Key takeaways
- The TREC inspection report marks electrical items as inspected, not inspected, not present or deficient, with comments explaining each deficiency.
- Most home inspection electrical repairs are small, such as double taps, open grounds and missing GFCI protection.
- Grounding upgrades, AFCI protection and panel replacements are larger and should be priced by a licensed electrician before the option period ends.
- Who pays is negotiated between buyer and seller; a flat written price makes that negotiation concrete.
- Permitted work in San Antonio goes through the Development Services Department, and lenders or insurers may ask for the paperwork.
You have a TREC inspection report open, the electrical section has several items marked deficient, and the option period ends in a few days. Home inspection electrical repairs are usually smaller than the report makes them look, but a few of them are not, and you need to know which is which before anyone signs an amendment.
This guide is for both sides of a Texas sale. It shows how to read the electrical section, sorts the common findings into small and large, explains how to get a licensed electrician's written price inside the option period, and covers who typically pays, when a permit is required, and what paperwork a lender or insurer may want after the work is done.
How to read the electrical section of the TREC inspection report
Licensed Texas home inspectors use a standard form, the TREC inspection report. Each item is checked as inspected, not inspected, not present or deficient. The electrical systems section has two parts: service entrance and panels, then branch circuits with connected devices and fixtures.
- Service entrance and panels: the meter base, the service conductors, the main panel and subpanels, breakers, grounding and bonding, and labeling.
- Branch circuits, connected devices and fixtures: the wiring type, receptacles, switches, GFCI and AFCI protection, light fixtures, smoke alarms and similar items.
A deficient mark means the inspector observed a condition that is not functioning as intended or that warrants attention. It does not mean the condition is dangerous, and it does not tell you what the repair costs. The comment under the item is where the useful information is: what was seen, where, and often a recommendation to have a licensed electrician evaluate and correct it.
Before you try to fix electrical issues from a home inspection, read every comment, not just the checkmarks. Note the room or location for each, and note any item marked not inspected, because those are places where nobody has looked yet.
For a closer look at the items that show up most in this area, our guide to home inspection electrical items in San Antonio explains each one.
Small electrical repairs from a home inspection
Most items on a typical report fall here. Each is a defined task that a licensed electrician can usually correct in one visit.
Double taps and other panel violations are the most frequent panel finding. A double tap is two conductors under a breaker terminal listed for one. Other common panel items include missing knockout covers, missing or illegible labels, and a missing screw on the dead front.
In our flat-rate book this is the Double-tap and panel violation correction task, from $499, with the exact scope confirmed once the panel is open and approved by you before work starts. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
Open grounds come next. An open ground is a three-prong receptacle with no ground connection behind it. Inspectors find them with a plug-in tester. The fix depends on the wiring: sometimes the ground is present in the box and simply not connected, sometimes a ground has to be run, and sometimes the right answer is GFCI protection with the receptacle labeled as having no equipment ground.
Correcting it is the Open ground correction, per circuit task, from $569 per circuit in most cases. The report shows which receptacles share a circuit, so the count is clear. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
The details are in open ground outlets: what they mean and how to fix them.
Missing GFCI protection is the third common item. Kitchens, baths, garages, laundry areas and outdoor receptacles call for ground-fault protection, and older homes often lack it.
Each location is the GFCI receptacle installation task, from $199. One GFCI at the start of a circuit can protect the receptacles after it, which sometimes reduces the count. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
Call us with the electrical section of your report and we will tell you on the phone which items are small. If you want them priced in writing, book a visit and attach the report.
Larger electrical findings that need a written price
A few findings carry more cost and deserve a licensed electrician's written price before any amendment is signed.
Grounding system deficiencies are one. An inspector may note a missing grounding electrode conductor, no bond at the water line, or no bonding of gas piping where it is required. Some of these are quick corrections. Others mean the grounding system needs to be brought up to current requirements.
When the whole grounding system needs work, our book lists the Grounding system upgrade task, from $879. Smaller grounding corrections are priced separately and appear as their own line on the report. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
Gas piping bonding is its own topic; read CSST gas line bonding in San Antonio if your report mentions yellow flexible gas line.
