Electrics and gas
Trailing wires are noted and the caveat says this is not an electrical installation condition report. Which document do you still not have?
You still do not have an electrical installation condition report. Trailing wires were noted by eye, and the caveat says this visit is not that electrical report. Looking at loose conductors is not a test of circuits, earthing, polarity or the consumer unit. The survey has not decided that the installation is safe or unsafe. An electrician's condition report is a different document, and it was not produced here. The wires are a visual limitation, not a completed electrical inspection.
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?
Trailing wires can mean an unfinished alteration, a temporary supply or simply cable that was never clipped back. Any of those can matter, and none of them was electrically tested. An electrical installation condition report is the document that inspects and tests an existing installation against a structured schedule. The caveat draws that line on purpose. A photograph of a loose cable does not fill the gap. The home survey stopped at what could be seen without instruments.
Ask the solicitor for any existing electrical certificate and for the date of the last inspection the seller will actually produce. If none comes, instruct an electrician to prepare the condition report the caveat says you do not have. Do not tell a lender the installation passed because the survey mentioned the wires. Pass the caveat across with the survey so the missing document stays obvious. The tidy or untidy look of the cable is not a substitute paper.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the missing document an electrical installation condition report?
- Were the trailing wires tested, or only seen?
- Does the caveat leave earthing and polarity untested?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the caveat as the line that says no electrical report exists.
- Ask the seller for any earlier electrical certificate they hold.
- Instruct an electrician if you need the condition report itself.
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 visual note of trailing wires test the earthing?
No. Earthing is proved with instruments on the circuits, not by looking at a cable run. The caveat says this is not an electrical installation condition report. The surveyor saw wires trailing and stopped there. No earth-fault result sits in the report. You still need an electrician's test if earthing has to be known.
Can the caveat be read as a pass because nobody felt a shock?
No. The absence of a shock on one visit is not a test and not a pass. The caveat is there because services of this kind were outside the inspection. Trailing wires were noted, not cleared. Read the caveat as a limit. Do not turn a quiet afternoon in the house into an electrical certificate.