Selling your house: the electrical checklist

What the seller’s declarations ask about the electrical system

The “Declarations by the seller of the immovable” form from the OACIQ, the body that oversees real estate brokerage in Québec, asks several questions in its energy section that touch the electrical system:

• Have there been electrical problems: a light that flickers abnormally, a fuse or breaker that trips repeatedly, an outlet or switch that doesn’t work?
• Has the electrical panel ever been replaced?
• Is the building equipped with a built-in generator or an EV charger?

The seller answers based on what they know. Having the installation checked before listing means knowing what to answer, and fixing what can be fixed before a buyer uses it to negotiate.

1. Have the electrical panel checked

It is the first point on our list. Faced with a 60-amp panel, for example, the inspector will recommend an assessment by a master electrician: it is a flag, not a verdict.

In a sale, that finding becomes a negotiating lever: the buyer asks for a fix or a price reduction, and the seller discovers the issue at the worst moment, on a tight timeline.

Learn more: 60-amp panel (in French), Fuse panel and Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panel.

2. Aluminum wiring: have it treated first

Aluminum wiring is found mostly in houses built between 1965 and 1975; the problem is not the wire, it is the connections.

Does it block a sale? It is negotiated. An informed buyer will ask for a fix or a price adjustment; a seller who arrives with a treatment report already done takes the issue off the table.

On the insurance side, each insurer applies its own rules; some ask for proof that a master electrician has inspected and treated the connections. The details: Aluminum wiring. An older house with knob and tube wiring? It is the first point raised in a pre-purchase inspection: Knob and tube.

3. Outdoor outlets: GFCI and a cover

We recommend replacing outdoor outlets with GFCI outlets, with a cover.

GFCI protection is required wherever electricity and water can meet, and everywhere outdoors. A GFCI is tested with its button every month, as manufacturers recommend.

4. Outlets near water: a GFCI next to the faucet

Second point in the same family: a GFCI outlet next to the faucet. Bathrooms, kitchen counters, garage, unfinished basement, around a pool or spa: these are the places where GFCI protection is required.

Where you need one, and why: GFCI: what it protects, and where you need one.

5. A general inspection

The last point on our list: a general inspection of the installation.

A general home inspector does excellent work on the house as a whole; on the electrical side, they report what is visible and often recommend having it checked by a specialist. A master electrician looks at what a general inspection doesn’t go into:

• the real capacity of the service compared with current use;
• the inside of the panel: tightness, heat marks, corrosion;
• whether additions made after construction are up to code, often the most problematic part;
• grounding and protection in the rooms that require it;
• outdoor circuits: pool, spa, landscape lighting, detached garage.

When selling, the timeline is often as much part of the job as the work itself, and we take it into account in our planning. Tell us it is a sale, and the year the house was built.

Who does the work

Replacing a panel, treating aluminum connections or changing outlets is electrical work: in your home, only a master electrician can carry it out.

Our master electricians hold RBQ licence 5815-0137-01 and are CMEQ members. STM-Électrique is also a CAA-Québec recommended home business: what that means, on our page CAA-Québec recommended business.

Frequently asked questions