Missing AFCI protection is another. Arc-fault protection is required in more areas of a house under current code than it was when many San Antonio homes were built. An inspector may note its absence as a recommended upgrade rather than a deficiency, since older homes are generally not required to be brought up to the current code just because they are sold. Read the comment to see which way your inspector wrote it.
Adding it is the AFCI protection upgrade task, from $429, usually as breakers in the panel when the panel accepts them. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
The largest items are a panel replacement, usually prompted by a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel or by heat damage, and aluminum branch wiring. Our guides to Federal Pacific panel replacement and aluminum wiring repair methods explain the work and what drives the price.
Items that read as serious but usually are not
Some report comments sound alarming and turn out to be small. A missing dead front screw, an unlabeled breaker or a cover plate missing in the garage are all deficiencies on the form, and all are fixed in minutes. A receptacle that tested reversed polarity is usually one device wired backward. A light fixture that did not work is often a lamp or a switch.
The opposite also happens. A comment like warm breaker, discoloration at the panel or scorch marks at a receptacle reads like a minor note but points to a connection that is overheating. Those items deserve a licensed electrician's visit before closing, whoever ends up paying, because heat at a connection is how electrical fires start.
Items marked not inspected matter too. If the inspector could not remove the panel cover or could not reach the attic, nobody has looked at those parts of the system. Our visit covers them where access allows and notes plainly where it does not.
Getting a licensed price inside the option period
The Texas option period is short and it does not pause while you wait for contractors. Option period repairs are negotiated, not performed, inside that window: the goal is a signed amendment that says who will fix what. The order that works:
- Send us the electrical section of the TREC inspection report the day you receive it.
- We schedule a visit, inspect each listed item and anything related we find, and photograph it.
- You receive a written report signed by a Texas licensed master electrician, with a flat price for each item from our published book.
- You and your agent use that report to write the repair amendment.
That visit is the Pre-sale or insurance electrical inspection task, from $509. The price is confirmed before we start, and the report is yours to share with the other side. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.
If you are the agent, send this page to your client along with the report, or contact us yourself and we will coordinate access and timing.
Who should pay for home inspection electrical repairs
There is no fixed rule. Who pays is negotiated between buyer and seller, usually through an amendment to the contract during the option period. The common outcomes:
- The seller makes the repairs before closing and provides invoices.
- The seller lowers the price and the buyer handles the repairs after closing.
- The seller gives a credit at closing toward the buyer's costs.
- The buyer accepts the items as they are.
Small safety items are often handled as seller repairs because they are quick and easy to document. Large items are often handled as a credit or price change, so the buyer chooses the contractor and sees the work done. The right split depends on the house, the market and the rest of the inspection report, and your agent is the person to advise on it.
We cover the credit route in seller credit for electrical repairs.
Permits for electrical repairs in San Antonio
Replacing a receptacle with a GFCI or correcting a double tap generally does not require a permit. Panel replacements, service work, new circuits and grounding system upgrades generally do. In San Antonio the permit comes from the Development Services Department; surrounding cities issue their own.
We pull the permit where one is required and schedule the inspection. When panel work needs the service disconnected, we coordinate with CPS Energy. The permit and the passed inspection become part of the paperwork for the sale.
Our guide to electrical permits in San Antonio explains when a permit applies and how long it typically adds.
Paperwork a lender or insurer may want
Some lenders and many insurers ask about the electrical system, especially the panel brand and any wiring type they have concerns about. When repairs are made, keep the following together and give copies to the buyer:
- The invoice showing the work performed and the contractor's TDLR license number.
- The written report describing the condition before and after.
- The permit number and passed inspection, where a permit applied.
- Photos of the completed work, especially of the panel.
If an insurer has already flagged something, read what to do when insurance flags your electrical.
How we handle home inspection electrical repairs
Wattsmith Electric is veteran-owned and licensed by TDLR under TECL 41806. Every repair is quoted flat from our published book and approved before work starts. Permitted work is permitted and inspected. Reports are signed by a Texas licensed master electrician.
See our electrical repair service, review the pricing page, or send us your report and book the visit. Tell us your option period deadline on the first call.