Do you need an electrical inspection done? Are you wondering how much house electrical inspection cost? We can help answer that question.
A house electrical inspection costs between $50 and $600 dollars. This depends on how detailed you would like the report and how large the area is that would be inspected.
House Electrical Inspection Cost?
A basic cost from an electrical inspection department is usually around $80.
This will give you one inspection on the premises or property.
Your electrician will need to pull this for you so there will be additional fees for the electrician.
The electrician can charge upwards of $100 for his or her time to come out and meet with the inspector he has a formal inspection done.
This is why the cost of the electrical inspection can run upwards of $200 or more.
This will be a basic electrical inspection for a call out.
Does The House Electrical Inspection Cost Different For An Old Home?
Generally the cost of an electrical inspection for an older house is more than a new house.
There may be unforeseen complications that the inspector or electrician can not see due to the walls being closed up.
This results in more attention that is needed to do their inspections.
They will often do a meggar report which is an insulation integrity test to the wiring. They will have to disconnect each wire from the panel source and meter it out.
If you are doing any renovations you will pay more fees as well.
Renovations are usually done in stages. Each time you get the inspection department back there are additional costs.
They will also charge you truck fees to disconnect or reconnect a power service if you want to move or upgrade it.
The average old home adds up to around $600 dollars in inspection fees.
Who Does The Actually Inspection?
The actual electrical inspection is done by your local certified inspection authority every area is different as to who does this.
Sometimes your power utility have inspectors and other times it will be your municipality or state.
Your electrician will usually hire the inspection authority for you to get them out to the premises or property to do the inspection.
The rates differ and so do the times of the inspectors so they will usually come within a few days notice to have the inspection done.
They will give you a formal certified inspection report from the power utility or whoever does the inspection.
This is considered to be a legal document as to the electrical status of your home.
Can My Electrician Do It For Me?
As mentioned above if you were in need of an actual certified inspection report from your local inspection authority electrician can do this for you.
If you just need a report from your electrician then they can do it for you directly so either way you will need to get the electrician involved.
Sometimes different power utilities will come out directly to the customer but it is doubtful.
What Is The Cost If It’s A New Home?
Different inspection authorities have different rates for different areas and different kinds of projects.
On a new house we often pull a permit which is based on the size of the home and the electrical installation at the property.
They base the permit on the dollar value which is a percentage of the time.
For example a $10,000 wiring job would be a $300 permit. The rates go up from there.
However do you usually get two or three inspections included with this permit to get the inspector out.
This includes a service a rough in inspection and a final inspection.
The power utility will usually include a free hook up of power for the first time So there will be no connection fees.
Do I Need To Have The Inspection Done?
You can try not getting an inspection, but you will find you will be in bad luck. We will tell you the worst case scenario if you decide to have electrical work done without an inspection.
Lets say you build a new house, firstly you won’t get power hooked up by the utility if you do not get it inspected.
You will also find the local government will not give you an occupancy permit to live on the premises unless you get an inspection.
In addition to that you won’t be able to get insurance or finalize any funding for the project unless you get that inspection.
You then find out that you need to tear out all of the drywall, insulation etc so the inspector can see the original new wiring before signing off on it.
Basically don’t do it or try to take short cuts. You will find yourself spending thousands of dollars because you didn’t want to deal with the inspection authority.
What Will Happen If I Refuse To Have It Done?
Just what we said above. All kinds of nasty things can happen to you.
You will not get occupancy to live in the house. The bank will not release the money to complete the project for you mortgage.
So it’s simply in your best interest to have the proper inspections done and the proper stages of your project.
Do I Need To Have The Whole House Inspected Or Just The Part I Had Renovated?
No, you do not need to have your whole house inspected if it is existing. If you are doing a renovation like an addition or remodel then only the area being worked on needs to be inspected.
Having said that, if you get a grumpy inspector having a bad day they may pick up on other electrical deficiencies in the home as they are walking through to get the the new piece being inspected.
If you are doing a rewire or not removing any walls then you are permitted to do this with just one inspection.
The inspection department does not expect you to tear your walls apart on an older house to run wires. Fishing the wires by an electrician is permitted.
At What Point Does The Work Qualify To have It Inspected?
We can run up to one circuit 50 amp or less without having an electrical permit.
We are also allowed to do standard maintenance which includes things like changing light fixtures, repairing outlets etc.
In addition we can install one plug circuit for special purpose 120 or 240 volt.
For more on some of the products we recommend…