Extending cables to move a consumer unit

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Hi - doing a small job which involves extending cables to move a consumer unit. Always used connectors to do this before but advised recently I should use crimped connectors. Any thoughts?
 
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Who advised you?

Do your joints remain accessible for inspection, testing and maintenance?

Are you competent to be carrying out this work?
 
There's also the question of which cables are being moved; the incoming tails, or the outgoing circuits? (I hope the latter)
 
Yes I'm competent - fully qualified Part P and Wiring regs 17th Edition - I just don't do a lot of work these days and hence don't pay for the registration any more so if I do work like this I always do it under building control supervision. I've always used adaptable boxes and screw connectors in the past but an electrician friend of mine said that he uses crimped connections now. I'm aware of the accessibility criteria - in this case they will remain accessible for inspection testing and maintenance so I realise they don't have to be crimped - I was just seeking views from those who may have more experience in using them than I have. I have crimped joints but like someone in one of the other threads on this topic, I've never been entirely convinced that they are as good as screw connectors.

To answer the other query - the CU is being replaced and moved to a point closer to where the tails enter the building
 
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Yes I'm competent - fully qualified Part P and Wiring regs 17th Edition - I just don't do a lot of work these days and hence don't pay for the registration any more so if I do work like this I always do it under building control supervision.
If the work doesn't involve a new CU or any 'new circuits' (and the CU is not in the zones of a bathroom etc.!), the work would not now be notifiable (in England), so LABC would not have to be involved.

I'm probably one of those you have noticed who is 'not entirely convinced' about crimps, particularly of solid conductors, and even more particularly if the joints are not made by someone who is 'crimping all the time'!

Kind Regards, John
 
Thanks to John - very helpful.

With regards to Part P my course was 4 days with an exam at the end. It is mostly focussed on building regs aspects of electrical work and is supposed to (I understand) be aimed at other trades who need to undertake electrical work as part of their own work - plumbers, kitchen fitters etc. My course covered most aspects of inspection, installation and testing and there was overlap with the Wiring regs course although the latter went into a great deal more detail.
 
With regards to Part P my course was 4 days with an exam at the end.
You are not an electrician.

That course, at best, can possibly stop the egregiously dangerous and ignorant mistakes perpetrated by kitchen fitters, plumbers et al.

And that's all - it certainly does not equip you with the knowledge and skills to do rewires, new CUs etc.
 
With regards to Part P my course was 4 days with an exam at the end.
You are not an electrician.

That course, at best, can possibly stop the egregiously dangerous and ignorant mistakes perpetrated by kitchen fitters, plumbers et al.

And that's all - it certainly does not equip you with the knowledge and skills to do rewires, new CUs etc.

Woa!! I was responding to someone who asked about the Part P course and I certainly wasn't claiming that it equipped anyone - least of all me to claim they were an electrician - that has involved years of work, experience and training.
 
Woa!! I was responding to someone who asked about the Part P course and I certainly wasn't claiming that it equipped anyone - least of all me to claim they were an electrician - that has involved years of work, experience and training.
To be fair to BAS, you did indicate that your courses/'qualifications' rendered you 'competent' - which, as you now acknowledge, is by no means necessarily the case. In any event, courses and qualifications are not all of the story - I've never done any such courses nor gained any such 'qualifications', but I nevertheless feel that I am pretty 'competent' to do most domestic electrical things.

Kind Regards, John
 
I asked the question about a Part P "qualification".

Thank you for confirming being "Part P qualified" does not mean the holder is a qualified electrician but has had a course in the content and requirements of Part P of the building regulations.
 
Thank you for confirming being "Part P qualified" does not mean the holder is a qualified electrician but has had a course in the content and requirements of Part P of the building regulations.
It actually must have been a bit more than that. As you are aware, "Part P of the Building Regulations" consists of a single, fairly short, sentence - it could not possibly take 4 days to teach just that!

Kind Regards, John
 
Yes I have to say I wouldn't recommend the Part P course as it never really established what it was aiming to do. I got the piece of paper I wanted but we spent a long time on very basic stuff - looking back there was a lot of padding - probably to up the fee. The 17th Edition wiring update course was the opposite - very hard work and far too much crammed into a short course. Anyway - enough said - courses don't make electricians but they were interesting and gave me a chance to talk to other people working in the field.
 
To be fair to BAS, you did indicate that your courses/'qualifications' rendered you 'competent'
If I did, then I hope (because it should have been what I meant) I was clear that after "competent" should be "in the eyes of my LABC". I did it for 2 reasons - one was curiosity, the other was to be able to do my own electrical work in a project that required notification. As it happened, the project did not go ahead, but has now come back to life. Hopefully they'll still like the old qualification - I do plan to find somewhere to "do the 17th" as a walk-in for the test. I know I can do it at our chums in Brum, but would rather not go that far. And if I don't get my skates on I'll have to do the AMD3 version.
 
To be fair to BAS, you did indicate that your courses/'qualifications' rendered you 'competent'
If I did, then I hope (because it should have been what I meant) I was clear that after "competent" should be "in the eyes of my LABC".
I was responding to the OP, and hence to what he ("you" above) had written, not you.

Kind Regards, John
 

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