EICR - is electrician creating unnecessary work?

HGHF

Hi there, I've just had to get an EICR for a rental property, and the report has come back with lots of C2 and C3 issues. The rental property is a Victorian maisonette over a shop. I would be really grateful if someone could advise me whether the remedial works are actually required or the electrician is just creating work for himself.

I'm attaching a photo of my fuse board - the board is now boxed in. I have smoke alarms fitted on each floor already. Do I need to replace my downlights throughout the property? I'm happy to do any works that are needed to comply with the current regulations, but I don't want to be paying for work that is not legally required. Thanks for any advice.

These are the items he tells me need doing:

Code 2's Existing fuse board is old obsolete type with no fault protection.
Upgrade and install new metal fuse board with RCBO's to cater for each circuit.
Bathroom downlights are not suitable for use, upgrade and install IP rated LED downlights.
Old worn obsolete type downlights throughout the rest of the property
Upgrade and install new LED fire rated fittings.
Install earth bond to water

Code 3's and Maintenance
Replace old worn exterior sensor light not working.
Upgrade old halogen lamps to LED
3 X 10year smoke alarms
Replace old worn spurs 2 x to heat controls
Secure socket for cooker and hob, install in cupboard so accessible .
Ensure switched correct way around

ProDave

Yes the Fuse box needs replacing.  That is a valid "fault"  don't be concerned by that, it is not a massive job and not disruptive to the building.

The downlights one is spurious to me.  This is an "electrical" test.  If he can point to them being unsafe in an electrical sense then yes agree to having them done.  The fire rating of the old fittings is not an electrical matter.  There might be other regulations with regard to rental that says they need upgrading.  Again it is an easy and not disruptive job so as well to get it done.

All the C3's are advisory so tell him you don't want them done at this time.  Only C1 and C2 items will result in the report being "unsatisfactory"

tacpot12

In this case, I think that you should be wanting to pay for some work that is not legally required: the fusboard has no RCD protection in it. This means that the likelihood of a tenant coming into contact with live electricity and being electrocuted is much higher than if you had a modern board with either two RCDs or one RCBO per circuit. 

One RCBO per circuit will minimise the nuisance created when one RCD takes out half the circuits on the board.  If the rental property is to be a HMO, I would recommend fitting RCBOs, if it is to be rented to one tenant, then could could save some money by asking the electrician to quote for a dual RCD board. 

Similarly with the non-IP rated downlighters in the bathroom - the lack of IP rating means that water can get in and this cause a low resistance path than means a tenant could be electrocuted if they put their arms up while washing or showering. 

The worn and obsolete type of downlights in the rest of the property probably don't need replacing, but if your tenants are going to struggle to find the right bulbs for the ones you have currently they won't be as happy with your property. Older downlights with halogen bulbs can be very expensive to run, whereas LED bulbs will last longer and be much cheaper. Tenants notice when the energy bills are very high in a property.

The earth bond to the water is a legal requirement.

The Code 3s are definitely not necessary to do now, but if you are going to be a landlord that puts off work, so that there are sockets hanging off the wall (e.g. the cooker socket) and eventually nothing works, then this is a good place to start. Just get the Code 2s done and start coining it in!

    

canaldumidi

tacpot12 said:

In this case, I think that you should be wanting to pay for some work that is not legally required: the fusboard has no RCD protection in it. This means that the likelihood of a tenant coming into contact with live electricity and being electrocuted is much higher than if you had a modern board with either two RCDs or one RCBO per circuit. 

One RCBO per circuit will minimise the nuisance created when one RCD takes out half the circuits on the board.  If the rental property is to be a HMO, I would recommend fitting RCBOs, if it is to be rented to one tenant, then could could save some money by asking the electrician to quote for a dual RCD board. 

    

the difference in price between these is maybe £50. Installation can't be much different. If you're going to do the work, do it decently.

michael1234

When I get an EICR for my place, I plan to let the spark know that I have my own electrician who will be doing the work to remedy any c2s .

If you want a lot of sparks to comment then post here: https://www.electriciansforums.net/