Any sparkies about? House wiring question

[lewisdmz]

That type of board does not have to mean a re-wire but budget for worst case scenario. As Niall says the fuses are ok IF covered by rcd protection but as an MK 10way board with everything in it is £75 quid or so from Screwfix it's a no brainer to get it changed.
The cables may be fine depending on age and type but you need to take the board cover off to visually check them and the only sure way of knowing is to measure their resistance. If you have baton holder light fittings with screws holding the top to the base that's a real indicator of the installation being pretty old for one.

If you can put up some photos of the board and fittings I can give you a fair account visually, I used to work as an independent electrical tester

A sticker on the board saying the property has been tested at some point is also a good sign that it was at least passable at some point in the past. Hopefully it's not as bad as a place I saw recently! It was ex rental and has just been sold and is a complete and utter fire hazard/shock hazard/DIY abortion of a job!!! Someone just spent 210K on a 2 bed dooer upper and it needs a total re-wire asap. It did however look like a nice tidy house with an old board before the whole place had to be ripped to bits ;-)

Hi Paul,

Thanks, I think I jumped to the worst case scenario assuming that the wiring would almost definitely need doing because of the age of the fusebox. From what I have since read online, if the wiring is pvc coated rather than the old black rubber type then it will likely be fine. We have had a quote for putting a new RCD in and we're fine with that, but re-wiring this perfectly decorated house would be a major issue.

We've had some documents through from the vendors and they have had no electrical testing carried out in the last 9 years. I'll email the surveyor tomorrow as I know he took loads of photos, hopefully one with the board cover off.

We looked around some awful ex-rentals, too many tight fisted landlords looking for a cash cow / cheap fixes, would hate to be the next owner of one...