Electrics

That would only show that the polarity is (in)correct - the wires could still be swapped at both ends, ie using red for neutral and black for phase.

It will work but be dangerous. If such a basic mistake has been made the whole installation needs checking professionally - and ASAP.

Light switches aren't marked line and neutral, so what do you mean? Double pole switches as fitted to water heaters etc are, though.

I hope you remembered to remove the socket plugs from the plug sockets before you removed the plug sockets from the wall.

So £80 for 1 hour, £100 for 2 hours, £120 for 3 hours?

I suppose that's reasonable for a 3-hour rate; seems a bit high for a

Owain

..................................... Yes but a simple visual check would reveal if it was polarity (in)correct. But I agree with other posters, if the OP feels uncomfortable about dealing with this then call in a professional.

All irrelevant. Part P Certification may apply if some types of work need to be done.

What is required is the *operative* (not the firm) has a City and Guilds

Owain

Does not sound to bada price, we charge £24.50 + vat per hour. For a periodic in a three bed terrace for example we would charge £117.50.

The OP did refer to the "plug sockets" rather than "a plug socket"...

(whatever that means - I understood it as a socket outlet!)

:-)

Tosser.

Thank you for your valued contribution, unfortunately on this occasion the editors of Reader's Digest consider that your comment was inappropriate for publication.

I'm just going to disagree on one point, and say this is perfectly diyable. A plug-in socket tester will tell you very quickly which sockets are wired wrong. If its one, just swap the L&N wires to make it ok, with power at the fusebox/CU off of course, and all is good.

If lots are swapped, I'd agree extra chacks are called for, but its something any reasonable person could do themselves with some guidance here without any great headache.

Its also worth bearing in mind that the risk from a polarity swap is very small. While not zero, annual deaths from electrickery show fixed wiring to be one of the safest things in our lives. And thats all the nation's fixed wiring summed, including the assortment of below par installs.

NT

Thanks everyone for your responses.

In the end I brought the tester that you plug into each socket to see what it says, and on every plug in the house it said correct. So the only thing I can now presume is that the ones in the bedroom I decorated were in fact incorrect and when I put them back on I put them correctly. (hopefully anyway)

as the nights are dark, on the weekend I'll turn off the electrics and double check a couple of sockets upstairs to ensure they are in fact correctly set up.

Is there a similar test I can do with the light switches to ensure they are OK. As when I put the new light switches on they had the option of live, neutral and earth and I'd like to know that they were done correctly.

surely youll need the leccy on to check em, just by plugging the tester in.

switches dont care whats what, so its hard to do those wrong.

Desnt sound like youve anything else to worry about, a whole house PIR because of one socket wire swap seems ott, but its upto you.

NT

As said earlier, light switches don't generally have a neutral going to them nor are they labelled as such, so what do you actually mean?

On 7 Dec 2006 09:21:11 -0800 someone who may be "CJC" wrote this:-

It is not particularly common for there to be a neutral connection at a light switch. If there is such a connection it will be at a terminal block inside the enclosure rather than the switch itself.

What you probably found was a cable with red & black insulation (plus an earth). Both these cables are in fact live and the black one should have been marked as live with a red sleeve over the black insulation, but this is often left off by "professional" electricians wiring up houses. Usually the black core is the switched live from the switch and the red core the permanent live to the switch.

If the house was wired in the last few years then substitute brown and blue for red and black.

Hi again.

In reference to all the posts since my last.

I will be turning electric off on weekend so I can pull the face plates off to double check neutral wire is going into the neutral port on the back and same with earth and live.

Even though the electric tester said everything is ok, I will take the face plates off and check behind just to satisfy myself.

Regarding the lights, when I put the new light switch on there was definitely a red, black and earth cable. I remember there was a slot for earth and one possibly for neutral and them a funny symbol for the live, so I just presumed it meant whatever was left.

So does getting the black cable and red cable in a light switch the wrong way round not matter?

Apologies for my ignorance with electrics, I'm very grateful for peoples advice.

There commonly is, but the black isn't a neutral. It's the switched return so is live with the switch on. It should be sleeved red to denote this. TW&E cable with two reds is available for these switch drops and is the correct choice although not many use it. Obviously I'm talking about the old colours - new wiring will be brown and blue instead of red and black.

This is what worries me. A standard light switch is single pole and *not* marked neutral anywhere. Or has a funny symbol for live. Nor have most light switches got a 'slot' for earth unless metal types.

It matters not.

What worries me is that the most basic knowledge would tell you how a switch works. And that it's also quite common to have ordinary light switches with three terminals which can be either one or two way switched. And with a lack of basic knowledge some might just think the third terminal was for the earth...

With switches, black is switched live, not neutral. The bare earth wire must go to the metal backbox, and must not go to one of the often 3 terminals on the switch. As for which of the 2 or 3 holes the L and sw-L go into, switches dont care.

Tbh it sounds like youre as well to leave it alone, given that theres no reason for any concern anyway. Other than imagination fuelled by a few alarmist responses here.

NT

With switches, black is switched live, not neutral. The bare earth wire must go to the metal backbox, and must not go to one of the often 3 terminals on the switch. As for which of the 2 or 3 holes the L and sw-L go into, switches dont care.

Tbh it sounds like youre as well to leave it alone, given that theres no reason for any concern anyway. Other than imagination fuelled by a few alarmist responses here.

NT