Electrics - EICR remedial quote

2013yearofthehouse

Had an EICR done with an "unsatisfactory" result.

Received a quote with the report and wanted to check if it seems fair, please.


Replace CU with new 17th edition compliant CU that contains RCBOs, upgrade tails to 25/16mm and correct labelling, plus investigate high R1+R2 and Zs on lighting £170 (EICR was £200, so he's given a discount on this)

Upgrade existing main equipotential bonding conductors from 6mm to 10mm £130

Rewire shower supply from 1.5mm T/E to 2.5mm T/E £5

Replace heat damaged socket, including new back box chased into wall £25

Rewire light to comply with current wiring regs £25



Sound fair?


Quick additional question - I (with absolutely no idea what I'm talking about mind!) thought that I would need a new CU with RCDs, so I'm a bit confused by the CU with RCBOs - what's the difference? Is one preferable over the other? Sorry if that's a really stupid question

fluffpot

How many circuits do you have - it should say on the test sheet that comes with the EICR. £170 sounds a bit cheap unless you have not many circuits - check what brand of rcbo is being fitted.

What sort of property is it? House with a garden or flat with no access to garden?

What is your fuse board at the moment - fuse wire? trip switches?

RCBO is a circuit breaker and rcd combined - doing a fully rcbo board is IMHO better than RCD/circuit breaker combo, but gets expensive once you have more than 4 or 5 circuits

2013yearofthehouse

fluffpot wrote: »

How many circuits do you have - it should say on the test sheet that comes with the EICR. £170 sounds a bit cheap unless you have not many circuits - check what brand of rcbo is being fitted.

What sort of property is it? House with a garden or flat with no access to garden?

What is your fuse board at the moment - fuse wire? trip switches?

RCBO is a circuit breaker and rcd combined - doing a fully rcbo board is IMHO better than RCD/circuit breaker combo, but gets expensive once you have more than 4 or 5 circuits

Thanks for your reply.

It's a house with garden (although no electrics in the garden if that's what you mean), only 4 circuits, fuse wires - it's a Wylex and original to house, which was built 1975.

Which RCBO brands should I be avoiding?

MonsieurFrugal

Unbranded ones OP.

fluffpot

If it's only 4 circuits, then go for the fully rcbo option. However, I fit Wylex and the board and 4 rcbos alone would come to £170. I would check and find out what your electrician intends to fit

2013yearofthehouse

fluffpot wrote: »

If it's only 4 circuits, then go for the fully rcbo option. However, I fit Wylex and the board and 4 rcbos alone would come to £170. I would check and find out what your electrician intends to fit

Thanks again, I'll check then. The electrician did say he usually charges £350 for a CU change, but that he would charge less, as much of the usual time consuming testing needed he's already done during the EICR. Does that sound right? (Previous quotes I had for a CU change were £350 and £450, which would involve complete testing from scratch) Apparently we can't have the new CU without also having the £130 bonding conductors upgrade, so it would have to be at least £300 minimum altogether anyway (we actually intend on having the whole quote's work done).

not_clever

MonsieurFrugal wrote: »

Unbranded ones OP.

Why?
The ones I use are not a "branded" manufactured unit & are not sold by the diy stores or electrical wholesalers, so will not be know by anybody who is not in the trade and even then some in the trade will not have used them.
This is because the manufacturer/supplier/importer will only sell to qualified electricians who can provide proof they are registered to a part P scheme operator.

Why do I use these units, simple they are half the cost of the main brands sold by most outlets, but perform as they are intended too & pass all the required tests as laid out in the wiring regulations, they also meet all required BS EN & IEC standards.

And even known brands have problems, only last year there was a major recall on electrium brands of Wylex, Volex MCB's (they had the potential to overheat & caused fires) & this year we had a recall from MK on some of their 100amp main switches for the same reason.

Just because it's branded doesn't make it any better, it does usually make it more expensive in my experience.

Anony999

Seems like a good price to me without seeing the job.

The RCBOs are a better job than a split board with single RCDs - Basically this means that if one circuit trips it doesn't not affect any other circuit as each circuit is on its own RCD (RCBO being a combined MCB and RCD).

How long has the chap been in Business ? How did you hear of him ? Can he give you some references ?

WIth all the 5DW's out there then just check he is a proper electrician and not a 5 day muppet - the fact he is fitting an RCBO board at that price makes me think he knows what he's doing - but ask about his qualifications and how long he has been in the job (apprenticeship are good words to hear!)

5DWs (5 day wonders) are muppets who go and do a 5/10/15 day course at a training outlet - pass the exams - get approved by the likes of the NIC/ECA/ELECSA/NAPIT and are then let loose in your home - They have not a clue and are dangerous !

albert_s

oh dear oh dear oh dear,
I dont often comment on forums, but when it comes to uneducated advice concerning safety then I feel I need to interject,
£170 does indeed seem cheap, but, as the guy says, he has already done all his required preliminary testing as part of the EICR then perhaps that may seem reasonable,
what part of the country you are in would play a big part in the pricing,
as stated, branded or not branded? what does that really mean? branded for retail, or branded for the trade? I use stuff all the time that the general public has never heard of, simply because it is trade only, Id be more wary if your electrician was fitting stuff you yourself could go into B&Q and buy, that would be very inherent of [as someone else so eloquently put it] a 5 day wonder LOL , [never heard that term before, but I like it],
personally I could purchase a Wylex consumer unit and 4x RCBOs for under £100 easily, but that is purely because of my quantity buying I can obtain DIY materials at a very good discount,
one very important question you need to ask is if the RCBOs will offer double pole protection, wylex RCBOs do not offer this and as such are unsuitable for a lot of installs, personally the RCBOs I use do have DP protection, as they are professional use only.
as I said previously, depending on your location, I would say the quote you have is not a million miles off the mark, just ensure all your quotes are like for like, ie, DP RCBOs with bonding upgrade, do NOT be fooled into thinking single pole RCBOs are acceptable, they will probably NOT comply with the current regulations, BS7671,

my right to comment :-
over 20years as an Electrical contractor

Nozspark

I have a few thoughts on this...

You've obviously invited this electrician to carry out an Inspection and test of your electrics.. why him? Recommendation, out of the pages, internet search.... again why him out of the few that you should have had around to quote for the testing?? Seemed to know what he was doing? Seemed trust worthy? Recommendation?

So you trusted this contractor to test your property and produce a report on it's electrical safety,,, remember that electricity can kill and start fires! However you don't trust that he isn't ripping you off.

Any tradesman relies on word of mouth more than anything and their good reputation is worth far more to them than the possibility of receiving a bad reputation from one job.

As for this specific job,, he's charging approx £350 for all that work... to me that is a little under priced,, but then again he is giving you a discount following pervious work.

Anony999

@albert

+1 I concur double pole RCBOs are far superior

BEat you 30 years plus in the trade