Is this legal (electrical work)

PoGee

I'm in communication with my letting agent who says my rental's plastic consumer unit needs replacing with a metal one. When I asked if all components would be new, he said - no, just replace the box and wire up old fuses, RCDs etc.
Surely that's not legal? 

Grenage

It depends on what the current regulations say.  The electrician won't (shouldn't) do it if it's against the regs.

PoGee

We all know what letting agents can be like. I found an old invoice from 2013, where he charged me £170 for PAT testing 6 items. I don't know what the regs are so started this thread. Hope someone can say whether this is legal or not.

molerat

PoGee said:

I'm in communication with my letting agent who says my rental's plastic consumer unit needs replacing with a metal one. When I asked if all components would be new, he said - no, just replace the box and wire up old fuses, RCDs etc.
Surely that's not legal? 

Why does it need replacing ?  Metal boxes are only required for new installations, just because it does not meet current specs does not mean it needs replacing.  As long as the components meet the required specifications they do not need to be new.  Who is doing the job, letting agent's pet contractor ?  Likely a new box will be fitted, charged at full price to you, and all the new internals kept to sell at full price to other customers on other jobs.  Letting agents have had to find new ways to make money as they are no longer allowed to screw over tenants.

PoGee

Thanks Molerat. That's exactly what I think.  It's the agent's pet contractor. I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of his old ones he's trying to flog off. It's (my rental's consumer unit) only 12 years old.

WIAWSNB

Dare we ask what they were proposing to charge for this job?

Ectophile

Would the new consumer unit's manufacturer be the same as the old one?

Manufacturers will only certify a combination of their consumer unit with their accessories (fuses, breakers, etc).  If you mix-and-match brands then it's no longer certified as safe.

I would also be suspicious that the letting agent is trying to get work for their favourite electrician.

MyRealNameToo

PoGee said:

I'm in communication with my letting agent who says my rental's plastic consumer unit needs replacing with a metal one. When I asked if all components would be new, he said - no, just replace the box and wire up old fuses, RCDs etc.
Surely that's not legal? 

Just because it's plastic doesnt mean it needs replacing. It needs to have been up to code when it was installed it doesnt need to stay up to code. If its damaged or you need major works then yes it needs replacing and yes the new one must meet the new standards which normally means it'll be metal 

In principle if you simply bought the new metal version of the old plastic one then yes everything else could just be transferred across as the code for the innards haven't changed materially recently. 

It could be them drumming up work for their preferred supplier but can also be a misunderstanding that things dont have to be maintained at code. When you get the periodic inspection done it will note that the consumer unit isnt up to current standards but it doesnt have to be so it's just an advisory not an item that requires action. 

GDB2222

You already had a thread on exactly this topic. Why start a new one? 

It sounds to me like you need a better letting agent.

bjorn_toby_wilde

And so many replies saying the same thing in different ways….

Ectophile

MyRealNameToo said:

PoGee said:

I'm in communication with my letting agent who says my rental's plastic consumer unit needs replacing with a metal one. When I asked if all components would be new, he said - no, just replace the box and wire up old fuses, RCDs etc.
Surely that's not legal? 

Just because it's plastic doesnt mean it needs replacing. It needs to have been up to code when it was installed it doesnt need to stay up to code. If its damaged or you need major works then yes it needs replacing and yes the new one must meet the new standards which normally means it'll be metal 

In principle if you simply bought the new metal version of the old plastic one then yes everything else could just be transferred across as the code for the innards haven't changed materially recently. 

It could be them drumming up work for their preferred supplier but can also be a misunderstanding that things dont have to be maintained at code. When you get the periodic inspection done it will note that the consumer unit isnt up to current standards but it doesnt have to be so it's just an advisory not an item that requires action. 

It's more complicated than that if it's a rental property in England.  Other parts of the UK may have similar laws.

In England, the electrics in a rented dwelling must be inspected every 5 years against BS7671:2018 (IET Wiring Regulations, 18th Edition).  The law specifically calls out the 2018 version of the standard to test against.

It's generally accepted that C3 codes on the inspection are OK, but C2 or C1 codes are failures, and the electrics must be fixed or the landlord is committing an offence by renting the property out.

A 17th Edition era plastic consumer unit in good condition may only be a C3 as there's nothing really wrong with it.  An old 13th Edition era Wylex box with only rewirable fuses is likely to fail (even if it's a metal one).