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

Mary_Hartnell

Would that be the female one in two?:rotfl:

stoker48

I am buying / moving into ex council flat in November. It was built in 1981 I think so not THAT long ago.

Survey said that it has the old style consumer unit. From what I can gather from you learned ones its important to have it updated to the newer "trip switch" ones. If this is the case do I have to have the place rewired again?
If I just get the fuse box updated will it confuse the wiring in some way?

Thanks everyone

zax47

stoker48 wrote: »

I am buying / moving into ex council flat in November. It was built in 1981 I think so not THAT long ago.

Survey said that it has the old style consumer unit. From what I can gather from you learned ones its important to have it updated to the newer "trip switch" ones. If this is the case do I have to have the place rewired again?

No, they will have used modern PVC sheathed cable with a good long life.

If I just get the fuse box updated will it confuse the wiring in some way?

No. Do a search here on the forums, lots of good advice about this subject.

stoker48

Thanks for that. An electrician is coming on Friday as I have the keys to the new flat to measure up.
Now I will be able to be a bit more educated when speaking to him.

Can you just confirm that I have understood you correctly - in your opinion the electrics should be Ok ( assuming they are the modern PVC sheath cable variety) and just getting the fuse box replaced should bring me up to date? On the phone he said it would cost £300 for this and "a certificate" if I paid cash.
Assume thats about right for the job but I was a bit put off by the "pay cash" bit. Happy to pay that way but somehow it just sounded a bit dodgy!!
When I get home from work I will search the forum for more pearls of wisdom. Its great how supportive and interested people are. Cheers

baldelectrician

stoker48 wrote: »

On the phone he said it would cost £300 for this and "a certificate" if I paid cash.

Don't get me wrong - I don't take cheques, but I take cards.

Alarm bells should be ringing if he is insisting on cash

garcon6

also had an RCD box installed and straight away it picked up a fault, it took our electrician a long time to find it, and it was behind a kitchen cupboard with a nailed hamared into a wire. Although our electrician overcharged us its money well spent. The most important things that need attention in the house are the gas/electrices.

garcon6

don't take any short cuts when looking to get an RCD box and always get a trained electrician to install it and that way you will be covered and get a receipt, cost can range from 500-1000 depends on how much work is needed.

Sparkie320

As a ex electrician c and g part 1 and 2 and iee 16th edition where do I stand legally regarding rewiring my own property. I would consider my self competent though the regs may have changed over last few years. Thanks in advance.

zax47

Sparkie320 wrote: »

As a ex electrician c and g part 1 and 2 and iee 16th edition where do I stand legally regarding rewiring my own property. I would consider my self competent though the regs may have changed over last few years. Thanks in advance.

As you will know it's Part P notifiable, but you aren't registered with a self-certifying scheme.

Seeing as you are almost certainly deemed competent then it just means you have to notify your LABC of the works (and provide them with the EIC so they can see it's been installed to 17th Ed. and thus complies with Part P of the building regs.) They'll give you a completion cert. They'll charge a fee for this, which differs around the country, and often has a discount if you are competent and can produce an EIC.

1.Make sure you get, read and follow the 17th Edition and Guidance Note 3 Test and Inspection. A fair bit has changed (i.e. RCD on all circuits not buried 50mm in walls etc.) since 16th edition.

2. Notify your Local Authority Building Control dept. (LABC) BEFORE you start work and pay their fee for inspection (Part P). They may want to inspect 1st fix (but probably not if you are competent).

3. Do the job, with full test and produce test certs/EIC.

4. Give test certs/EIC to LABC, they may want to inspect final installation - but they aren't allowed to charge extra for this (or for employing a 3rd party to do it for them).

5. They send you completion cert.

Of course, seeing as you have 16th Ed. you could go do a 1 or 2 day 17th ed. refresher course and get your C&G 2382, then you'd have learned about & appreciate the differences between 16th and 17th Edns.

Dave_Buchan

Hi Guys,

Working with electricity on a daily basis I can't stress enough if you haven't had your home re-wired or electrically inspected within the last decade to get your system checked out. Electricity (as well as gas) is a silent killer but the majority of people tend to forget the danger implications as they Can't physically see electricity. This tends to be the main reason why consumers tend not to have their electrical system inspected as they Can't physically see what they are getting for their money. Electrical systems like everything else start to show signs of wear, tear and deterioration with age and other factors such as the environment in which they are subject to will have an effect on there operation and life expectancy also.

On a monetary note and how to save it, I've undertaken numerous periodic inspection reports for savvy homebuyers involved within the property market who know that if there purchasing a property pre 2008 to get a report compiled so that they can then go back to the vendor and get anything £200+ up to £3500 knocked off the asking price of the property