Home electrical inspections

Home electrical inspections in Edmonton by licensed electricians: panel, wiring, receptacles, GFCI and AFCI, alarms and service, with a clear ranked report.

Why have an electrician inspect your home?

A general home inspector covers the whole house in a few hours. An electrical inspection goes deeper on one system. A licensed electrician opens the panel, tests circuits and protective devices, and knows what older Edmonton wiring looks like when it has been modified over the years.

People book an electrical inspection when they are:

• Buying an older home and want to know what they are getting into.
• Selling and want to fix issues before they show up in a buyer's report.
• Dealing with an insurer asking about knob-and-tube or aluminium wiring.
• Planning a renovation and want to know if the panel can handle it.
• Noticing flickering lights, warm plates or frequent trips.

What we look at

Inside the panel we look for overheating, double-tapped breakers, mismatched breakers, aluminium connections, and whether the service size suits the home. Around the house we test a sample of receptacles for grounding and polarity, test GFCI and AFCI devices, and look at visible wiring in the basement, attic and garage.

An inspection is visual and non-destructive. We do not open walls, so wiring hidden inside finished spaces can only be judged from what is visible at boxes, panels and accessible areas.

Your report

You get a written report through our online system with photos and findings ranked by urgency, so you know what needs attention now and what can wait.

Where repairs are needed, we can quote them, but you are under no obligation to use us. The report is yours to share with a buyer, seller or insurer.

Safe checks you can do yourself

Between inspections, a few simple checks are safe for any homeowner:

• Press the TEST button on GFCI receptacles and breakers every few months, then RESET.
• Test smoke and CO alarms monthly and replace them at the end of their rated life.
• Notice any warm, discoloured or buzzing receptacles, switches or cover plates.
• If a breaker trips, unplug what was running and reset it once. If it trips again, call us.

Inspection cost depends on the size and age of the home, the number of panels and buildings, and whether you want extras like a thermal scan.

Common findings in Edmonton homes

Every house is different, but some findings come up again and again in our inspections:

• Double-tapped breakers, where two wires share a terminal not rated for it.
• Ungrounded two-prong receptacles, or three-prong ones replaced without a ground.
• Missing GFCI protection in bathrooms, kitchens and outdoors.
• Amateur wiring in basements and garages, often with open splices.
• Panels that are full, with little room for future circuits.
• Older panels whose breakers are hard to find or no longer made.

Most of these are straightforward to fix. The value of an inspection is knowing they are there, so you can deal with them before they cause a problem or become a sticking point in a sale.

Questions we hear