Is it necessary to replace plastic consumer unit with metal? (EICR)

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We recently had an electrician out to test all our electrics - an EICR. He identified a faulty socket (‘has very high zs’), lack of RCD to kitchen appliances circuit, and that the ‘Distribution not to eighteenth edition’ (all C2) as well as some issues with some bathroom lights which we will definitely get fixed. I had a couple of questions about the proposed fixes, as I don’t really want to spend a grand if I don’t have to.

1) Is it necessary to replace a 13-year old consumer unit that is working fine?
2) What does ‘very high zs’ mean?
3) If we were to ever rent out the flat, would the advice on (1) change? I.e. while it might be fine to make the choice ourselves to live with a plastic consumer unit, would it be illegal to rent out? I’m asking because we may rent it out to friends or family for a year while we go travelling.

In case it makes a difference, the consumer unit is in a cupboard on the top landing, and we live in a two-storey-flat. If there were a fire there, our escape route would be onto our bedroom balcony and climbing over to our neighbour’s balcony. In other words, we would have means of escape.

Thanks so much in advance.

Belenus

It is not normally necessary to replace a 13-year old consumer unit that is working fine. It may not meet the current regulations but that does not mean that it is unsafe. Our consumer unit is 17 years old and we have no plans to even think about replacing it. 

Unless there is a real safety issue that requires a new consumer unit, keep it as it is.

Zs refer to Earth fault loop impedance. Basically too high zs risks the circuit breaker not tripping if a fault develops. It is a safety issue so get it sorted. You may have a poor earth connection at that socket.  Your electrician should have explained that to you. The cynic in me suspects that he might be hoping to baffle you with such terms so you do not question the need to replace the consumer unit.

Fit an RCD to the kitchen circuit if you can. I presume that means replacing a circuit breaker in the consumer unit with an RCD device but I could be wrong.

I have no idea about the requirements for renting out a property so I will leave that to others to answer.

Don't take my comments as gospel. Risteard or other professional electricians will hopefully be along soon to add to or to correct my above comments.

Rodders53

Kitchen appliances RCD:  What appliances exactly?
Fixed appliances? i.e. hardwired Oven and Hob?  Fixed appliances (inc things like immersion heaters) seldom had RCD protection until relatively recently when two RCDs on split consumer units were introduced and now protect all circuits. 

Assuming the original install met the regulations that applied at the time (whether the 17th - from July 2008 or the 16th which applied from 1992) then there's no need to change anything.
But the faults (socket and lights stuff) do need resolving.

FaceHead

1. No
2. Explained above, get it fixed. It could be as simple as the earth wire have been fully or partly disconnected at the socket. Take it off and have a look - the problem may be quite obvious. 
3. You can't rent it out with C2's on the EICR, but a plastic CU shouldn't be a C2. If it was me I would query why they have given this a C2. Electrical Safety First suggest a plastic CU is a C3 if it is under wooden stairs or in the means of escape from the property (bpg4-1.pdf (electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk)). i.e. in that case you might consider upgrading it. Otherwise it's not even noteworthy and changing it is not recommended. I suspect there is something else going on that is causing them to give this a C2 - the alternative is that they are a cowboy trying to sell you an unnecessary CU upgrade.

chrisw

For rental purposes, the EICR is the same but C1 and C2 will lead to an 'unsatisfactory' report which will need correcting from a legal point of view. C3 are ok.

Once the C1s and C2s have been resolved, a 'satisfactory' report can be issued.

Webxite

Rodders53 said:

Kitchen appliances RCD:  What appliances exactly?
Fixed appliances? i.e. hardwired Oven and Hob?  Fixed appliances (inc things like immersion heaters) seldom had RCD protection until relatively recently when two RCDs on split consumer units were introduced and now protect all circuits. 

According to the report, there is an RCD on the 'kitchen ring' but not on 'kitchen appliances'. I don't know what that means wrt your question exactly. Do you have an idea of what I should expect to pay in order to fix this, given that I'm almost certainly not going to cough up to replace the CU? What is involved in fixing it?

