Advice needed re: ancient fuse box in rental property

00ec25

as you consider yourself to be more competent to pass judgement on an electrical system than the sparks doing the work (PS a new shower will need to be "signed off"), I am not sure why you are asking for advice on here - you have had it, but it doesn't suit you?

yes there is no RCD in the consumer unit - does not make the circuits unsafe, just means they are not modern. There is no requirmeent to bring things up to modern standards and the LL is / has had an inspection done before letting - sounds a good LL to me

C_Mababejive

You can buy plug in RCDs which will fit in place of wired cartridges.

m0bov

leccy shower means it MUST have an rcd. ask to see the certificate.

Playhouse

00ec25 wrote: »

as you consider yourself to be more competent to pass judgement on an electrical system than the sparks doing the work (PS a new shower will need to be "signed off"), I am not sure why you are asking for advice on here - you have had it, but it doesn't suit you?

yes there is no RCD in the consumer unit - does not make the circuits unsafe, just means they are not modern. There is no requirmeent to bring things up to modern standards and the LL is / has had an inspection done before letting - sounds a good LL to me

thats a really rude and unhelpful reply, I have not suggested Im more qualified and I have no evidence that said sparky has inspected the fuse box as yet, my question was, was it safe to cope with the additional electrical work I was hoping that someone might have an idea, I have not at all made a diagnosis or slated my LL:(

Playhouse

C_Mababejive wrote: »

You can buy plug in RCDs which will fit in place of wired cartridges.

Thank you, I thought it might be possible to do this and will look into it myself, happy to buy these and have it done myself.

Playhouse

m0bov wrote: »

leccy shower means it MUST have an rcd. ask to see the certificate.

Thank you.I will be asking this question. The house has been let by the same LL for 15 years and has been in desperate need of a refurb so Im thrilled its being done but just want to reassure myself

BobQ

I understand your concern and while its true that old does not mean unsafe as a landlord she is responsible for supplying a property that is electrically safe. Alright there is not a requirement to have a safety check as with gas safety, but given what you say I think you have two options. Either go somewhere else or simply state that given the age of the installation you will not take the property unless there is a safety certificate.

The issue is not the hob or oven but the installation (ie the wiring, consumer unit and outlets). If there has been work done on the installation in recent times that significantly changes the installation the electrician needs to issue a certificate that the work conforms to the required standards.

But installing a shower, hob, oven etc where one previously existed and not involving sigificant change to the wiring may not require a certificate. That said I would ask the agent to provide evidence that the electrical installation is safe and without it I would go elsewhere.

Playhouse

Thank you ,I know that cooker etc are being wired in a new place and also smoke alarms are being wired in, so I will ring her tomorrow and say that I would like a safety certificate. If she refuses, I will go elsewhere, annoying that I will lose my holding deposit but better than potential danger I am hoping that she will oblige or possibly let me arrange an electrical safety check myself

cos_2

For what it's worth, I've recently had a new kitchen with new wiring installed. The sparky said the old consumer unit was safe enough but he recommended replacement as it would be bang up-to-date.

The point is, he supplied the box and RCDs, fitted the lot and tested, and billed me just £75. I think that's a great price.

Maybe you could tell the LL that it ain't gonna cost big bucks, as part of your persuasion?

Playhouse

Thanks cos- I have spoken to an electrician this morning who has advised that its unlikely the old board could cope with the amount of new electrics and said that the new shower HAD to be wired into a seperate RCD, at present the old shower is wired into the existing unit and the worry is that the shower will just be wired in, bathroom end.
He also said that if there are no ways in on the old fuseboard it would be impossible for them to install new electrics on there and these have to be installed into a seperate consumer unit.