New CU and rewire - is this a good price?

[pavementpizza]

I have just been quoted £800 for a new CU (strip out everything in the cabinet including the old Economy 7 boxes and wiring) plus new double sockets in 9 locations in my lounge.

The mains cabinet at the moment is a real mess - it's jammed full of wiring from 40 years ago and I can't even begin to guess at what is going where.

Does that sound reasonable?

 

[wingcoax]

Wiring from 40 years ago? Sounds like you need a full rewire. It all depends on the state of the cables but after that many years it probably will need replacing. Apart from that the price is not too bad i suppose if that includes all the testing and certificates and the fact the sparks will have to notify the LABC .

 

[sparkyspike]

It doesn't cost anything more than a few quid for an electrician to notify LABC. Are these 9 sockets just faceplates, or are you talking about a rewire of the lounge circuits? If it's a rewire, then the price isn't so bad.

As mentioned, with 40 year old cable in your house, you are in complete rewire territory, so you may expect problems when the new CU is fitted. The electrician doing the job will be more than aware of this and may include some kind of contingency in his price. Ask him what the implications would be if circuits started failing tests, or were borderline satisfactory.

Basically, if you think you are paying over the odds, then get another quote from somewhere else. You may find it comes out at £800 again. Without seeing the job, it's not possible to tell.

For example, I quoted £350 for a new dual RCD CU in a 9 circuit bungalow a couple of weeks ago. This included the materials, testing and certification and also included arranging for a new PME terminal. But it was a simple CU change with no new circuits.

I did find an outdoor circuit which required new cabling and a switchfuse, which I quoted for during the job as an extra (in fact it now involves a new supply from the Scottish&Southern costing a few £100), so you can see that it's not always straightforward.

 

[pavementpizza]

The house was rewired by a relative (not a qualified electrician!!!) about ten years ago but the old cables were left in place as well as the Economy 7 cabling which is a nest of cables going in every direction. There is an old board in the cabinet (no RCD's obviously) and it has been added to, tinkered with, confused for a long time....the sparky took one look at it today and was slightly taken aback by how much it had been amended over the years. So in other words the wiring is new but the main board/CU is ancient and it should have been done at the same time.

The lounge already has about five single sockets but they are either in the wrong places or need doubles. The electrician said he will put the new sockets on a new ring and include the old ones so that everything is tidied up and less confusing and it does include all the cable chasing, etc.

The electrician is the same one used by my builder who is currently doing other work at my house and who I have trusted on many jobs so I don't doubt the work or even the price - I was just curious!

 

[pavementpizza]

Untitled

• pavementpizza
• 8 May 2009
• 1

 

[securespark]

Does the electrician know that the house was "rewired" by a relative....
It was not fully rewired, anyhow.

This fact may mean that circuits are not as they should be. Is your spark going to do a PIR first?

Will your spark notify?

 

[pavementpizza]

Apparently the relative was a qualified electrician....or at least he used to be. He did the work about ten years ago but hadn't been a spark for many, many years prior to that. I think he was in prison for causing a house fire...

No idea what a PIR is.

Don't know what you mean by 'notify'.

 

[securespark]

Apparently the relative was a qualified electrician....or at least he used to be. He did the work about ten years ago but hadn't been a spark for many, many years prior to that. I think he was in prison for causing a house fire...

No idea what a PIR is.

Don't know what you mean by 'notify'.

Is this a wind-up?

First you say he is not qualified, then you change your mind. Then you say he was in prison for causing a house fire.

The spark doing your work would be mad to touch the installation without doing a Periodic Inspection Report first, especially if you have told him what you have mentioned here.

 

[sparkyspike]

Notification: Major electrical work and electrical work in special locations is subject to notification. This means that the electrician completing the work needs to notify the local building control that the work has been completed in compliance with the building regs. This normally requires a qualified and registered electrician.

PIR: A PIR is a report which evaluates the condition of an existing installation. Your sparky would be wise to offer you one of these before taking on the CU change as it may reveal unforseen problems. Some of the test results on a PIR will be duplicated when the final Installation Certificate is completed, so you won't be paying twice for all the testing.

If the electrician who wired up your house went to prison for causing a house fire, then you can expect a lot of problems to show up with your PIR!

 

[pavementpizza]

I see a sense of humour isn't a prerequisite for this forum!

The relative was my wife's uncle who worked for the family building company for many years. I always thought he was a joiner but I am told he did qualify as an electrician when he was a much younger man, although he didn't practise the trade a great deal. He rewired almost all the sockets in the house but didn't update the mains board. He also didn't bother removing a lot of the old wiring so we have a house with a nest of cabling and we don't necessarily know what leads to where.

The spark has said he will take out all the old E7 wiring (which is a lot and possibly the bulk of the mess as shown in the picture. He'll strip out anything leading into the lounge and put in a new ring to include the existing sockets and the new ones. That much makes perfect sense to me. The PIR stuff and notification I know nothing about so I can't give you an answer.

 

[securespark]

SOH? You didn't imply any of your post was a joke. Anyhow, that's not something you tend to joke about is it?

What we are saying is that if this guy who did the "rewiring" was not fully qualified, there may well be some nasty surprises waiting for the new spark, unless he is going to carry out a PIR, in which case he will be fore-warned of them.

These can include, but are not limited to: undersized cables, open and incorrectly wired ring finals and short-circuits picked up by the RCD's.

 

[pavementpizza]

Well I would hazard a guess that he will find most of those things, based purely on the way my wife's uncle left the place prior to us moving in (it was the family home before that so he had a free run on tinkering). The builder is currently refurbing the utility room and found a live cable behind some units which leads to an outside lamp but from where, we just don't know. He's terminated it in a junction box until the spark does the other work.

Under the floorboards in the lounge are hundreds of wires which all appear to new-ish (as in part of the last rewire) but nothing is labelled and everything is loose and untidy. The spark says almost certainly they will be for the existing sockets but he's not interested, he'd rather just taken them out and start from scratch so it's safer, less complictaed and common sense.

I suppose this is the problem with a 90 years old house and too many quick repairs...which is precisely why I think the job needs to be done properly.

 

[securespark]

The more you write, the more I feel a PIR is not a luxury but essential.

The builder finding that feed is just one example.

Another problem I've thought of is the possibility of lighting having borrowed neutrals.

I really cannot stress the importance of a PIR too highly. Have the work done now while the house is in pieces, rather than realise 5 years down the line that it should have been done before you decorated and put down carpets.

It really will be money well spent and peace of mind knowing everything is spot-on.