Contactum CU

[ban-all-sheds]

There's a red wire going to the earth bar! What is that all about?

And all of that earth sleeving looks green, not green & yellow.

And they changed a CU without testing.

And they didn't leave you a certificate (guess they couldn't if they didn't test).

So a number of wiring regulations have been broken, and I'll bet you'll find that they didn't notify LABC either.

Do you live in a flat or a house? I see no RCD....

BTW - DNO stands for Distribution Network Operator - the company that owns the cables on which the electricity runs, as opposed to the company that makes the electricity or the company that sells it to you or the company that reads the meter. DNOs used to be called RECs - Regional Electricity Companies. Apparently all this fragmentation is good for the customer.

 

[LesleyB]

Elecsa do insist that all work is certified (I am in ELECSA too) and also insist the job is done properly.
So good luck

Well I hope they do. I had a look at what the registration entails by downloading the Application Pack.

Now it's a single day assessmnet as you know, and on the day of assessment apparently you need to have the following documentation for Class A membership

BS7671, Electricity at Work, Approved Document P.

Knowledge of voltage, continuity, insulation resistance , Phase/earth Loop Impedance, External Earth Loop Impedance and RCD testing procedures and Elecsa will calibrate all equipment to be used in these tasks.

The bloke should also have copies of BS7671 issued in the last 12 months.

They should also be able to demonstrate full knowledge of the 16th Edition Wiring Regulations with the recognised C&G being 2380/2381.

The site visit appears to be of the applicant's choice.

Now it's one thing just to be in possession of a lot of paperwork, but another to be able to demonstrate the skill level while under assessment. But it is 'only' a one day affair. I say 'only' because I am sure it's hard work to get to the stage where one can apply for it and I am sure it is expensive especially if they offer a calibration service too.

If the assessment is done properly then the membership should be worth the paper it's written on.

There's another thing that bothers me about the install which I'll post about in a moment because I would like some answers to it.

 

[ebee]

Elecsa do insist that all work is certified (I am in ELECSA too) and also insist the job is done properly.
So good luck

Well I hope they do. I had a look at what the registration entails by downloading the Application Pack.

Now it's a single day assessmnet as you know, and on the day of assessment apparently you need to have the following documentation for Class A membership

BS7671, Electricity at Work, Approved Document P.

Knowledge of voltage, continuity, insulation resistance , Phase/earth Loop Impedance, External Earth Loop Impedance and RCD testing procedures and Elecsa will calibrate all equipment to be used in these tasks.

The bloke should also have copies of BS7671 issued in the last 12 months.

They should also be able to demonstrate full knowledge of the 16th Edition Wiring Regulations with the recognised C&G being 2380/2381.

The site visit appears to be of the applicant's choice.

Now it's one thing just to be in possession of a lot of paperwork, but another to be able to demonstrate the skill level while under assessment. But it is 'only' a one day affair. I say 'only' because I am sure it's hard work to get to the stage where one can apply for it and I am sure it is expensive especially if they offer a calibration service too.

If the assessment is done properly then the membership should be worth the paper it's written on.

There's another thing that bothers me about the install which I'll post about in a moment because I would like some answers to it.

No they do not calibrate the equipment for us they check to see that we have suitable calibration test certs in our possesion (not say 25years since last tested Ha Ha).
Also that we know how to use them correctly and have a host of suitable systems and procedures in place.

I believe all the schemes (including NICEIC) run broadly similar assessments etc but with some variations as well.

 

[LesleyB]

There's a red wire going to the earth bar! What is that all about?

And all of that earth sleeving looks green, not green & yellow.

And they changed a CU without testing.

And they didn't leave you a certificate (guess they couldn't if they didn't test).

So a number of wiring regulations have been broken, and I'll bet you'll find that they didn't notify LABC either.

Do you live in a flat or a house? I see no RCD....

