Safety test of electrics

Neighbour paid around 150 for a report and about 450 to do the necessarry remedial work

was the work done before or after the cetificate was issued?

The 150 was to fully test/inspect to establish what needed doing, the

But I would say that around 150-200 to just test and signoff if all OK.

Just to add that I have located a certificate for the part of the work which was wiring in the new boiler, upgrading the fuses from wire to plug in RCD, and some earth bonding.

Does the fact that an electrician signed off this installation imply that the rest of the system was safe at the time of the upgrade?

I would assume there is a reasonable argument as the upgrade of the fuse box was a required part of the work (required by the electrician).

Cheers

Dave R

What you are asking for is probably an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) - what used to be called a "PIR".

Anyone can do this on any existing installation. It is not the same as signing off an EIC (Installation Certificate).

Costs will be from £100-150 for a flat to £200-300 for a typical house. You will get ALL circuits tested (insulation resistance and continuity and limited visual inspection as well as verifying the earthing and bonding.

You will not get 100% of the installation checked as much of the cabling will be inaccessible.

No.

The installation (or minor works) certificate only relates to the new work stated on it.

The electrician should not have *knowingly* reconnected *unsafe* wiring to the new consumer unit, but that does not mean the wiring was safe. In parti cular there may be defects which were not visible and not apparent on testi ng, eg bare live wires under the floorboards but which nevertheless pass an insulation test. Old rubber wiring can also pass an insulation test if not disturbed, but can crumble at a gentle touch.

"upgrading the fuses from wire to plug in RCD," doesn't quite make sense ei ther.

Owain

Well, it does make sense if you have seen an old fuse board which takes traditional ceramic fuses with fuse wire fitted (twin prongs out of the back) with plug in circuit beakers also with twin prongs out of the back.

This allows you to dispense with fuse wire and have resettable breakers without having to replace the CU.

Hmmm.. Screwfix lists them as MCBs (minature circuit breakers).

So, yeah, I assumed they were RCDs but perhaps not.

Cheers

Dave R

Don't tell anybody!

Depends on what its for, and what you are hoping to achieve.

You may be conflating several issues here. This sounds like a reference to part P. It *used* to be the case that the only ways of complying with part P was to have work certificated by a competent person who also carried out the work, or to have it signed off by building control following submission of a building notice (or full plans).

This was generally daft since it did not permit getting someone to check and sign off other peoples work, which is precisely what most building control departments needed since they do not usually have the in house skills to do the inspection themselves. It also precluded a DIYer from doing something and then getting it signed off without the local authority building control department getting involved.

The latest revision of part P improved matters greatly - firstly by dispensing with a number of the requirements from earlier versions, and it also introduced the option for a third party inspection, carried out by someone who is a member of an appropriate scheme for said testing. (needless to say this will be a different set of qualifications from those required to actually do the work, and so is a new gravy train for some of the approvals bodies!)

(some of whom threw their toys out of the pram saying they would not support these schemes since it would be bad for their members - I am not sure how that has panned out)

If you want to establish if a installation is basically sound, then yes.

If notified (and paid) before the work is done.

Kitchens are no longer a special location under the scope of part P...

As I said it depends on what you want to achieve - check and install is ok, or have a bit of paper to wave to say its been anointed with the oil of legal are covering.

It does if it was a Wylex CU. They were designed with that in mind.

Answering a question on one of the standard house sale forms.

As far as I can tell "did it, didn't have it checked" seems to be accepted in most cases.

Just being forewarned if the buyer gets picky.

As with all things concerning legal boiler plate the paperwork may be well out of date.

Much of it certainly doesn't pass any strict logical analysis.

Cheers

Dave R

I assume he's renting a flat or something, nobody in their right mind would bother on their own home.

It's the buyers mortgage company that may get picky: they want pukka insurance and the insurance may insist on a safe electrical wiring certificate.

Not with plug in RCDs they weren't :-)

Owain

You can swap out a Wylex BS 3036 rewirable fuse for a plug-in *MCB*, but that's not possible for an *RCD*. You will need to cut a hole in the cover as the MCB sticks out further.

Note that these plug-in MCB's tend to have a relatively low breaking current compared with original fit MCBs (and extremely low for the original push-button ones).

then it's all a nonissue.

yes. Buyers may use it as a bargaining point to knock 200 off for a dodgy insurance scheme. If the job was done 4+ years ago such insurance is of no possible value. If more recent, it's of almost no value.

it's normal for houses to come with unchecked electrics. If buyers want to pay an overpriced painted person to come & do the dance then write pages of disclaimers they can.

no. It's a profitable game for some. For the ignorant buyer they can be fleeced or take a minor risk. Most pick the latter.

NT

The principle get out on those forms is "I don't know"...

The thing is for many many years there seems to have been no such testing other than that done by the electrician at the time of installation and over some years specs and practices change, some for the better some for no apparent reason. I do sometimes wonder as long as rudimentary checks are done from time to time with a little knowledge of basics if the papers and certificates one gets are any more confidence building than your own tests. of course if you are selling the property you need all that stuff, but if not, I do wonder. Just me being cynical. Brian

Brian Gaff explained on 25/08/2016 :

My own view is that 95% of an installation is hidden and inaccessible, so no brief inspection can really be as thorough as needed. Only what can be seen, can be inspected - for the rest you rely on what bit you can see and adequately test.