Key takeaways
- A good electrical inspection report organizes findings by area, gives each one a recommendation and a rating, and puts a labeled photo beside it.
- Safety findings come first in any negotiation, Repair findings are the next conversation, and Maintenance findings are usually yours to handle after closing.
- Photos beside each finding let a seller, an agent or an insurer see the problem without sending their own electrician.
- A report signed by a Texas licensed master electrician carries more weight with sellers and insurers than an unsigned list or a general note to have it evaluated.
- Pair each finding with a flat repair price and you have a written number to ask for, which is what moves a seller during the option period.
You have an electrical inspection report in your inbox, the option period clock is running, and the next step is a conversation with the seller about money. The report either gives you the words and the numbers for that conversation or it does not. This guide shows you how to read one, what each part is for, and how buyers in San Antonio use it to ask for repairs, a credit or a price change.
We will use the report Wattsmith Electric delivers as the example, because we can describe exactly how it is built. The same reading method works on any electrician's report. If yours is missing pieces described here, that tells you something too.
If you do not have a report yet and your option period has started, call us or book online today. The sooner the visit happens, the more days you have to use what it finds.
What a good electrical inspection report contains
An electrical inspection report from a licensed electrician should answer four questions for every problem: where it is, what it is, how serious it is and what should be done. Ours is built around those questions.
- Findings by area: service and panel, grounding and bonding, branch wiring, receptacles, switches and lighting, kitchen and appliances, alarms, exterior, garage and attic.
- A recommendation for each finding, written in plain language: replace, repair, add protection, monitor.
- A rating on each finding: Safety, Repair or Maintenance.
- Photos of the problems, labeled and placed beside the finding they support.
- A priority action plan that pulls the findings into the order they should be handled.
- A signature in our app by a Texas licensed master electrician, with a certificate of completion that shows the document has not been altered since it was signed.
You receive the finished report by text and email, so it can be forwarded to your agent, your lender or your insurer the same day.
Notice what is not on the list: a pass or fail grade for the whole house. No honest electrician can stamp an entire electrical system as passing. What a buyer needs is the specific list of problems, in priority order, with enough evidence to act on.
How to read the ratings: Safety, Repair and Maintenance
The rating is the single most useful word on each finding, because it tells you which conversation that item belongs in.
Safety means the condition can cause a shock, a fire or a failure of protection right now. Examples include a scorched bus bar, a breaker that does not trip, exposed live conductors, a double tap that is overheating, or a missing ground where it creates a real shock hazard. These are the items you ask the seller to repair or credit before closing, and they are the items an insurer or a lender is most likely to care about.
Repair means something is wrong and should be corrected, but it is not an immediate hazard. A dead receptacle, a missing cover, a GFCI that fails its test in a bathroom, a fixture with the wrong bulb or a junction box without a lid in the attic. These are reasonable to include in a repair request, and they add up. Ten small Repair findings can be worth as much in a negotiation as one Safety finding.
Maintenance means normal wear or an upgrade worth planning. Smoke alarms approaching the end of their service life, labels missing from the panel directory, a fan that wobbles. Most buyers do not ask a seller to pay for these, and asking for all of them can make a reasonable seller dig in. Treat them as your first list of projects after you move in.
Why the photos beside each finding matter
A finding without a photo is an opinion the seller can argue with. A finding with a labeled photo of the scorched breaker, the open junction box or the cloth-sheathed cable in the attic is evidence. The seller's agent can see it. The seller can see it without sending their own electrician. An insurer can see it without scheduling a visit.
That is why our report places each photo next to the finding it supports instead of collecting them all at the end. When you forward a single finding to the seller's side, the picture goes with it. Look at each photo as you read. If a photo does not clearly show the problem described, ask the electrician to explain it before you send the report on.
Want to see what goes into the visit before you book? Our electrical inspection service page lays out what the electrician checks, and our guide to electrical inspection day covers what happens at the house.
Using the priority action plan
The priority action plan at the end of the report is the page most buyers forward. It turns a long list of findings into an order of work: what to fix before anyone lives in the house, what to fix soon, and what to plan for.
Use it in three ways. First, as the outline of your repair request, because it is already sorted by urgency. Second, as a budget for your first year in the house, because the lower items are the projects you will own. Third, as a check on the seller's response. If the seller offers to fix the bottom of the list and ignores the top, the plan shows that clearly.
How to use an electrical inspection report in negotiation
Texas resale contracts give buyers an option period. During it, you can terminate for any reason, which means the seller has a reason to listen to a reasonable request. The electrical inspection report is your evidence; a repair price is your number.
- Start with Safety findings. Ask for licensed repair before closing or a credit equal to the repair price.
- Group the Repair findings into one request with one total, rather than a long list of small asks.
- Leave most Maintenance findings off the request. Keeping your ask focused makes the seller more likely to agree to the items that matter.
- Attach the photos for every item you ask about.
- Ask for a credit rather than repairs when you want to choose the electrician and see the work done right.
Because Wattsmith prices from a published book, any finding in our report can be quoted as a flat price, so the number you put in the request is a real number. Our guides to seller credits for electrical repairs and electrical repairs after a home inspection in Texas walk through both paths.
Want those prices before you write the request? Call us and ask for each finding to be quoted. You can also check the published figures on our pricing page.
Using the report with your insurance company
Some insurers ask about the electrical system before they write a policy on an older home. The questions are usually about panel brand, aluminum branch wiring, knob and tube, and the age of the system. A general note that says "recommend evaluation" does not answer those questions. A signed report with photos that names the panel, the wire type and the condition does.
If the report finds a problem the insurer cares about, the repair and a signed record of that repair are what you send back. Ask your insurance agent which findings they need addressed and what documentation they accept before you close, so the policy is in place when you need it.
If your insurer has already flagged something, read what to do when insurance flags your electrical.
Why a signed report from a licensed master electrician carries weight
In Texas, electricians are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and the master electrician license is the highest residential and commercial tier. When a master electrician signs a report, a named license holder is standing behind each finding. Sellers, agents and insurers read that differently than a handyman's notes or an unsigned list.
The certificate of completion attached to our report matters for a practical reason. Reports get forwarded many times between buyers, agents, sellers and insurers. The certificate shows the document has not been altered since it was signed, so nobody on the other side can claim the findings were edited.
For how the license tiers work, see our guide to Texas electrician license types.
Red flags in an electrical inspection report
- No photos, or photos in a separate folder with no labels.
- No ratings, so every item looks equally serious.
- No signature, or a signature with no license holder named.
- Vague findings such as "some outlets not working" with no locations.
- No statement of what could not be accessed, such as a blocked panel or an attic too tight to enter.
If your report has these gaps, it will be harder to use in a negotiation and harder to defend with an insurer. That is worth knowing before you decide how much weight to put on it.
Getting the report: the real estate electrical inspection
Wattsmith Electric is a veteran-owned contractor licensed by TDLR (TECL 41806). Our real estate electrical inspection covers the whole house and produces the report described above, signed by a Texas licensed master electrician and delivered by text and email.
The visit and the signed report are one flat price from our published book: the Real estate electrical inspection task, from $399. You approve it before we schedule, and there is nothing added at the door. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
Book the inspection and attach the general inspector's report so the electrician knows what was flagged. If repairs follow, we pull any permit required and meet the city inspector, so you are not managing that while you pack.
If you are the agent, send this page to your buyer with the inspection report, and see our page for agents who need an electrician during the option period.