BTW - DNO stands for Distribution Network Operator - the company that owns the cables on which the electricity runs, as opposed to the company that makes the electricity or the company that sells it to you or the company that reads the meter. DNOs used to be called RECs - Regional Electricity Companies. Apparently all this fragmentation is good for the customer.

Thanks for that info

Imageshack appears to be playing up a bit today as I've not been able to load the picture up but I have a local copy.

I have no clue why a live is taken down to the earth terminals but it gets a tad worse if you can count up the neutrals and the earths.

There are in total 9 neutral terminals and all are used. That count up includes the terminal from the mains supply. The right most is the busbar from the bottom of the isolator switch to the neutral terminal block.

Now, imho, the earthing terminal block connections are a bit of a mess.
There's been some knitting going on with the tails going to terminals 4 and 5 and terminals 6 and 7. There is bare conductor against insulator on terminals 4 and 5.

The wires going to the earth terminal block are all either green or green and red or red(one only). They didn't do any re-wiring just used the existing cabling coming into the building and the existing circuitry in the building.

Now if you count up the earthed terminals in use there are eight including the curious one doubled up with the red on the third terminal in from the left in that terminal block.

Now the red cable connected up to the earthing block is not of heavy current capability, it's single core and is likely to be for a door bell which I don't have connected up. I believe they may have tied the live cable down to earth to prevent any possiblility of that circuit being unearthed and coming up live by falling into a live connection at any time.

I have no clue of that is correct or reasonable practice and it still leaves me wondering about the neutral for that now unemployed circuit.

Now it depends on how you count up the terminations on the earth block.
If I count all the connected cables then I have 9 but this includes the red one which is presumably from what is meant to be the live side of a circuit somewhere in this flat and which has been tied down to earth.
Discount that red one and there are 8 connected earths plus the one at the second terminal in from the left hand side which is not connected.

I'm not a qualified domestic electrician so some of these comments may be inaccurate.

I understand electromagnetic field theory, magnetism and magnetic materials. I feel quite safe in an HV lab because while there are huge voltages about there is also massive amounts of protection and in the chambers themselves there's a really lovely stick called an earthing bar for added security should one need to attend to the equipment.

I'll post about another query I have with this install in a mo.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

right ... on with the query I have

These are the bits I understand about my CU.

The earth, live and neutral appear to come in from the external supply unit.
In the electricity board meter, there's a cover which can be opened by qualified electrical contractors and under that cover there is a switch so the whole consumer unit can be isolated from the mains supply.

The live and the neutral connect to one side of the isolator unit in the CU.
The earth connects to the earthing terminal block on top left of CU and earths to existing circuits run off that terminal block.

A copper busbar (sleeved in black to the right of the isolator unit) connects the neutral to the neutral terminal block and neutrals for existing circuits run off that.

Live feed to existing circuits run from the top of the MCB's. The live feed from the mains runs along a toothed copper busbar which also connects to the isolator unit thus providing a mains supply that can be isolated at the CU.

Now that all makes sense to me. A problem on a circuit and the MCB trips.

One thing that at first sight doesn't quite make sense is the tying down of an apparently live cable to earth.

Would this be safe? Are there circuits permissible in domestic arrangements which could be such that they have a live and an earth but no neutral? Bear in mind I have a doorbell system installed but it is not in use. There is no doorbell and hasn't been since a new door was fitted some time ago. It's a possible candidate for that live being tied down to earth and in my view that formally makes the circuit safe.

It also implies that if I want to install a door bell I'm going to have to get a 7way CU put in or in fact a 9 way unit with two isolators so that I can dispose of the fuse box that serves the night storage heater and the overnight immersion heater.

Now, during this week a bulb blew in the living room and it tripped the MCB on the lighting circuit. I am happy with that occurring.

When I went to reset the MCB it was the only MCB that had tripped.
All correct and dandy.

Now, I may be misinterpreting the cable layout here.

If you look at the live feed off the 20 A MCB you can quite clearly see that goes off into the flat. There's a number of live feeds running off the 32 A MCB to the right of the 20 A MCB. This 32 A MCB is the sockets circuitry.

