rewire or not - new extension?

[izzy18]

sorry that this post is a bit of a waffle but here goes

we had a rewire done when we moved into our house in 1995. the completion certificate states it complies with 16th edition (but doesnt actually specify the particulars of the installation!)

had 2 double sockets fitted approx 2 years ago by niec electrician who found on testing that the ring main was either open or not correctly installed and needed further investigation which we arranged but he didnt turn up (as i was on unpaid maternity leave left it on the basis it had been like that for 11 years but would need doing in the future ) the spark who did the sockets was not overly impressed by the completion certificate thought the job was bit cheap at 1k back in 1995

we are now in the process of estimating for a rear single storey extension. 1 of the quotes stated the price for the electrical work was dependant on the current installation/supply being adequate. in view of the fact that previous problems had been raised and i dont want to be hit by unexpected costs contacted a spark on the competent person register who is also registered with our local Trading Standards office to do a PIR. said spark said he would would do a quick visual inspection to see if PIR would be necessary and said that we only have 1 ring main for the entire house which is why its testing as open. that ideally it should be split for upstairs/downstairs etc, CU is a bit loose, probably could do with a rewire but as CU fitted with RCD which isnt regularly tripping obviously working ok and that extension would be on a separate ring main.

I am confused as to what is required! do i go for a rewire and grin and bear the cost, can the CU be updated and rings split (that is probably a really silly question ) or dont i need to do anything at all? HELP

 

[comms]

Pay for a PIR that is the only way you will know the state of the existing installation, visual inspections aren't worth the paper they are written on.

If the current cu has spare ways then think about seperate circuits for the extension.
If there aren't any spare ways then one possibility is to split the meter tails install a new cu for the extension only. That way you have no worries about the cost going up due to any remedial work that is required on the existing installation.

 

[Adam_151]

As long as there are sufficent ways (on the right sides) in the existing board for new power and light circuits for the extension and can get the right breakers for it, and tails and bonding are upto scrath, then I can't see that the state of the other ring final should get in the way of the extension electrics (it'll be noted on the certificate if the spark becomes aware of it, but the new circuits are not dependant on the existing ones)


But you do need to get it sorted out, if the break is near one end, you've got a heavily loaded ring final thats probably overloading one leg!

by the way, there are two issues:

1)The ring is broken
2) The ring is possibly overloaded/not very balanced/overlength

Two distinct issues, though they compound each other, one does not lead to the other

Do you have a scanner?, could you post the certficate from 1995 on imageshack or the like and give us a link?

 

[plugwash]

and said that we only have 1 ring main for the entire house which is why its testing as open.

sounds like bullsh*t to me, an unusually big ring may test out as out of spec but it shouldn't test out as open circuit.