Green liquid coming from sockets

ban-all-sheds said:
Nice to see they got their priorities right - never mind the old and deteriorating wiring, let's put some shiny new sockets on... :roll:

Simon - do you have children, or are there ever any in the flat?

The substance (di-isoctyl phthalate) is not toxic, but IIRC it can cause upset stomachs if ingested, or irritation to the eyes. Basically if there are kids around it's not good stuff to have on their fingers
Click to expand...

Yes I thought the same thing about the shiny sockets!

Nah no kids, just the wife! :-)

Here's a photo of the fuse box:
http://dl.dropbox.com/0/view/xuyxd873a5zg3x5/Mobile Photo 12 Mar 2010 23 49 31.jpg

Foxtons are going to get a electrician out asap, although they need to check with the landlord first.

Hopefully it'll not need to be rewired just yet :-/
 
The landlords refusing to pay for an electrician to come out because apparently it was looked at 2 years ago and it was fine. We're pretty angry about this!! How often do you think it should be examined to make sure it's ok? Don't landlords have some kind of legal requirement here? :-/
 
I'm with Rob, that is as bad as i've seen, and yep that really is re-wire time.

What happens is that the plastisciser leaches out and eventually the insulation drys out cracks and creates shorts.

If your landlord is refusing to pay for an electrician to call round then you could get a reccommendation and ask an electrician to come round and survey the installation.

If I come across this I ALWAYS reccommend replacing the effected circuits (after IR testing).

The landlord should behaving the place checked every 10 years OR on change of occupancy, so you could ask to see his report done before YOU moved in!!!!

Yoiu could ask to see the GAS certificate at the same time!!!!!!
 
Generally test/inspections should be done every 10 years, or at the change of tenants, however they rarely are.

Unlike gas, there is no legal requirement for the electrical system to be inspected. However the landlord does have a duty to ensure that it is safe and fit for purpose.

If it was 'looked at' 2 years ago, the green slime would have been obvious then as well - this isn't something which suddenly happens, that has been building up for years.
The green slime can be cleaned off, but it will always return.

If it was inspected/tested 2 years ago, there should be a label on the fusebox stating the date. The landlord shouls also have the documents issued at the time, which will contain test results for the circuits and notes of any items which did not comply with BS7671 at the time. (There will be plenty of those, given the age of the installation).

Regardless of the test results, if I find green slime cables, I would always recommend a rewire of the affected circuit(s).
 
Thanks guys!

I've asked for the report from 2 years ago. So hopefully I'll soon find out what tests were done and what the results were. I might be asking for your advice again once I get it!

I don't think there's anything stuck on the fuse box from the tests before but I might be missing something. Should you be able to see it in the photo I posted before?

I think even if the report says everythings all safe and fine we may still get an electrician out, but we'll see.

Thanks again

Si
 
Landlord has already said he's had it checked and it's fine. what do you hope to achieve?
 
At the moment I only have the landlords word, via the foxtons property manager, that some tests of some sort were carried out and that it was all ok. I'm not particularly satisfied with this. I would like to know what tests were done and what the results of them were. If the report says something like it doesn't need checking again for 5 years, then that's fine and I'll be happy.
 
I'd wager that 'checked out' does not mean inspected and tested.

By the way, what you are after is paperwork from a Periodic Inspection Report (PIR). Also this is what you would want to be asking an electrician to do for you if you decide to get one yourself.
 
Well after asking for the report from 2 years ago, the landlord's now agreed to pay for an electrician to come round. My guess is that the landlord's lost the old report!
 

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