Confused by new kitchen lights

[Murdochcat]

I'd get the electrician back, when he comes back tell him you want a new switch aswell, looking a bit old that one for a new job?

Is the Only suggestion that makes sense - assuming there is a spark involved

OP - what paperwork did the spark give you?

 

[FrodoOne]

I was left with cable sticking out the walls where lights were intended to go. The plan being I’d connect up the lights once we’d settled on what we wanted.

Why it wasn’t connected up at the switch I don’t know. I can only assume so as not to leave live wires sticking out the wall??

Question, "Cable sticking out of the walls" ?
Was there One Cable
or
more than One?

If it was intended that the NEW wiring - on the Left switch in the photo in Post #1 - was to operate these "Lights",
it seems that the wiring shown "expects" that the Brown insulated conductor will be the LINE,
to "feed" 230 V to the Common of the switch and the Blue insulated conductor
(not otherwise designated)
will be the Switched-Line to the Lights - on L1.

At the Lights, it would then be necessary that there would be a Line and a Neutral - from another Cable (!) - to supply the Line to the Switch Loop
and
to provide the Neutral for the Lights.

 

[ericmark]

I was left with cable sticking out the walls where lights were intended to go. The plan being I’d connect up the lights once we’d settled on what we wanted.

Why it wasn’t connected up at the switch I don’t know. I can only assume so as not to leave live wires sticking out the wall??

If I was leaving wire sticking out of the walls, they would not be live, assuming wired back to some junction box, ceiling rose, or consumer unit, I would not have made the final connection until the lights were fitted.

I could not test to find loop impedance etc, as no power, so would assume I would be returning to finish off the work, and so would likely not complete the paperwork. As simply, the job is not finished.

This has caused problems in the past, I know my son when waiting to complete a job, separated from his wife, and went to live in a narrow boat, and his mobile was not always charged, and he stopped being a sole trader and went cards in, so completing jobs was not easy, we never plan for such things, but it happens.

However, I am sure any electrician could work out what has been done, the problem is the raising of paperwork on completion, but getting it working should not be a problem.

Even with large firms swapping electricians can be a problem, I remember doing a second fix, and no continuity on the ring final, it was one house of an estate, so looked in another house, and realised the plasterer had plastered over one socket, a hammer through the plaster soon found it, although left the plasterer with some work to do. Next time, he will not plaster over a socket.

But unless it is made clear he is not returning to finish the job, I would not expect the electrician to tell you where it is isolated.

 

[ebee]

I remember doing a second fix, and no continuity on the ring final, it was one house of an estate, so looked in another house, and realised the plasterer had plastered over one socket, a hammer through the plaster soon found it, although left the plasterer with some work to do. Next time, he will not plaster over a socket.

Aint that the truth Eric.
Similarly, a few years back, I was running a few rewires/alterations/ additions etc.
This particular time running no less than 12 of them and various other trades involved (mostly from one main contractor) and kept getting told to "break off that one, we want to get XXX in, get onto this one, the others have pulled away for now".
But you get to the stage where almost nobody wants you anywhere for a week or two then suddenly everybody wants you at once, cos you holding the job up. You can not win, you can not even draw. It`s impossible.
All the jobs were different mainly too.
Anyway, one day I managed to get in to do the final fix on one. Wow. Miracle!
A plumber type was hanging radiators.
I looked at one radiator and thought "I am sure I but cable and box for a socket right behind where that radiator has now been fixed".
Consulted plumber - no radiator there.
Undetered I got my cheapo metal detector out. Checked vertical and horizontal and marked a big square using the beeps. Marked a big X corner to corner bashed in and nearly 3 inch down found the box with 2.5 curled up inside. Bingo.

Apparently when it all came out, the main builder had told me to make the boxes plenty deep at first fix because they did not now how much plaster they`d be adding due to modifying walls so I put them deep enough for any modification finally selected.

The first plasterer had done the first deep coat, half way and left it to dry (leaving the witness hole hole out of position and very tiny). A second plasterer had done similar on top with hole tiny and out of position with the first hole. Then a third plaster came along for the finish coat, saw a tiny blemish hole and finish plastered over the hole. Result - flat wall with no socket boxes on it then the plumber decided it was an easier wall to run a radiator than originally planned, so stuck his radiator on it.

all working a tested thanks to me remembering what went where on a number of jobs.

Plasterers do have a tendency to fill in a box almost and leave the witness hole half in and half out of the box, I think it is a national pastime, if you do not tell them not to bother cleaning out the box before the plaster sets you find large areas outside the box areas not covered and big chamfers everywhere on some!