Electrics and gas
What can a surveyor say about an old consumer unit without being an electrician?
They can describe what is visible: a wooden board, rewirable fuses, signs of heat damage, or a modern unit with RCD protection. They cannot say the circuits are safe, correctly designed or adequate for how you will live. That judgement is an electrician’s.
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?
Age is a clue, not a verdict. A recent consumer unit on old cabling is a common halfway house. The surveyor may see the unit and not the cables in the walls. RICS is clear that a home survey is not a test of services. If they recommend an electrician, they are staying inside that limit.
Ask the electrician to inspect and to say what must be done now, what is an improvement, and what they could not see without opening up. Those three lines stop you paying for a rewire you may not need, or skipping a dangerous fitting because the consumer unit looks new. Their fee is not a standard survey add-on.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What type of consumer unit did you see, and was there scorching or a cracked cover?
- Could you see the cables, or only the unit?
- Is your recommendation an electrician’s inspection rather than a rewire?
What are the typical next steps?
- Photograph the unit only if you can do it safely without removing covers. Better: let the electrician open it.
- Do not replace the unit on the eve of exchange just to tidy the report, unless an electrician has said the one there is dangerous.
- Give the electrician the survey paragraph so they answer 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
Is a rewirable fuse board always a condition rating 3?
No. The surveyor applies the rating. An old board can be a 2 or a 3 depending on what else they saw. Read the number. Do not invent it.
Does a smart meter mean the wiring is new?
No. A meter can be new on an old installation. The surveyor should not treat the meter as an EICR, and neither should you.