Complete rewire what can be done before hand to save money

[Alter8]

Hi,

First post here, I have been reading some of the old topics some have been very useful ones.

I'm looking into buying a house that needs a complete overhaul it still has the old ceramic fuses so I'll be looking into swapping the consumer unit for a MCB type too.

The propery is a doma bungalow with

downstairs

kitchen
living room
bed room
small bed room

upstairs

one meduim sized bed room
small storage room

I'll probably look at getting one of these brands CU possibly with 12 mcb (overkill)

Crabtree or Wylex

I stole this from another post
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1275403#1275403


I'm planning separate circuits for:

32a 2.5mm Kitchen ring (& an IP56 outdoor socket)
16a 2.5mm Radial for appliances (but thinking a 32a ring would be more sensible)
32a 2.5mm Living Room ring (basically a downstairs circuit minus the kitchen / dining room)
32a 2.5mm Upstairs ring
6a 1mm Downstairs Lights
6a 1mm Upstairs Lights
40a 10mm Shower

Does that sound like an average install?

What would smoke alarms use?

I would also like to consider a smaller CU for the garage I'll no doubt be running power tools and an air compressor & welder.

I will at some point get a qualified spark in but what I would like to know is what can I do to help keep the costs down?

I'm more than happy to cut the cable runs in the walls and the plug sockets out, I have just bought a copy of the 17th regs book to give me a better idea of what's needed to be done.

Can I run the cables from place to place and then get a spark in to wire in the rest?

I haven't bought the house yet so this is why I haven't approached for quotes yet. I would also like have the house in a condition where its ready for the spark to walk in and start working. Ie no floor boards and sockets cut out ready.


Any advice will be great,
Thanks
Craig

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'll probably look at getting one of these brands CU possibly with 12 mcb (overkill)

Crabtree or Wylex

It will be cheaper to have your electrician supply it.

Does that sound like an average install?

Have what you want, not what you consider to be an average install. You don't have to choose only between 32A rings/16A radials, mainly because

a) there are cable sizes other than 2.5mm² and
b) the relationship between a ring and a radial capacity using 2.5mm² cable is not 2:1

both of which seem beyond the ken of the clown who came up with that list of circuits.

What would smoke alarms use?

What the person signing to say he did the design, i.e. your electrician, thinks they will use.

I would also like to consider a smaller CU for the garage I'll no doubt be running power tools and an air compressor & welder.

Fine - your electrician can take care of that too.

I will at some point get a qualified spark in

That point is NOW.

but what I would like to know is what can I do to help keep the costs down?

Only what your electrician is happy for you to do, and only where and how he tells you to do it.

He'll have to issue a certificate to say that he was responsible for all of the design and installation work, and he'll have to notify the council that what he did complied with the building regulations.

You cannot forge ahead and expect to present him with a fait accompli to take responsibility for.

I'm more than happy to cut the cable runs in the walls and the plug sockets out, I have just bought a copy of the 17th regs book to give me a better idea of what's needed to be done.

You'd have been better off with the OSG and EGTTBR (#5 & #6 here: //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:books)

Can I run the cables from place to place and then get a spark in to wire in the rest?

Only if you get his agreement beforehand, and you do it under his supervision and direction.

I haven't bought the house yet so this is why I haven't approached for quotes yet.

People can't quote for it if they can't see it.

Any advice will be great,

Find your electrician first.

 

[wingcoax]

As BAS says, talk to your electrician. He will tell you what you can/can't do to make life easy. He may want you to do all the donkey work, e.g. cut all the chasings and drill all the holes, OR he may want you to keep your hands off.

 

[studips]

if he is anything like my spark. he was was happy with me:

supplying cable, switches (these are crap he commented), main board (where'd you find this piece of junk), cable (you save time using decent materials you know) the list goes on (a lot of agg and i wish i had just got him to order it all, as i doubt i saved a lot of money and i casused him a fair bit of agg)

doing all the chasing and lifting of boards (that worked ok, but to be fair he had a few good ideas of layout etc that i hadn't thought of)

making good - he doesn't like doing that either

and i got a lad to labour for him for the 2 days, which speeded the whole process up (the spark even gave him £25 at the end of the day, so the lad must have been of some use)

but, he's one of my best mates, so i guess he gave me a lot of latitude.

 

[chappers]

I,m sure many sparks would be happy to just say get cabels from A to B by any means.But a decent sparks will want to make sure that cabels are installed safely eg not too many cabels wedged through holes in joists etc
Some sparks are very fussy about the neatness of their cable runs etc, however I'm sure most sparks would be elated to turn up and find all the walls chased and back boxes fixed.
You need to speak to your sparks and find out what he's happy for you to do you might be better off working as his labourer and working under his instruction

 

[1john]

You have based you whole installation on the breakers you get with a 'deal' consumer unit made by a company who managed to produce faulty MCB's for two years! I think you are crazy.

You should leave the designing of circuits up to the electrician, access and the construction of your home may make it far quicker to install radials than ring final circuits, installation methods may require that 4.0mm or 6.0mm cable is required if you want a ring final circuit anywhere.

Personally I would be put off of quoting if I turned up to a job and had a spec like yours from a home owner, especially when they are trying to supply a consumer unit too. Any spark in the game can get a consumer unit for less than screwfix, infact I think that if you are registered with the competent persons scheme you can use electic-fix or something and get discount from screw-fix. I have a card for it here but have never used it as wholesalers have better prices.

 

[timtheenchanter]

juas an offside, if YOU supply the materials, the spark will only be guaranteeing HIS work, if a component fails (and they do) you will have to pay him to come and replace it, and the cost of the replacemtn part, you would then have to sort out refunds for the faulty components.

if the spark supplies the parts, he will also cover those, its up to them to come sort the problem out, FOC to you, and they then have to recover costs etc...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And of course he'd be a fool, and soon bankrupt, if he did not increase his labour costs to make up any shortfall from materials markup.

 

[ajrobb]

You asked about 'average' installation but I notice you have not allowed for the option of electric cookers. Electric hobs often need 32A and double ovens often need 16A.