Whilst carrying out inspection and testing in a flat a week or so ago I was talking to the Inventory Clerk, socially distanced of course he was in the bathroom and I was in the kitchen on the other side of the hallway.


As well as Inventories he provides other reports to landlords including Energy Performance Certificates and Legionella inspections.


I enquired if he sometimes finds it helpful to be a bit vague when preparing reports, he laughed and rattled off some of the off pat phrases he includes in reports, a very nice selection of pretty meaningless comments that don’t really  answer a question,but sound like a considered reply.


20 + years is one of those meaningless answers that is actually verging on being completely dishonest. A more accurate assessment of the age of the installation could easily add fifty years onto that.


I did a report over the weekend, plastic consumer with all new colour cables in it, it wasn’t until I started opening up some fittings I estimated the age as fifty years. I could have easily wrote 10+ years on the report, but that would have been inaccurate to the point of being dishonest.


At some point these reports are going to be used by landlords for remortgaging and selling properties, as well as for insurance and compliance purposes, so you need to make sure there’s nothing to come back and bite you on the a#se.


If in doubt over estimate the age by a few years, don’t indicate or give the impression that it may only twenty or so years old when it may be over fifty years old, that is just plain stupidity on the part of the person who takes responsibility for issuing the report.


Andy Betteridge

Whilst carrying out inspection and testing in a flat a week or so ago I was talking to the Inventory Clerk, socially distanced of course he was in the bathroom and I was in the kitchen on the other side of the hallway.


As well as Inventories he provides other reports to landlords including Energy Performance Certificates and Legionella inspections.


I enquired if he sometimes finds it helpful to be a bit vague when preparing reports, he laughed and rattled off some of the off pat phrases he includes in reports, a very nice selection of pretty meaningless comments that don’t really  answer a question,but sound like a considered reply.


20 + years is one of those meaningless answers that is actually verging on being completely dishonest. A more accurate assessment of the age of the installation could easily add fifty years onto that.


I did a report over the weekend, plastic consumer with all new colour cables in it, it wasn’t until I started opening up some fittings I estimated the age as fifty years. I could have easily wrote 10+ years on the report, but that would have been inaccurate to the point of being dishonest.


At some point these reports are going to be used by landlords for remortgaging and selling properties, as well as for insurance and compliance purposes, so you need to make sure there’s nothing to come back and bite you on the a#se.


If in doubt over estimate the age by a few years, don’t indicate or give the impression that it may only twenty or so years old when it may be over fifty years old, that is just plain stupidity on the part of the person who takes responsibility for issuing the report.


Andy Betteridge