Electrics and gas
The garden office has its own consumer unit and the house board was the only one described in detail. What of the office installation was not tested?
The garden office installation was not tested. It has its own consumer unit, and the house board was the only one described in detail, so the office circuits, that second board and the cable between the buildings stay outside the description. A home survey does not test electrics by looking at a consumer unit. The survey has noted that a separate board exists. It has not tested the office installation, has not produced an electrical certificate, and has not borrowed the house-board notes to cover the garden office.
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 second consumer unit means a second set of ways, perhaps a sub-main, and fittings the house report never opened. Describing the house board in detail is a visual note of that one board. It says nothing about the office breakers, the earthing at the outbuilding, or whether the supply is safely separated. The surveyor did not carry out the tests an electrician would. Seeing a board is not operating it, and it is not an electrical installation condition report.
If you need the office installation tested, that is a separate electrical inspection, not a paragraph the home survey can now invent. Tell your solicitor the report covers the house board in detail and not the office. Do not tell a lender the outbuilding electrics were passed. They were not inspected to that standard, and they were not tested. Keep the kettle and the desk as occupation, not as evidence the installation is sound.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What of the garden office consumer unit did you actually see?
- Did you test any office circuit, or only describe the house board?
- Is the cable run between house and office outside this inspection?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the garden office installation as not tested.
- Keep the house-board description from being applied to the office.
- Arrange a separate electrical inspection if the office circuits must be tested.
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 office lights work, has the consumer unit been tested?
No. Lights working means a circuit lit on the day. It is not a test of the office consumer unit, the earthing or the cable from the house. The survey described the house board in detail and did not test the office installation.
Can the house-board notes be copied across to the garden office?
No. They describe a different board. The office has its own consumer unit, and that installation was not tested. Copying the house notes would pretend a second board had been examined. The report does not do that. The office circuits stay untested even if the house board was written up carefully.