Before painting, decorating or changing the furniture, there is one thing that deserves priority attention
Buying a second-hand flat is equally exciting and exhausting. There are a thousand things to think about: the mortgage, the paperwork, the removal, how you're going to arrange the furniture… In the middle of all that, the electrical installation usually takes a back seat. And yet it is one of the first things that deserves inspection, even before you start decorating.
The reason is simple: electrical problems are not always visible to the naked eye, and it is much better to discover them before having the house full of furniture and your life settled in.
Why does the electricity in a second-hand flat deserve special attention?
When you buy a new flat, the electrical installation complies with the regulations in force at the time of construction. In a second-hand flat, that installation may be ten, twenty or thirty years old, and regulations and power consumption have changed a lot in that time.
An old electrical installation is not necessarily dangerous, but it can have significant limitations: few sockets, circuits that are not properly separated, an absence of an earth connection, obsolete RCDs or wiring with deteriorated insulation. All of that might not cause problems for a while, but sooner or later it ends up showing.
First things first: open the fuse box and take a look
You don't need to be an electrician to draw basic conclusions by looking at the fuse box. If you see porcelain fuses with a lead wire instead of modern circuit breakers, the installation is very old and deserves a thorough inspection. If the fuse box has few circuit breakers for the size of the home, the circuits are probably not properly separated.
If the fuse box has a modern look, with several small miniature circuit breakers and a clearly visible RCD, that is a good sign, although it does not guarantee that everything is in perfect condition.
Sockets: an indicator of overall condition
Walk through the property and check the sockets. If they are all two-pin sockets without an earth connection, the installation probably has no earth or it is not connected properly. If there are sockets with burn marks, cracked casings or that wobble when touched, that indicates there are points that need attention.
Check also whether there are enough sockets in each room for normal use. If there are only one or two per room, you are likely to end up constantly relying on extension leads, which is neither the most convenient nor the safest solution in the long run.
Questions you would do well to ask the seller or agency
Before completing the purchase or right afterwards, try to get information on when the last electrical renovation was carried out, whether the electrical certificate for the installation exists, and if there have been any recent electrical problems in the property. This information isn't always obtainable, but when you do get it, it really helps to know where to start.
The electrical certificate is the document that certifies that the installation was inspected and complied with regulations at a specific point in time. If it exists and is relatively recent, it is a good sign. If it does not exist or is very old, it is worth having an electrician carry out an inspection.
What to do if the installation needs an update?
If after the inspection it turns out that the installation needs improvements, the good news is that rewiring an empty flat is much simpler and cheaper than doing it with the furniture in place and people living there. That is why it makes so much sense to check it before moving in.
At Iluminamos tu Vida we carry out electrical inspections in second-hand flats in Madrid and tell you exactly what is fine, what deserves improvement and what is urgent. Call us before moving in and start with the peace of mind of knowing that the installation is in order.