Please ensure your electrics are up to date!!!!!!!!!

dwarvenassassin

stephen_v wrote: »

apparently both are NICEIC reg!!!!

what actual happens with an electic test....what can it detect??

A Periodic Inspection (which is what you are asking about) provides an overview of the condition of your wiring and involves a visual inspection of accessible cables and wiring joints and the measurement of various resistances within the circuits.

It DOES NOT cover cables concealed in walls, under floors etc.


Periodic Inspections are designed to do a number of things.... some of which are listed below:

1) Show that the wiring resistances (and therefore circuit safety) is within set parameters and that it will therefore operate accordingly in the event of a fault.
2) Detect areas of potential risk caused by misuse of the installation (overloaded circuits and fittings) or deteriation of cable due to age.
3) Show whether the circuits are wired within the regulations.


In answer to your question of "can it show spur on spur on spur etc.?", the simple answer is "yes, it can."

stephen_v wrote: »

Another electrician said it didnt need a test cos all the wiring in sockets and plug look ok

Regardless of the outcomes of the visual part of the inspection, testing should always be carried out. If not then it is not a complete inspection and not a vaild result. Without the results, the Inspection Report cannot be completed and an inspection without a report is not worth paying for.

Blueflash_2

NICEIC (or Nicey) are the most well known of the electrical registration bodies, similar to CORGI in domestic gas fitting.
They would also LOVE to be a monopoly in the domestic electrical industry, like Corgi gas!
You guessed I am not a NICEIC electrician! NAPIT instead.

ginny82

Unfortunately, household electrics are not ridgidly controlled, unlike gas installations. Electricians have very little authority over dangerous installations (I use this term loosely). Because there are so many registered bodies, there is no real way of monitoring electricians.

I work as the NICEIC supervisor for a large contractor in Kent, I have recently managed to get rid of some extremely dangerous electricians from this company, two for gross misconduct for being unsafe at work. While this is great for my firm, unfortunately all these guys have done is set up their own companies in the domestic field with a different body. And there is nothing we as a company can do about it.

My point is that even by using registered companies, you don't know what you're getting. The best way of choosing an electrician is by word of mouth- even if you don't know any electrians, someone else will. Eventually you will find someone you can trust. I would put very little faith in the body they are registered with.

cm233lh

One thing people seem not to appreciate is where the risk comes from with electricity. The fact is that electricity is far more likely to kill you by setting fire to your house than by electricution. I have touched the live tail on my electricity meter (yes I know I shouldn't have been messing with it, but that's another story) and lived to tell the tale - it did hurt and I can't recommend it. But unless you have a weak heart, or you are unable to disconnect yourself from the current (e.g. due to being unconcious) then an electric shock at mains voltage is unlikely to do you much harm.

The real risk with electrics is that they will set the house on fire. A loose wire will cause a very hot spark to jump from one wire to the other which can ignite surrounding material. A thin wire carrying a high current can heat up like an electric fire and set anything close alight. Those are the big risks - the things that will kill you. Be careful not to get a shock, but don't get it out of proportion.

There's not really much to know about household wiring. If you read a simple book on DIY then it's pretty difficult to get electrics wrong. It's not rocket science. Shame on the government for banning us DIYers from doing our own re-wiring a couple of years ago. That was just prompted by electricians trying to make work for themselves - as if there wasn't enough to go round already.

sparkysi

Well as an electrician myself I am quite impressed by the work done by householders with a collins DIY special. I am assuming that most of the jobs I have corrected have been done by people who cant read.

There is a good reason why DIY electrics are not allowed, its the same reason why your not allowed to fly the 747 to spain yourself just because you can do it in flight sim. That reason is because you are likely to die or seriously hurt yourself.

I have never ever seen a DIY electric job that was worth a damn. These historical problems tend to get passed along to the next owner and they wont have a clue whats been done, so whilst you think your being clever with all that garbage from B&Q, just think how clever you'll feel when it all goes wrong.

I can give you pictures of DIY jobs that would have killed if not corrected.

What really gets my goat is that the legislation only covers domestic installations. I have seen some of the most horrific work in public places and work places. I finished a job a few weeks ago where the owner of some units had been saving money for years by having one of his blokes who "knows about this stuff" do his alterations, the unit burnt out and he lost over 30k in meat and destroyed some very expensive equipment.

