DIY Electrics and Insurance

[RayDavis]

Last year I finished a complete re-wire of my house. I've followed all the reg's etc, but I'm a little concerned about the buildings/contents insurance.

Would this likely be a sticking point should there ever be a problem. I'm confident the fixed wiring is all up to spec. but with insurance companies operating the way they do they'd probably stitch me up even if a fire was caused by an appliance fault.

What should I do in terms of getting it inspected and signed-off? How much should I expect to pay (3 bed semi with 3 rings)?

Thanks

[VisionSet]

Good grief, life's to short! Do it if you know you're up to it and then forget it. Otherwise get someone in. Of course the god damned sellers pack thing is another matter I guess there'll be alot of DIY sellers when that date nears.

-- Mike W

[Alan]

`In message , VisionSet wrote

So what's going to happen when you cannot prove the wiring has be inspected? In the real world the value of the house may fall by a few hundred quid - a lot less than the money it would have cost to get the professional in. One or two potential sales may be lost but the value of the house is based more on its location, size general state of repair than having one certificate.

People shopping for the 'perfect' house may have a long wait if they are not prepared to accept that there may be something wrong with the property.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If it ever got to that, it's usually pretty simple for an expert to say where and how a fire started. And IMHO 'pro' installations are every bit as likely to be 'at risk' as a DIY one done carefully - ie near zero.

And at the time you finished the work, there was no legal requirement to have any certification.

To inspect an installation thoroughly would be very expensive. You could have a basic check made to make sure the earthing etc complies for probably a couple of hundred.

[Christian McArdle]

What you need is a periodic inspection certificate. Any electrician could do this. It shouldn't be particularly expensive. My guess is 50-100 quid.

When you said you followed all the regs, did you do insulation resistance and earth loop impedence tests?

Christian.

[RayDavis]

The checks I've done all along are multi-meter resistance test between live-neutral, live-live/neutral-neutral/earth-earth test on ring mains and a basic socket tester in every socket. Without the expensive equipment I'm not sure what else I can/should test.

[Bob Eager]

So that hasn't tested everything, by any means. Better to get someone in. Your tests won't necessarily detect loose connections, and the safety of the earth path.

[Christian McArdle]

In which case, you should definitely get an electrician in to do the tests. The required equipment for the tests costs many hundreds of pounds. They can't be done by a 6 quid multimeter from Maplins.

Christian.