New Fusebox

Anaida9999

Hi,

At my tenants property yesterday the fusebox was tripped and the tenants have got an electrician to put a temporary fix and move the socket circuit to the non RCD side so it works now. But it appears now that a totally new fusebox is required which can be replaced in a couple of weeks, the question is how urgent would this be , is it ok just having the socket circuit on the non RCD for a few weeks or would I need this done urgently due to some safety risk?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Dee

Ectophile

The answer may depend on why the RCD keeps tripping.

There are still many thousands of properties in the UK that have old fuseboxes, that don't have RCDs at all.  But those properies aren't full of the bodies of people who have been electrocuted.

But if your RCD tripped, and either won't reset or keeps tripping, then it suggests that something may be wrong.  The electrician may have hidden the problem, rather than fixing it.

If the fusebox (consumer unit) has a non-RCD side, then is it even legal?  There's a new law in England regarding the standards for electrics in rental properties.  If the existing fusebox is not up to that standard, you could be committing an offence by renting the property out.  But that's a specifically English law - in any other part of the UK, their own devolved laws apply.

fenwick458

well it's a good job that it was you're tenants that have arranged for an electrician to break the regs and move it to the non RCD side! if you as a landlord had done that then you could be opening yourself up to hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of litigation claims if anything were to happen.
what if the RCD was tripping because current was leaking to a water pipe in the bathroom, next time the tennat has a bath and touches the water pipe they're dead?
and as for a new consumer unit being required, I doubt it.
a new consumer unit might be a good idea and recommended, but essentially finding and fixing the fault is all thats required right now

canaldumidi

You have got a valid EICR yes?

Just checking.

https://www.rbgrant.co.uk/commercial/commercial-eicr-landlords-scotland/

https://www.whitegates.co.uk/news/landlord-guide-eicr-rules-regulations

https://www.hawkesworthappliancetesting.co.uk/news/wales-eicr-landlords

Anaida9999

fenwick458

the electrican the tenants used basically said he could not find the fault and checked socket wiring which was not showing any problem and maybe an intermittment fault and then said a new fuseboard was needed, i have asked him again that the fault needs to be identified. 

FreeBear

If an RCD is tripping, that would suggest that a faulty appliance is plugged in somewhere. Perhaps the tenants should get all their electrical equipment PAT tested.

There could be an internal fault within the RCD, so I would consider replacing just that one part before condemning the consumer unit.

Risteard

FreeBear said:

If an RCD is tripping, that would suggest that a faulty appliance is plugged in somewhere. Perhaps the tenants should get all their electrical equipment PAT tested.

There could be an internal fault within the RCD, so I would consider replacing just that one part before condemning the consumer unit.

It may not be an appliance - it could also be faulty/damaged wiring; moisture etc. A faulty RCD is the least likely reason.

Anaida9999

the RCD was replaced and still it was tripped so thats why the electrician moved to non RCD side , however the tenant did say they disconnected all the applicances and it did still tripped (and maybe one socket worked) . I have told the electrican to test first to see what is causing the problem but he says he can do that for £100 but he will need to replace the fusebox as well to get the EICR certificate, total cost testing, new fusebox and EICR - £490 but that does not include any fault fixing so that will be extra which can all be done next week.

I am not too sure why I need a new fusebox though as I thought I just need to pay for a test to find the fault and fix that an an EICR certificate. The fusebox is from around 1999, I thought the agency I used got a EICR cerf but they have not just the annual gas certficate. 

canaldumidi

Anaida9999 said:

, I thought the agency I used got a EICR cerf but they have not just the annual gas certficate. 

You need to get an EICR fast before the tenants decide to inform Trading Standards.

Never rely 100% on an agent. The buck stops with the landlord!

Smoke alarms? EPC? CO alarms are becoming compulsory from 1st Oct this year. Make sure you or your agent install them if not already installed.

Anaida9999

I dont think they have any reason at the moment to complain to Trading Standards they have been my tenants for last 10yrs  and we have good relations plus I am getting the EICR done as fast as the electrician is available which is next week, already have mains smoke alarms

fenwick458

Anaida9999 said:

the RCD was replaced and still it was tripped so thats why the electrician moved to non RCD side , however the tenant did say they disconnected all the applicances and it did still tripped (and maybe one socket worked) . I have told the electrican to test first to see what is causing the problem but he says he can do that for £100 but he will need to replace the fusebox as well to get the EICR certificate, total cost testing, new fusebox and EICR - £490 but that does not include any fault fixing so that will be extra which can all be done next week.

I am not too sure why I need a new fusebox though as I thought I just need to pay for a test to find the fault and fix that an an EICR certificate. The fusebox is from around 1999, I thought the agency I used got a EICR cerf but they have not just the annual gas certficate. 

that is shocking to be honest, so they proved the RCD was working by fitting a new one, but as they couldn't find the fault just moved the circuit to the non RCD side
I don't really understand your electricians claims, you can't really force someone to have new consumer unit because theres a fault somewhere
there's no reason to have to replace the consumer unit to get an EICR cert done, you can do an EICR on anything(although it may end up unsatisfactory...)
by the sounds of it your electrician doesn't know how to fault find and you are going to end up pushed towards a £490 consumer unit upgrade (which is recommended tbf) but at the end of it the same circuit that has been moved to the non RCD side because it constantly trips the RCD will still not be working because it will also trip the new RCBO. what will thy do then? just put it on an MCB? and then call in another electrician to locate the fault?