Retired electrician - can he do DIY?

Skibunny40

My FIL lives by himself and is 83. His shower no longer works but to get a new one would require new electrical wiring. He is determined to do the wiring himself, which DH and I have major concerns about. He was an electrician to trade, but obviously that was many years ago. Have there been changes that he wouldn't know about since he was working? Would the work be legally covered (I mean, if there was an electrical fire, could it invalidate insurance if FIL did work himself?) He is fit and pretty sharp mentally - are we worrying about nothing? Thanks!

Gordon_Hose

Lots has probably changed, depending on when he retired. Have a read of this: http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/building-regulations/england/

I believe re-wiring a shower is notifiable.

Skibunny40

Thanks for the prompt reply. He's actually in Scotland but I'll check to see if there are similar restrictions. (I hope so!)

Gordon_Hose

Here's the page for Scotland: http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/building-regulations/scotland/

wallbash

He is fit and pretty sharp mentally - are we worrying about nothing? Thanks!

If he thinks he can do it , would let him get on with it.

thescouselander

Yes, there have been changes in the wiring regs but as long as your FIL thinks he's still competant and he knows the latest standards why not let him crack on with it.

Regarding the insurance aspects I think thats a bit of a red herring designed to scare people. I have yet to see a clause in any home insurance policy that excludes cover because electrical work has not been done properly. In fact I've never seen anything about invalidating cover for fires caused by any sort of negligence at all. It would be interesting to see confirmation of a real case where this has happened.

Skibunny40

Hmm, not sure he would know the latest regs, that's the problem. His argument is that electricity hasn't changed in the last 50 years, so why should his methods? The house still has the original wiring from 50 years ago...does that make a difference to anything? Really don't want him electrocuting himself!

thescouselander

I think the regs thing is the biggest issue. Old people do tend to be set in their ways and the new installation does absolutely need to be compliant with the latest standards. It's easy enough to get hold of the required information though and the job isn't that hard in reality. Perhaps if you feel that strongly you could pay for the electrician yourselves.

Skibunny40

Believe me, we've offered! There's no way he'll accept "another" electrician working in his house. It's a matter of pride regarding the electrics, which we can understand but it doesn't stop us worrying.

Gordon_Hose

Truth be told, you can't stop him.

onomatopoeia99

Skibunny40 wrote: »

Believe me, we've offered! There's no way he'll accept "another" electrician working in his house. It's a matter of pride regarding the electrics, which we can understand but it doesn't stop us worrying.

If he could calculate the correct cable size when he was working, then he can calculate it now. The physics (Joule's first law) doesn't change just because a new edition of BS7671 comes out :eek: