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

jkgray

I have had a quote for a replacement consumer unit which states:

"My quote includes a Full Installation Certificate with an MK 17th Edition consumer unit. I am currently going through fully Approved contract status with Niceic as my company is expanding and therefore have to fill out a [Green] installation certificate which is a valid certificate for the job in hand. Just to make you aware."

Is this fair enough? Will not lead to any problems?

I should add that the quote came through myhammer and he is a premium partner so has had his qualifications confirmed as City & Guilds Certificate: Certificate in Electrotechnical Technology (confirmed on 09/09/2010) and City & Guilds Certificate: Certificate in the Requirements for Electrical Installations (BS 7671: January 2008) (confirmed on 09/09/2010).

Thanks.

keystone

jkgray wrote: »

Is this fair enough? Will not lead to any problems?

Ask him about Part P of Building Regs and how he intends to address these. Its seems he may not be able to self-certify and may therefore have to get the BCO involved for your Part P documentation. If he's included that in his price there should be no problem as far as that is concerned.

I should add that the quote came through myhammer and he is a premium partner

You should get two more quotes for comparison purposes. Sites like myhammer are a club the contractor pays to belong to. You pay your money and they say whatever you want as long as you keep paying. Sites like that are a waste of space IMHO.

Cheers

nomorerack

all helpful...this would help me soon as i am about to go solo...A-lone, on my own, without the assistance of a strong powerful man in my life...:)

superdogsbody

alanobrien wrote: »

First thing i did in my place when i moved in 2 years ago was replace the fuse box with a split load RCCD MCB unit. Worth every penny.

Likewise when I brought mine in 2006 but would also advise getting a full check as mine highlighted some nice alternative wiring methods on the extension!

Lighting_man

baldelectrician wrote: »

just a quick point about lamps tripping MCB.

If you buy branded lamps (phillips; osram ;sylvania) this is unlikely to happen.
If you buy lamps from the supermarket (own brand, cheapo) these will cause the MCB to trip.

GU10 lamps and a lot of other mains halogen lamps have a long filament packed into a tiny space. When the filament fails it is easier for this to drop and touch another part of the filament or filament support. This often results in a momentary short circuit which will blow a fuse or trip a MCB.

Using an internally fused lamp reduces the occurrence of blown fuses and tripped MCBs most "branded" lamps have internal fuses.

If you have mains halogen lamps on a dimmer using unfused halogen lamps can result in the dimmer unit being irreparably damaged.

Using low voltage lamps means less tripping of MCBs, longer lamp life and more lumens per watt (more light for the running wattage).

oggy1511_2

Hi Everyone I really need some advice by any of you electrians out there please.
We are part exchanging our hoiuse with Bovis builders and they want a electical safety certificate which isnt a problem and we have someone coming out Friday to do this. We have had alot done to the electrics in the past ie New consumer unit. Lights earthed and rewired a new ring main put in kitchen and all new plug sockets put in kitchen, We have had the plug sockets tested in the rest of the house and was told they were fine. Now there is a couple of things that is bothering us and we not sure if these will fail one the living room and bedroom sockets are mounted onto the skirting board would this fail the test? if so how much would it be to put right there are eight in total. Also the bonding to gas pipes we dont have this how much would that be? Also to the water pipe to but we dont have a water meter?
Also what do they exactly test?
Any advice greatly recieved
Many Many thanks
Oggy

dwarvenassassin

Firstly, if the firm testing charges £50 or less or is only there an hour, then the report you get is likely to be incomplete, inaccurate, or (more likely) both!

Bonding to incoming Gas, Oil and Water etc. is mandatory unless the water is in plastic pipe. The cost varies depending on difficulty, firm, region, etc. and so it is impossible to advise on costs.

Sockets on skirting is a Code 4 (doesn't comply with CURRENT regs.) at most.

After a visual inspection to look for the obvious, all circuits should tested for Insulation resistance, maximum conductor resistance and continuity on all cable conductors, RCD trip times (if RCDs are fitted), nature and parameters of incoming supply and so on...

All this takes a fair while as you have to remove a sample of lights, sockets, switches and so forth and unplug or switch off EVERYTHING to do it properly.
Periodic Inspection Reports should be accompanied by a MINIMUM of 1 Schedule of Inspections and 1 Schedule of Test Results.
If either are missing, the Report isn't worth squat.

Watch out for boxes that are left blank or have lots of occurances of "LIM". LIM stands for Limitation and is used where the Inspector AND the Customer (YOU) have agreed BEFORE TESTING that something shall be excluded from the Test & Inspection.
Some unscrupulous companies will give you a Report that tells you nothing and has important information missing or LIM'd after being completed by someone with insufficient experience and/or who is unqualified to carry out Periodic Inspections.

Remember, you have the right to demand proof that the PERSON (as opposed to company) working in your home is Competent to do so. Just because the firm they work for is registered with a 'Part P' scheme, it doesn't mean the person they send is either fully qualified or experienced!!! :O

vaio

dwarvenassassin wrote: »

......Remember, you have the right to demand proof that the PERSON (as opposed to company) working in your home is Competent to do so. Just because the firm they work for is registered with a 'Part P' scheme, it doesn't mean the person they send is either fully qualified or experienced!!! :O

Interesting, what is the level of training/qualification/experience that the NICEIC requires for site operatives?

dwarvenassassin

Surprisingly .... NONE!

In an NICEIC "Approved Enterprise" (they do not have 'members') it is the Enterprises QS (Qualified Supervisor) who is responsible for deciding on the suitability of operatives.
The QS Must have 2381 & 2391 (not necessarily recent and/or up-to-date, but the Part P Schemes will not tell you this!) The operative does NOT require the same level of qualification.
NICEIC Domestic Installers don't even need experience!
NAPIT registered electricians all carry NAPIT ID badges and are individually assessed for competency. They require 2381 (update course required if 2381 is pre-17th-edition) and 2391 and a 'core' qualification. That said, most scemes will give you 12 months or more to gain the qualification after approving you. (Again, this is something they will NOT tell you).

If you have ANY Electrical work (ok, there are a very few small exceptions) done in a building that qualifies as a "Dwelling" (house, flat, static caravan, etc.) or in a building that shares its' power supply with a Dwelling - you MUST inform Local Authority Building Control by LAW.
The easiest and cheapest way to do this is by using an Electrical firm registered with one of the Part P schemes - NAPIT, NICEIC, ECA etc.
Alternatively, you can notifiy your local authority prior to works commencing by submitting, and paying for, a planning application. You then have to prove to them that the person undertaking the work is Competent (in the eyes of the law) to do so, and have regular inspections during all stages of the work - which you will have to pay for!!

dwarvenassassin

For more information on Part P and what can and cannot be done and what constitutes a "Dwelling" read the Building Regulations Approved Document P, (Don't Panic! - it's not all legal and/or technical jargon) which can be found at this address http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/PpWeb/jsp/redirect.jsp?url=http%3A//www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADP_2006.pdf