What will the Ohio form ask you about your wiring?
If you’re selling most kinds of home in Ohio, you fill in the state’s Residential Property Disclosure Form under Ohio Revised Code 5302.30. So do you have to disclose knob and tube in Ohio? Section G, Mechanical Systems, asks about the electrical system directly.
At Conflux Cincinnati Knob and Tube we assess and replace K&T for sellers and buyers across Cincinnati and Hamilton County. This guide explains the form’s electrical question. It isn’t legal advice, and an attorney should answer anything about your duty in a specific sale.
| What the form asks | What that means for you with K&T |
|---|---|
| “Do you know of any previous or current problems or defects with the following existing mechanical systems?” | It turns on what you know about problems, not on the wiring’s age or type |
| Electrical: Yes, No or N/A | One line covers the whole electrical system |
| A description of repairs in the past five years | K&T replacement or disconnection in that window is a repair to describe |
The Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Real Estate, issued the form in its current shape in June 2022, under Ohio Administrative Code 1301:5-6-10.
Does the form actually say “knob and tube”?
No. The form never uses those words. It asks about problems and defects you know of, so the real question for you is whether what you know about your wiring amounts to a problem or defect.
That depends on the facts and on the law. A few situations make the answer clearer than others:
- Someone told you it’s a problem. An electrician’s report, an insurer’s letter or a past buyer’s inspection naming K&T as a hazard is knowledge of a problem.
- You know of symptoms. Fuses that keep blowing, a warm outlet or a burning smell are problems whatever wiring causes them.
- You know it’s there and nothing more. Whether intact K&T by itself is a “defect” is the judgment to make with an attorney.
What counts as “knowing”?
Usually, paper. If you’ve read a report or letter that names the wiring, you know what it says, and the form’s question about known problems reaches it.
| Where it came from | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| A home inspection from when you bought | What the inspector saw then, and what they recommended |
| An insurer’s underwriting letter | That the carrier treats your wiring as an issue |
| An electrician’s assessment | Which circuits are live, dead or damaged |
| A buyer’s inspection during this sale | What this buyer found, which you now know |
| Your own repairs | What was replaced or disconnected, and when |
Keep these in one folder. Our paperwork guide shows how the same records serve an insurer, and they serve a buyer the same way.
How do you answer the five-year repairs question?
Briefly and in a way a buyer can check. The form asks you to describe repairs in the past five years, and K&T replacement, disconnecting old runs or a panel change in that window belongs there.
Say what was replaced, which circuits, whether any K&T remains, and the permit. Compare two versions:
- Vague: “Electrical updated.”
- Checkable: “Six K&T circuits replaced and two disconnected at both ends, IBI permit final on file; no active K&T remains.”
You can only write the second if the work and the records back it up, which is why the removal record and the permit matter.
What will the buyer do with your answer?
Look further. Buyers rarely stop at the form. Their inspector looks in the basement and attic, and K&T usually goes in the report as a finding. From there, the buyer’s lender and insurer become part of your sale.
- Insurance. Each carrier writes its own rules; see K&T insurance in Ohio.
- Lending. Some lenders or appraisers attach conditions; see K&T and mortgages.
- Price. A scope gives both sides something to price; see K&T before closing.
What are your options as a seller?
Three broad paths. None of them removes the disclosure question for problems you already know about, but each changes what your buyer faces.
| Path | What it gives the buyer | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|
| Assess and disclose | A circuit list showing what’s live, dead or damaged | A visit for the free assessment and a clear answer on the form |
| Assess and offer a credit | A written scope the buyer can price | A negotiation over the number |
| Replace before listing | A house without active K&T, with records | Time, money and open walls before the sale |
Our guide on home value covers what replacement does and doesn’t change for a sale.
Buying? How should you read the seller’s form?
As what the seller says they knew, not what’s in the walls. A “No” on the electrical line can sit alongside live K&T, because K&T often hides behind updated outlets and a newer panel.
Read the form alongside your own inspection, and ask the seller for any records behind the five-year repairs answer:
- The IBI permit number and final for any electrical work
- Any circuit map or panel directory from an electrician
- Insurer letters about the wiring, if the seller will share them
If the records are thin, an assessment inside your inspection period fills the gap. Our knob and tube inspection page describes what it covers, and identifying K&T explains what you can safely look for yourself.
What if the house is in Kentucky?
Then Kentucky’s rules apply, not Ohio’s. The Ohio form and Ohio Revised Code 5302.30 don’t cover a house in Covington or Newport, so ask your Kentucky agent which disclosure the sale uses.
What should you do before you fill in the form?
Find out what you have. On a knob and tube inspection we trace each circuit and give you a written list, which makes the form easier to answer accurately and gives buyers the same facts.
To arrange one before you list, call (513) 496-2715. Our guide on whether K&T is illegal in Ohio covers the code side of the same question.