EICR Failed - Is the electrician trying to make more work ?

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I have a small three bed house which I used to live in but is now rented out to tenant who have been there for three years without any problems

I have to get an EICR and the electrician has told me the whole fuse board needs replacing despite there not being any problems - I dont have any explanation for why that is the case but from the picture of the fuse board do you think the fuse board really needs replacing? I think the RCDs are missing and if that is the case is it automatically failed

IMG_20210226_163241.jpg
 

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Small 3 bed house... with 14 circuits? Wow.

There is no RCD protection and cover missing just for starters. I'd say his assessment may be correct.


Additionally nothing's labelled which hints at a non professional quality installation and makes one wonder what else is not top notch.
 
I think the RCDs are missing and if that is the case is it automatically failed
That is certainly a problem. RCDs are required for almost all circuits now.
They have been required for socket outlets likely to be used for items outside for 30 years.

I dont have any explanation for why
The EICR will contain all of the details as to what does and doesn't comply.
Post a photo or scan of it here if you don't understand what it means. (Blank out any details such as name/address/etc)
 
Many thanks for your help! The EICR has not been issued - He said in order to pass the whole board needs to be replaced. Are the RCDs really missing and can they be retrofitted ? Seems a shame to spend £300 on a fuse board update

The current board is less then 10 years old as well - I dont know when it was installed but around 2010 if memory is correct
 
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The EICR has not been issued - He said in order to pass the whole board needs to be replaced
An EICR is a report on the condition of the electrical installation. Whether it is a 'pass' or not is irrelevant - if you have paid for it, you need to have the document.

If repairs/alterations or whatever else are required, you can then obtain quotes for whatever work is required. That can be from the person doing the EICR, or from anyone else.

The current board is less then 10 years old a
That is more like 20+ years old, more recent Hager MCBs have grey levers. In any case, it didn't comply when installed, and it certainly doesn't comply now.
£300 is excessively cheap for a consumer unit of that size, however that assumes all of those devices are actually in use. The EICR will confirm exactly what circuit(s) are there and what is required.
 
@flameport is correct, and this is some thing a few people have referred to, if as it seems it has never complied can you go back to whoever fitted it?

Today we have RCBO's so likely other than missing lid does not need a new consumer unit. But the box plus a surge protection unit for a cheap make around £90 and £18.60 for each RCBO, but Hager RCBO around £24 and the SPU £126 plus of course a box for the SPU as not enough room in the existing consumer unit. So parts to keep to Hager will cost over £112 more than complete new box. So big question is it worth keeping the old box?

The wiring regulations are not retrospective, but it seems it has never complied so you can forget that.

So the question is if it is likely to become dangerous? This is not so cut and dried, however first thing I did with this house was put in RCD protection, so can't really say if there was a potential danger, but when the roof leaked it did trip so yes it could have caused a fire without the protection, so can't really say the inspector is wrong.

So what is more to the point is what to spend out, on this forum you will see debates between RCBO's and RCD's plus MCB's. The RCBO is less likely to nuisance trip, and if it does trip less likely to require emergency attention to correct, so electrician Monday morning not Sunday at 9 pm, so can cost less in the long run, specially if you add a freezer full of food, but some say they have never had it trip. And it is over 30 years, so once every 10 years.

Putting just the freezer circuit on a RCBO could be enough, or maybe freezer and the lights, so may be 5 MCB's on each RCD and 4 RCBO's but then looking at 22 module wide instead of 18 module wide for RCD instead of all RCBO's. But this is what you need to consider, you need a new CU that's the simple bit, but what new CU and can you claim from person who fitted last one?
 
The first stage is to get the EICR from the guy who did the test, as flameport says, its a report that you have paid for and while we know its going to be of an unsatsifactory outcome, you really need the report to continue further. He may have held off closing off the job and issuing the paperwork because he thinks you might want remedial works done before the job is closed off so it can be issued as satisfactory, if that is the case, and you think there is still a chance you might want this guy to do that (as opposed to taking yoru unsatsifactory report and having someone else do remedial works) then you can always ask for a draft copy of the report if he is being funny about it. (There should not be a problem in reality with him giving you your unsatsifactory report now, as final copy, then if he does remedial works, an installation cert for those, and a covering letter to say all issues have been addressed.... but some don't like to work that way)

Once you have the report, post it here (all pages) after covering up any details of your property and the guy who did the test.
 
Small 3 bed house... with 14 circuits? Wow. There is no RCD protection and cover missing just for starters. I'd say his assessment may be correct.
If it really is 'missing' (i.e. not available for replacement), the cover is presumably not a major issue.

With so many apparent circuits (at least, MCBs) for a small house, there presumably scope for combining some circuits and installing a couple of RCDs and/or replacing some/most/all of the MCBs with RCBOs - but whether that would be cost-effective is perhaps a different matter.
Additionally nothing's labelled which hints at a non professional quality installation and makes one wonder what else is not top notch.
True, but I suspect that 'top notch' is not necessarily what the OP is aiming for.

Kind Regards, John
 
This house is a three bed semi detached house let to one family - There is nothing dodgy at all

What I am asking is:

1) Is this really 20 years old - I remember having it replaced in 2010 but I could be wrong
2) Is it possible to "fix" this or does it need replacing with a new board?
 
1) Is this really 20 years old - I remember having it replaced in 2010 but I could be wrong
Even if your memory is correct, flameport was commenting on the age of the board design, and he can't know when it was installed. Both suppliers and electricians often have 'old stock' (usually sold off cheap) - so, and particularly if the previous replacement was done on a 'budget' basis, it's far from impossible that a board was used which was 'old', even when installed.
2) Is it possible to "fix" this or does it need replacing with a new board?
As I wrote in post #8, it may well be theoretically possible to "fix" it, but whether or not that would be cheaper to get a new board is more questionable. A lot would probably depend on what you wanted of a new board (or a 'fixed' one) - whether 'just enough' to satisfy an EICR now, or whether fully 'up to current requirements' and/or 'high spec' (and 'high quality'). [there are certainly some aspects of 'not up to current standards' which should not result in 'failing' an EICR].

Kind Regards, John
 
If that was installed in 2010 it was old stock.

New Hager RCBOs will fit into that consumer unit, but there is no point - most of the parts cost of a consumer unit is the devices in it, the rest is just an empty box.
 

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