Electrics and gas
The outbuilding has a plastic consumer unit and the house board is metal. What of the outbuilding circuits was not tested?
None of the outbuilding circuits were tested. The survey saw a plastic consumer unit in the outbuilding and a metal board in the house, and that contrast is visual only. It has not carried out an electrical inspection, has not tested the devices, and has not given the outbuilding circuits any code. The metal board in the house does not speak for the shed, the garage or the annexe. An electrical installation condition report is a different inspection from this visit. The home survey has not decided that the plastic unit is satisfactory, and it has not decided that it is unsatisfactory.
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?
A consumer unit is the enclosure and the protective devices for the circuits that leave it. Plastic and metal describe the boxes the survey could see, not the cables, the earthing or the protection behind the covers. The outbuilding may have its own unit, a feed from the house, or both, and the survey has not traced that feed as a test. Looking at two enclosures does not sample the wiring. Whatever the house board is made of, the outbuilding circuits remain untested.
If those circuits need a verdict, ask an electrician to inspect the outbuilding installation and keep that report apart from the home survey. GOV.UK guidance on electrical safety in rented homes is about that kind of inspection, not about a surveyor noting plastic beside metal. Tell the solicitor the outbuilding circuits were not tested. Do not describe the metal house board as a pass for the outbuilding. The survey has not tested those circuits.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which outbuilding circuits did you leave untested?
- Did you record the plastic unit as a visual note only?
- Was the metal house board kept separate from any finding on the outbuilding?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the note as two enclosures seen, not circuits tested.
- Instruct an electrical inspection of the outbuilding if you need a verdict.
- Do not treat the house board as a result for the outbuilding.
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 plastic cover is undamaged, are the outbuilding circuits fine?
No. An undamaged cover is the outside of the unit. The survey has not tested the circuits, the devices or the cables serving the outbuilding. A sound-looking box is not an electrical certificate, and the metal board in the house does not change that. The outbuilding circuits stay untested.
Does a newer metal board in the house update the outbuilding?
No. The house board and the outbuilding unit are separate enclosures. Replacing one does not test or renew the other. The survey saw both and did not test the outbuilding circuits. Any electrical link between them was not proved on this visit.