As for touching live cables and getting away with it. Your one lucky sucker if you touched a meter tail and lived to tell the tail (no pun intended). You must of only brushed the tail which would of been bad enough. Had you actually gotten hold of it you would be dead or very very ill at best. This is because the electricity causes your muscles to spasm and you basically grab on. It is not physically possible for you overcome this yourself. It is also worth noting that most people who survive these shocks have serious burns and in most cases burns within the tissue itself, basically baked flesh which rots away and can cause all sorts of issues.

If you want to DIY your electrics then good luck to you. I dont much care either way as there is plenty of work out there. If you die doing it, I will say I told you so, I will also point and laugh at you.

gromituk

Another scaremongering electrician. Haven't you worked out yet that, as an electrician, you are bound to see the worst jobs done by incompetent householders? What you will tend not to see is the rest. And how many people grab hold of live wires? Hardly any - they accidently brush against them. Not of course something you should do, but purple prose about baked flesh doesn't help anyone.

baldelectrician

cm233lh wrote: »

But unless you have a weak heart, or you are unable to disconnect yourself from the current (e.g. due to being unconcious) then an electric shock at mains voltage is unlikely to do you much harm.

I must disagree, getting a shock from a meter tail (probably fused at 80A-100A) and living to tell the tale is lucky not the norm.

The cpd's (circuit protective devices- fuses, mcb's etc) are there to disconnect the supply prior to persons being killed or property damage.

spakysi

In Scotland the building standards have covered domestic and commercial properties since the previous 1959 act, requiring paperwork for electrical work since 1990. England and Wales brought Part P for domestic properties in 2004.

UglyBetty

:T Sincere thanks for all the good advice baldelectrician it's invaluable and free, - But MSers beware lazy 'leccys' namely the well-known company based in Pimlico (rhymes with bummRs) who have a 100 year old marathon runner on their books - gave a quote of almost £13000 - yes 13000- for a re-wire of a 1 bed flat and charged a call-out fee for the privilege!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: :mad: :mad: :mad: Beam me up!!

Tribulation

A friend of mine was told just a few months ago by a building inspector that in the building inspectors opinion, he's better off having a non part P certified guy doing his electrics in his extension, then getting it tested.

The building inspector was saying that more and more so called part P certified people are doing shoddy installs, and then self certifying it etc.

Building inspectors words, not mine.

In my opinion, there should be a simple £50 test for DIYers to see if they're competent etc. Things like wiring in a new ring main isn't rocket science.

So far in the last 2 years I've replaced my fuse box, wired in two immersion heaters to my self installed mains pressure hotwater cylinder, wired up my outside workshop and re-wired my kitchen.

I got Anglian to fit new windows because I didn't have the time to do it myself. There work was shoddy to say the least. Two little spring clips on each side and foam holding the windows in. I still had to repoint all the brickwork afterwards. If I'd have done it myself, I would have done a 500% better, more professional job.Yet if I'd have done it, I would have to pay to get it inspected.

Just like I'm supposed to pay to have my mains presser immersion inspected (fitted 100% to the specifications and instructions)

Just like I'm supposed to pay to have my kitchen ring main inspected, my outside workshop inspected etc etc etc.

All designed to make people money.

kaya

i dont see how lining the pockets of an electrician has anything to do with saving money?, i agree that many incompetant people shouldn't be allowed near electrics but i find it insulting that the governbent has once again decided to play nanny and tell me what i can and can't do in my own house, im not corgi registered but as a "competant" person i am fully entitled to deal with my own gas work(or at least i was a few years ago) in my own home, do the electrical regs allow for a "competant person" to work on there own electrics or am i obliged to pay somebody to probably less experienced and less qualified than me(although with the correct certificate) to tell me if i know what im doing?, apparently you even need a license to install double glazing now?, this thread isn't designed to save anyone money, just to make sure the nanny state is enforced, surely we should be argueing against laws designed to make us poorer? or have we all got a few grand stuffed in a sock labelled "electricians new car fund" at the back of the underwear draw ?