Electrician Required?

karenlyth25

We have recently brought a new house and have brought some chandeliers for various rooms. OH is ok to put them up but we have been told we need an electrician as its now law that someone qualified does this. Can anyone confirm this please?

If we do, could anyone tell me how much it would cost roughly per light.

Many thanks in advance.

Karen

newbie1980

they say you need a competant person
the new houses normally only have l/n/e at the light and not the normal l/n/e in l/n/e out and switch wire so should be straight forward
if hes not confident/competant in telford i charge about £10 per light minimum £40 but others have said theyve been quoted £25 per light
just get a few quotes

spadoosh

Not very difficult to wire in a light, try and find out what wiring is like for your lighting and youtube it. Or get the guy above to fit it for you (though cant vouch for his work)

karenlyth25

Thanks guys. OH has done them before and he is happy to do it but we didn't want to do them and then be told when/if we ever have to sell the house that they needed to be fitted by official person with certificate as proof! We are South Essex Newbie1980 so bit of a way! Thanks though, it gives me a base to work on.

newbie1980

the only thing i recommend is to take a photo of the existing wiring before you take the old light down esp if there is a few wires in there

paulmapp8306

Not sure how accurate, but I was informed by an old school friend (who runs a electrics/building/tiling company) that the "law" about household electrics being done by a qualified (rather than competant) person with certification doesnt come into effect until 1 Apr 2013. Until then its only a recommendation that a competant person carries out the work - which doesnt need certification.

Ultimately, define competant? and he also says the whole certification thing is not going to be enforceable for many years - all you have to do is say the work was done before the criteria was in place.

fluffpot

If any of your new lights are metal and/or have an earth connection with green and yellow cable you need to be sure that there is an earth wire at each lighting point. Just because there is one physically there doesn't necessarily mean it's connected - the only sure fire way is to test it and an electrician would have the kit to do this. Maybe hubby could put up any non metal lights and you get a sparks to do the metal ones??

I would normally allow 1 hour to test and fit a light - hourly rates do vary

paulmapp8306

I would have though many more people than electricians own and can use a multimeter - and some may even have earth leakage test sets.

Ectophile

karenlyth25 wrote: »

We have recently brought a new house and have brought some chandeliers for various rooms. OH is ok to put them up but we have been told we need an electrician as its now law that someone qualified does this. Can anyone confirm this please?

If we do, could anyone tell me how much it would cost roughly per light.

Many thanks in advance.

Karen

The answer is - it depends. Building Regulations Part P applies to home electrics now.

It says that whoever does the work must be competent, but doesn't actually define what is competent.

Some work needs notifying to the local council. However, replacing an existing fitting does not need to be notified. Neither does wiring a new appliance to an existing circuit unless in a kitchen, bathroom or outdoors.

So provided that your OH knows what they are doing, and one of the non-notifying exclusions applies, then there isn't a problem.

karenlyth25

Really appreciate the advice all. Thank you.

Karen

fluffpot

Paulmapp - well maybe, but would they know how to test and the pass/fail readings values?
Not sure what an 'earth leakage tester' is?

To test for earth without opening up the fuse board, the easiest way is to use and Earth Fault Loop Impedance tester - I'm pretty sure not many diyer's would have one of these!