Why a separate electrical check
Building inspectors note what they can see, and may flag an old switchboard or a scorched fitting. Testing circuits takes an electrician's instruments, and the faults that matter most, like failing insulation or a missing earth, don't show from the outside.
It pays off most on villas, bungalows and other older homes with original wiring, on houses where the vendor did their own renovation, and on homes where solar, a heat pump or an EV charger went in recently.
What a good pre-purchase electrical check covers
- The switchboard's age, condition and spare room, and whether it has RCDs.
- Insulation and earth tests on the circuits, or a sample the report names.
- Signs of old rubber or cloth cable in the ceiling and underfloor.
- Evidence of amateur work: taped joins, loose cable, odd extensions.
- The meter board, the service line and any private pole.
- Smoke alarms: type, age and placement, especially if you plan to rent it out.
- A written report ranking each issue as urgent, soon, or can wait.
Paperwork to ask the vendor for
Ask for the Certificates of Compliance and Electrical Safety Certificates for electrical work done during their ownership, and the Record of Inspection for anything high-risk, like solar, a new service main or a higher-capacity switchboard. The EWRB says a CoC may be needed when a home is sold, and tells owners to keep it as a record of the work.
If the vendor can't find them, electrical workers have to keep certification records for 7 years, so the business that did the job may have copies. Missing paperwork for an obvious recent job is worth raising with your lawyer before you commit.
Wiring added by a previous owner under the homeowner rules should have been inspected and connected by a licensed electrical inspector, who gives the homeowner a copy of the Certificate of Compliance. Ask for that one too.
Searching WorkSafe's high-risk database
Find the database
WorkSafe's Electricity and Gas High-risk Database gives the public access to key details of high-risk work, and searching it doesn't need registration.
Search by address
Enter the property's physical address. If it doesn't come up, a manual search has to match exactly what was entered in the record, so try variations such as the unit number.
Read the results
Each result lists a record ID, record type, address, the certification or assessment date and the responsible person. Inspection records have had to go on it since 1 July 2013.
Compare with what you can see
A result is a summary, not the certificate. A recent solar system or new switchboard with no record at all is a reason to ask more questions.
Timing, and who to book
Book the check inside your due diligence or finance period, so there's time to get quotes for anything it finds. Ask for a licensed electrical inspector or an electrician who does testing and pre-purchase reports regularly, and look at their licence ID before they start.
Buying to rent? The healthy homes standards and the smoke alarm rules will apply once tenants move in, so have the heating and extractor fan wiring and the alarms checked at the same visit. Healthy homes electrical work has more.
Your part, and the inspector's
You can
- Ask the vendor or agent for every electrical certificate they hold.
- Search the high-risk database for the address.
- At a viewing, look at what kind of switchboard it is, any scorch marks, and how many power points there are.
- Let the vendor know the power will go off briefly during testing.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Testing circuits and inspecting the switchboard.
- Checking the wiring in the ceiling space and underfloor.
- A written report with photos and priorities.
What we'd do before going unconditional
We'd ask for the vendor's certificates and search the high-risk database first, because both are quick. Then, for any house with original wiring, renovations or solar, we'd book an electrical check alongside the building inspection, and use the report to decide, or to negotiate, before going unconditional.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.