What an Electrical Inspection Actually Checks
When people ask us to “just check the wiring”, many imagine a quick look at the consumer unit and a thumbs-up. A real electrical inspection is nothing like that. It is a structured set of tests, done with instruments, on the parts of the installation that actually decide whether your house is safe — most of which you cannot judge by looking. Here is what a proper inspection covers, and why each part matters.
Why an Inspection Is Tests, Not a Glance
Most of what makes an installation dangerous is invisible. A socket that looks perfect can have a missing earth behind it. Cable that looks fine can be the wrong size for the load it carries. A board that looks tidy can have no working protection at all. None of that shows from the outside — it shows on a meter. That is why an inspection is a testing process, carried out by a licensed electrician to Ghana’s wiring code, GS 1009:2012, and the wiring regulations, L.I. 2008 — not a visual once-over.
What Gets Checked
Earthing and Bonding
This is the single most important thing in the whole inspection. Earthing is what makes a fault safe — it gives fault current a path that trips the breaker instead of making metalwork live. We test that a proper earth exists and works, and that metal parts are correctly bonded. Missing or degraded earthing is the most common — and most dangerous — fault we find in older Ghanaian homes.
Circuit Protection at the Board
We check that the consumer unit has the right protective devices, correctly rated, for each circuit — and that they actually trip when they should. An old fuse box, or breakers that are oversized for their cable, mean a fault may not cut the power in time.
Cable Condition and Sizing
We assess whether the cable is the correct size for the load on each circuit, and whether years of heat have left the insulation brittle, cracked, or damaged. Undersized cable overheats; that is how hidden fires start.
Sockets, Switches and Accessories
We check for burnt or loose terminals, signs of overheating, and reversed or missing connections — the small failures that become the burning smell you call us about later.
Moisture and Water Ingress
A Ghana-specific priority. We look for rainwater that has reached outdoor and wall sockets, junction boxes, and the corroded terminals it leaves behind.
Load and Overload
We assess whether the installation is being asked to carry more than it was designed for — common where AC, water heaters, and pumps have been added to old wiring over the years.
What You Get at the End
An inspection is only useful if it tells you something you can act on. So you get:
- A clear statement of what is safe and compliant
- A clear list of what is not, in plain language, with the risk explained
- A recommendation — repair, partial work, or, where warranted, a full rewire — so you can decide
Where the work is a new installation or a major alteration that needs certifying, we issue an Energy-Commission compliance certificate, which carries a statutory fee of GH₵300. That certificate is your documented proof the work meets the standard — valuable for insurers, buyers, and your own peace of mind.
When You Should Get One
An inspection is worth doing if any of these are true:
- You are buying a property and want to know its real condition before you sign
- The house is more than ~20 years old and has never been inspected
- You have added significant load (AC, heaters, a pump) to old wiring
- You are getting repeated faults, trips, or flickering across the house
- A tenant, buyer, or insurer has asked for documented proof of condition
What It Costs — Honestly
An inspection is priced on survey, because a one-bedroom flat and a four-storey house are genuinely different amounts of testing, and we will not pretend otherwise. If a compliance certificate is required, that carries the statutory GH₵300 fee on top. What you will always get is a clear price before we begin, and a finding you can actually use.
The Bottom Line
An electrical inspection is not someone glancing at your fuse box. It is a structured test of the things that decide whether your installation is safe — earthing, protection, cable, accessories, moisture, load — most of which are invisible until they fail. Doing it turns guesswork into facts, before a hidden fault turns into an emergency.
Electricals Ghana has inspected and certified installations across Greater Accra since 1987 — Energy-Commission-licensed, working to L.I. 2008 and GS 1009:2012. Call +233 23 063 0022.
Related Services
- Inspection & Certification — full testing and the EC compliance certificate
- House Rewiring — when the inspection finds systemic problems
- Electrical Fault Finding — when a specific fault needs tracing