Electrics and gas
A green-and-yellow cable bridges a plastic insert in the water pipe and then vanishes. What continuity of that bond was not measured?
The continuity of that bond was not measured. A green-and-yellow cable bridges a plastic insert in the water pipe and then vanishes, which the survey can describe as a conductor that appears to cross the plastic. Continuity is an electrical test. The home survey did not carry one out, and it did not confirm that the cable still joins metal on both sides. What happens after the cable vanishes was not traced.
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 plastic insert breaks the metal path of the pipe, so a bonding cable is there to link the conductive parts either side. Looking at a green-and-yellow wire tells you a link was attempted. It does not tell you the link still conducts, that both ends are clamped to metal, or that the far end, once it disappears, reaches anything at all. The survey stopped at the visible bridge. It did not meter it.
Ask an electrician to test continuity of the bond and to find the end that vanished, as an electrical inspection rather than a rereading of the home survey. Tell the solicitor the report has not confirmed the bonding. Do not assume the plastic insert is safely bridged because a coloured cable was seen. The survey has not measured that continuity.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see the cable cross the plastic insert and then leave the view?
- Was continuity of that bond left unmeasured?
- Which end of the cable could you not trace?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the green-and-yellow cable as seen, not as a tested bond.
- Ask an electrician to measure continuity and find the hidden end.
- Do not assume the plastic insert is bridged because the cable is there.
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 clamps look tight, has continuity been proved?
No. Tight clamps show metalwork gripping a cable at the points you can see. They do not measure whether the conductor still joins both sides, or where it goes once it vanishes. Continuity is a meter reading the home survey did not take. The vanished end is still undescribed.
Does a plastic insert on its own mean the plumbing is defective?
No. Plastic is a common way to join or repair a pipe. The survey note is about an untested bond across that insert, not a verdict on the plumbing joint itself. The green-and-yellow cable was seen and not measured. Plumbing soundness is a different question from bonding continuity.