Earth bonding plus new consumer unit quote

Foggy

I was painting the kitchen yesterday and the electricity tripped. The fuse for the downstairs sockets would not stay on so today I got an electrician in.

He said the moisture level in the kithen had tripped it. Funnily or typically enough it was working again when he arrived but not around an hour before.

He looked at the sockets in the kitchen, which is an extension put on by previous owners around 20 years ago. The house is a 100 year old terrace. He said they were not grounded, all added as 'extensions to the ring main', I had no earth bond to the gas supply, ("which was serious") or the boiler and my consumer unit was out of date. And breathe....

Anyway he tested the sockets, replaced a couple in the kitchen and charged £70 - the first faceplace he took off the wires were just pushed in and came off. He said a couple of others were faulty and needed rewiring.

He has sent me a quote through to

Supply earth bonding to gas meter £300. (These are a fair distance apart- the consumer unit is on the stairs up to the loft and the gas meter is where the original back door was)
Consumer Unit requires updating 17th edition etc £280 and he will also fix the 2 faulty kitchen sockets and provide an earth bond to the boiler (which isn't very far away) included in this price.

Total £580

I've done the usual googling but I just wanted to check here and also check whether I need a new consumer unit. He said if I had a new one the trips I had yesterday would not have happened.

Reading around here it seems I don't need a new consumer unit although as he has lumped bonding the boiler and fixing the two kitchen sockets in with the price it seems a good deal.

So two things if I don't go ahead am I going to be in hospital or worse with an electric shock and

is this a good price?

Cheers

Alias_Omega

Foggy wrote: »

I was painting the kitchen yesterday and the electricity tripped. The fuse for the downstairs sockets would not stay on so today I got an electrician in.

He said the moisture level in the kithen had tripped it. Funnily or typically enough it was working again when he arrived but not around an hour before.

He looked at the sockets in the kitchen, which is an extension put on by previous owners around 20 years ago. The house is a 100 year old terrace. He said they were not grounded, all added as 'extensions to the ring main', I had no earth bond to the gas supply, ("which was serious") or the boiler and my consumer unit was out of date. And breathe....

Anyway he tested the sockets, replaced a couple in the kitchen and charged £70 - the first faceplace he took off the wires were just pushed in and came off. He said a couple of others were faulty and needed rewiring.

He has sent me a quote through to

Supply earth bonding to gas meter £300. (These are a fair distance apart- the consumer unit is on the stairs up to the loft and the gas meter is where the original back door was)
Consumer Unit requires updating 17th edition etc £280 and he will also fix the 2 faulty kitchen sockets and provide an earth bond to the boiler (which isn't very far away) included in this price.

Total £580

I've done the usual googling but I just wanted to check here and also check whether I need a new consumer unit. He said if I had a new one the trips I had yesterday would not have happened.

Reading around here it seems I don't need a new consumer unit although as he has lumped bonding the boiler and fixing the two kitchen sockets in with the price it seems a good deal.

So two things if I don't go ahead am I going to be in hospital or worse with an electric shock and

is this a good price?

Cheers

Hi Op,

I noticed your thread the other day and no one has replied.

Exculding the Consumer Unit change, as these only cost £60-80 (i.e. MK from Screwfix with MCB's) the amount of work to install, extended out and test the circuits is vast, plus the notification to Building Contol. Therefore this price is fair.

Earthing... Materials appear to be -

50mtrs of 10mm Earth - £57
Cable Clips £2
Trunking £4
Earth clamps 5x £1.20 (£6)

Total £70.

Therefore £230 ishy for Labour.

pitkin2020

Costs are hard to judge without actually seeing the building, too many variables and whilst you can get a good idea on material costs it isn't as simple as saying the earthing costs £70 therefor the labour side might be high.

Realistically you need to get a second opinion (a third would be best for comparison) it'll give you an idea atleast if the work is actually required or not.

As for your consumer unit there is no legal requirement to upgrade and as we dont know what you have installed its hard to judge. I'm assuming as you talk about trips it has MCBs rather than the rewireable fuses.

What i find odd is "He said if I had a new one the trips I had yesterday would not have happened." if you truly had a fault the MCB is doing exactly what it is meant to do new CCU or not.

I would check for yourself with regards to the gas bonding, it'll be as close as possible to your incoming gas mains, you shouldn't miss it and defiently worth having a look yourself

retepetsir

You don't need bonding to the boiler if you're fitting a new consumer unit, just bonding to the incoming gas/water supplies, so don't get charged extra for that.

chockydavid1983

Hi OP,

I'm not sure whether you need a new consumer unit but here's an example of what I paid last week in Kidlington, Oxfordshire for some similar work. I posted on here about it before and the consensus seemed to be that it was reasonable.

Upgrade mains tails- 25.00
Upgrade main earth- 15.00
Upgrade consumer unit + Part P certificate- 295.00
New main protective bond to water incomer- 35.00
Install baton holder light fitting on to cable in conservatory- 25.00
Install appropriate sleeving on cables in switches- 29.00
Re-wire loft light and install new baton holder and switch 50.00

Total £474 (parts + labour)

Hope that helps!
Chris.