rather than asking the survey to be rewritten as a pass or a fail. Do not file the pipe or fit a clamp yourself before completion. If the entry is boxed, say so when you book the visit, because that is why the survey could not see a clamp. Keep the test result beside the survey sentence. One paper records what was unseen. The other can actually test it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where did the water pipe enter, and how much of that entry was visible?
- Was a green-and-yellow conductor nearby that did not end at a clamp you could see?
- Was the entry boxed, painted or buried before any clamp could show?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the note as unseen earthing at the entry, not as a test.
- Ask an electrician to locate and test the water-pipe bond.
- Do not scrape, unbox or alter the pipe on 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
Does a plastic incoming pipe still need a metal clamp in the same spot?
The survey cannot say. It only recorded that no clamp was visible where the pipe enters. An electrician should say what bonding this particular incoming pipe actually needs.
If no clamp was seen, is the whole installation unbonded?
No. One unseen point is not a test of every bond. Other metalwork can be bonded out of sight. The survey did not carry out that test.