A friend is having a loft conversion, he was given a quote which included all works, planning, Architectural plans and structural details and calculations, as a complete package for around £35K.
Work commenced 2 weeks ago, and all is coming along well, now the electricians employed by the C L lofts, are saying that my mate will need a metal CU, as the existing one is made of plastic case, he was told due to new regs. I agreed that new regs only apply to any new installations and or rewiring or where old style plug in fuse box is being replaced by modern RCBO or RCD with MCBs.
However the company now wants him to pay extra for having to remove his old plastic box and replace it with a metal one, but I told my mate that he has to stand his ground and say not a penny more as they should have established this when the surveyor came over before providing a quotation, so this means he should have known that the old CU is plastic and will need to be replaced with a metal one, if that is the case.
On the other hand, is it feasible within the regulations just to provide a seperate metal CU just for loft power? leaving all existing wiring and CU untouched.
The company has been awarded this contract and will not even add an additional twin socket my mate wanted without charging him extra for this additional socket, most contractors or companies would be humbled to throw a few goodies in for free.
Also the company's contractors have been so lazy and lame, thick expensive roofing felt rolls were left outside in his front garden as they could not be arsed to move them in the rear more safer location, and someone took one 0of the rolls away, so my mate had to move two remaining rolls with the help of his wife to save them getting stolen, saving the company around £150.00.
Also my mate is concerned that if they did supply a seperate metal box for loft he may not be able to use POE contraptions/gadgets that require POE, can this be an issue?
Work commenced 2 weeks ago, and all is coming along well, now the electricians employed by the C L lofts, are saying that my mate will need a metal CU, as the existing one is made of plastic case, he was told due to new regs. I agreed that new regs only apply to any new installations and or rewiring or where old style plug in fuse box is being replaced by modern RCBO or RCD with MCBs.
However the company now wants him to pay extra for having to remove his old plastic box and replace it with a metal one, but I told my mate that he has to stand his ground and say not a penny more as they should have established this when the surveyor came over before providing a quotation, so this means he should have known that the old CU is plastic and will need to be replaced with a metal one, if that is the case.
On the other hand, is it feasible within the regulations just to provide a seperate metal CU just for loft power? leaving all existing wiring and CU untouched.
The company has been awarded this contract and will not even add an additional twin socket my mate wanted without charging him extra for this additional socket, most contractors or companies would be humbled to throw a few goodies in for free.
Also the company's contractors have been so lazy and lame, thick expensive roofing felt rolls were left outside in his front garden as they could not be arsed to move them in the rear more safer location, and someone took one 0of the rolls away, so my mate had to move two remaining rolls with the help of his wife to save them getting stolen, saving the company around £150.00.
Also my mate is concerned that if they did supply a seperate metal box for loft he may not be able to use POE contraptions/gadgets that require POE, can this be an issue?
