Mornin' all,
Has the BCO out on Friday to inspect my first fix wiring.
Overall it went very well. BCO was very friendly and helpful - if you're open an honest with them they reciprocate. I was chatting to him and he was saying they're not stupid and can tell when someone's trying to pull the wool over their eyes and if that happens then they tend to be very harsh.
Anyhow, he was happy with the majority of the installation although there were two things he wasn't happy with and I have to put right.
The first was simple and I rectified while he was inspecting the rest of the installation. I'd managed to fit one of the socket mounting boxes in the dining area of the kitchen right below a joist. As I wanted the cable to go straight up into the void rather than up to the joist and then bend into the void, I set the conduit on a slight wonk upwards. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't diagonal, the was probably a lean of 1" to 1 1/2" throughout the 8' rise of conduit and in any event, the top part of the conduit didn't extend beyond the width of the mounting box so I thought it would be fine. He had other ideas though and asked me to rectify it. I explained that I thought this was a safe zone but would be happy to rectify it. I just moved the mounting box over 2" to the left and straightened the conduit up.
The other issue is my arrangement for the appliance ring in the kitchen which will be unprotected. I'm running a ring main (which, when connected to the CU will have a 32a MCB) which goes to an above counter switched FCU with a single flex outlet for the hob ignition. The FCU then connectes to another switched FCU on the opposite wall with a single unswitched socket below counter height for the integrated fridge. The fridge FCU goes on to another, set up in the same way, for the integrated freezer. This last FCU then goes back to the CU.
With me so far? Well, all that's fine. EXCEPT, for the cooker hood extractor, I've spurred from the hob ignition flex outlet. The FCU above the flex outlet will have a 5a fuse and the spur that comes from the flex outlet to the FCU for the cooker hood will have 3a fuse. The FCU for the cooker hood will be concealed behind the cooker hood.
THE BCO wasn't happy with this arrangement because there was a spur from a spur. I explained that my understanding was that the first spur was fused at 5a which, given it's in 2.5mm T&E, is more than adequate. The spur from this spur, which is also in 2.5mm T&E, would be protected by a 3a fuse. Therefore, there is no way on earth that this spur to spur arrangement can be overloaded, especially given the fact that both of the appliances are hard wired.
Mr BCO would like to see each appliance on it's own switched FCU.
I think he's wrong.
He's passed everything else other than this arrangement and has said that if a qualified electrician inspects this particular part of the arrangement and signs it off then he'll pass it, otherwise I'll have to change it (which I don't want to do because I've got no easy solution to adding another switch to the wall above the counter - it will have to be within 300mm of the hob!).
If I get a spark to check he says I'll have to pay for this myself. Again, I disagree, I think it should be at the LABC's expense.
The BCO officer was also slightly unhappy about the fact that there were two sockets in the kitchen which would be unprotected. It took me a few minutes to convince him that they were just two singles, both unswitched, below counter top, both with their own switched FCU above counter top, which will only be used for a fridge and a freezer. I am not going to be clambering into a cabinet to unplug the freezer in order to plug in a lawnmower or something similar!
He also commented that, aside from the issues highlighted, it was a good neat job and would make it nice and easy to replace cables in the future once I've covered it all up because it's all in conduit and isn't congested anywhere.
Any thoughts?
Apologies for the long post.
Regards
Fred
P.S. I know I could have just put a radial in for the unprotected Kitchen ring but I'm happier with rings and in any event, have plenty of cable to be able afford the run of cable back to the CU.
Has the BCO out on Friday to inspect my first fix wiring.
Overall it went very well. BCO was very friendly and helpful - if you're open an honest with them they reciprocate. I was chatting to him and he was saying they're not stupid and can tell when someone's trying to pull the wool over their eyes and if that happens then they tend to be very harsh.
Anyhow, he was happy with the majority of the installation although there were two things he wasn't happy with and I have to put right.
The first was simple and I rectified while he was inspecting the rest of the installation. I'd managed to fit one of the socket mounting boxes in the dining area of the kitchen right below a joist. As I wanted the cable to go straight up into the void rather than up to the joist and then bend into the void, I set the conduit on a slight wonk upwards. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't diagonal, the was probably a lean of 1" to 1 1/2" throughout the 8' rise of conduit and in any event, the top part of the conduit didn't extend beyond the width of the mounting box so I thought it would be fine. He had other ideas though and asked me to rectify it. I explained that I thought this was a safe zone but would be happy to rectify it. I just moved the mounting box over 2" to the left and straightened the conduit up.
The other issue is my arrangement for the appliance ring in the kitchen which will be unprotected. I'm running a ring main (which, when connected to the CU will have a 32a MCB) which goes to an above counter switched FCU with a single flex outlet for the hob ignition. The FCU then connectes to another switched FCU on the opposite wall with a single unswitched socket below counter height for the integrated fridge. The fridge FCU goes on to another, set up in the same way, for the integrated freezer. This last FCU then goes back to the CU.
With me so far? Well, all that's fine. EXCEPT, for the cooker hood extractor, I've spurred from the hob ignition flex outlet. The FCU above the flex outlet will have a 5a fuse and the spur that comes from the flex outlet to the FCU for the cooker hood will have 3a fuse. The FCU for the cooker hood will be concealed behind the cooker hood.
THE BCO wasn't happy with this arrangement because there was a spur from a spur. I explained that my understanding was that the first spur was fused at 5a which, given it's in 2.5mm T&E, is more than adequate. The spur from this spur, which is also in 2.5mm T&E, would be protected by a 3a fuse. Therefore, there is no way on earth that this spur to spur arrangement can be overloaded, especially given the fact that both of the appliances are hard wired.
Mr BCO would like to see each appliance on it's own switched FCU.
I think he's wrong.
He's passed everything else other than this arrangement and has said that if a qualified electrician inspects this particular part of the arrangement and signs it off then he'll pass it, otherwise I'll have to change it (which I don't want to do because I've got no easy solution to adding another switch to the wall above the counter - it will have to be within 300mm of the hob!).
If I get a spark to check he says I'll have to pay for this myself. Again, I disagree, I think it should be at the LABC's expense.
The BCO officer was also slightly unhappy about the fact that there were two sockets in the kitchen which would be unprotected. It took me a few minutes to convince him that they were just two singles, both unswitched, below counter top, both with their own switched FCU above counter top, which will only be used for a fridge and a freezer. I am not going to be clambering into a cabinet to unplug the freezer in order to plug in a lawnmower or something similar!
He also commented that, aside from the issues highlighted, it was a good neat job and would make it nice and easy to replace cables in the future once I've covered it all up because it's all in conduit and isn't congested anywhere.
Any thoughts?
Apologies for the long post.
Regards
Fred
P.S. I know I could have just put a radial in for the unprotected Kitchen ring but I'm happier with rings and in any event, have plenty of cable to be able afford the run of cable back to the CU.