Webxite

FaceHead said:

1. No
2. Explained above, get it fixed. It could be as simple as the earth wire have been fully or partly disconnected at the socket. Take it off and have a look - the problem may be quite obvious. 
3. You can't rent it out with C2's on the EICR, but a plastic CU shouldn't be a C2. If it was me I would query why they have given this a C2. Electrical Safety First suggest a plastic CU is a C3 if it is under wooden stairs or in the means of escape from the property (bpg4-1.pdf (electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk)). i.e. in that case you might consider upgrading it. Otherwise it's not even noteworthy and changing it is not recommended. I suspect there is something else going on that is causing them to give this a C2 - the alternative is that they are a cowboy trying to sell you an unnecessary CU upgrade.

Sadly my cowboy radar is going off now. I naively thought nothing would be found wrong, and so just went for a well-reviewed-on-google local electrician thinking he'd come round for a couple of hours and write me a nice report saying everything is fine. I mean, obviously I"m grateful for the genuine faults that have been picked up, but I do feel that they're trying to sell me an unnecessary CU. I might have to contact the more expensive electrician that I use for my work. He's pricey and not very available, but at least I trust him not to rip me off. 

Thanks MSE community! Really helpful answers from everyone here.

Belenus

Webxite said:

Rodders53 said:

Kitchen appliances RCD:  What appliances exactly?
Fixed appliances? i.e. hardwired Oven and Hob?  Fixed appliances (inc things like immersion heaters) seldom had RCD protection until relatively recently when two RCDs on split consumer units were introduced and now protect all circuits. 

According to the report, there is an RCD on the 'kitchen ring' but not on 'kitchen appliances'. I don't know what that means wrt your question exactly. Do you have an idea of what I should expect to pay in order to fix this, given that I'm almost certainly not going to cough up to replace the CU? What is involved in fixing it?

I'm not sure if it helps but you can buy sockets with a built in RCD.

Link.

Perhaps a proper electrician could comment on them.

Our 17 year old house has this consumer unit with both socket circuits RCD protected.

Carrot007

Surely repalceing the consumer unit with a metasl splity rcd compliant one would be about £300. I paid less that that a few years ago. Of course that's North Yorkshire pricing from a good electrician.

If it was the cost you say I would think twice.

I would also be looking at the wiring in the faulty socket myself. He could have probably fixed that my making a nice new connsetion as maybe some of the earthing has snapped. Or course that again would bneed a nice decent electrician!

Webxite

Belenus said:

Webxite said:

Rodders53 said:

Kitchen appliances RCD:  What appliances exactly?
Fixed appliances? i.e. hardwired Oven and Hob?  Fixed appliances (inc things like immersion heaters) seldom had RCD protection until relatively recently when two RCDs on split consumer units were introduced and now protect all circuits. 

According to the report, there is an RCD on the 'kitchen ring' but not on 'kitchen appliances'. I don't know what that means wrt your question exactly. Do you have an idea of what I should expect to pay in order to fix this, given that I'm almost certainly not going to cough up to replace the CU? What is involved in fixing it?

I'm not sure if it helps but you can buy sockets with a built in RCD.

Link.

Perhaps a proper electrician could comment on them.

Our 17 year old house has this consumer unit with both socket circuits RCD protected.

Hmmm. The plot thickens. I've just had a look at the CU, and all the sockets in the house are indeed under the RCD switch on the green side. So I suppose that's what 'kitchen ring' means. There's a separate circuit called 'kitchen appliances' which is on the red side, along with the heating etc (all-electric flat). I'm guessing that covers the oven, cooker hood, washing machine and fridge freezer, since those have their own separate panel of switches in the kitchen (though we actually have a dishwasher plugged into the place where 'fridge freezer' should have lived. Is it necessary to have those fixed appliances on an RCD? I see from Rodders53 comment that it wasn't standard until recently, and that the standards are retroactively applied, so again it feels like maybe the electrician is putting C2 where it could be C3. 

The electrician has put 2026 as the recommended date for the next inspection. Am I bound by that? From what I had thought, every 10 years was the minimum.

Ectophile

Assuming you're in England, the new rules are that the electrical installation must be up to the 2018 version of the BS7671 standard.  If it isn't, then you are free to live there yourself, but it's illegal to rent out.  Arguing that it complied when it was installed doesn't work any more.

The law was introduced to stop landlords renting out homes with ancient installations that aren't up to modern safety standards.

Since you have an EICR with C2's on it, that's "failed", so the flat is illegal to rent out.  Your choices are:-

• Find another electrician who will give an EICR with nothing above a C3.
• Pay an electrician to fix the problems, and get documentation from the electrician to say the problems have been fixed.  There's no need for a whole new EICR.