Is it ok to have multiple cables running from the live side of the MCB like that?

I suspect there's a link between the 32 A socket MCB and the 6 A lighting MCB. I might be wrong here and that third live feed on the 32 A MCB is running off behind the 6A MCB, it's just very tight, but it looked and felt like a jumper to me and there is a live feed running from the 6A MCB off into the flat. It's difficult to see the tops of those MCB's tho.

Now, if it is a jumper, then what is the purpose of that? It's obviously (?) not bridging the two live feeds, because if it had been doing so and supplying live feed to the lighting circuits from a 32 amp MCB then my lights wouldn't have gone out when the 6 A MCB tripped when the bulb blew.

So I am unsure whether that wire is a jumper or going off into another circuit. Is there any reason there should be jumpers between MCB's on the live side?

Last but not least, if the wiring in the property doesn't pass tests, what do I have to do about it?

Regards

Lesley

___________________________________-

moderator

LesleyB please note 10a

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Now, imho, the earthing terminal block connections are a bit of a mess.
There's been some knitting going on with the tails going to terminals 4 and 5 and terminals 6 and 7. There is bare conductor against insulator on terminals 4 and 5.

Yes, it's not the neatest of jobs.

The wires going to the earth terminal block are all either green or green and red or red(one only). They didn't do any re-wiring just used the existing cabling coming into the building and the existing circuitry in the building.

It's only loose sleeving on the earths of twin&earth - they should have replaced it..

Now the red cable connected up to the earthing block is not of heavy current capability, it's single core and is likely to be for a door bell which I don't have connected up. I believe they may have tied the live cable down to earth to prevent any possiblility of that circuit being unearthed and coming up live by falling into a live connection at any time.

I have no clue of that is correct or reasonable practice and it still leaves me wondering about the neutral for that now unemployed circuit.

Yes it is good practice - my apologies - I'd forgotten you had an unused circuit....

Now it depends on how you count up the terminations on the earth block.
If I count all the connected cables then I have 9 but this includes the red one which is presumably from what is meant to be the live side of a circuit somewhere in this flat and which has been tied down to earth.
Discount that red one and there are 8 connected earths plus the one at the second terminal in from the left hand side which is not connected.

Basically you should have the same number of red, black and g/y (or in your case green). Green/red is not a recognised colour combination. That loose earth should be connected - nothing good can ever come from not connecting an earth...

 

[LesleyB]

Elecsa do insist that all work is certified (I am in ELECSA too) and also insist the job is done properly.
So good luck

<snip>

There's another thing that bothers me about the install which I'll post about in a moment because I would like some answers to it.

No they do not calibrate the equipment for us they check to see that we have suitable calibration test certs in our possesion (not say 25years since last tested Ha Ha).
Also that we know how to use them correctly and have a host of suitable systems and procedures in place.

I believe all the schemes (including NICEIC) run broadly similar assessments etc but with some variations as well.

Ooops misread that bit re the calibration. Yep and there is other stuff too, which I should have pointed out I hadn't mentioned.

I'm sure these schemes cost a bit tho.

 

[ebee]

Lesley.
Yes the scheme cost a bit too

before part P was implemented odpm decided it would cost each sparks circa £500 over 5 years so no need to pass on great costs to consumer.
£500/5 years OH I WISH it was only 10 times that

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The live and the neutral connect to one side of the isolator unit in the CU.
The earth connects to the earthing terminal block on top left of CU and earths to existing circuits run off that terminal block.

A copper busbar (sleeved in black to the right of the isolator unit) connects the neutral to the neutral terminal block and neutrals for existing circuits run off that.

It's usually a thick cable rather than a busbar, but I'm not familiar with that CU.

Live feed to existing circuits run from the top of the MCB's. The live feed from the mains runs along a toothed copper busbar which also connects to the isolator unit thus providing a mains supply that can be isolated at the CU.

Yup.

One thing that at first sight doesn't quite make sense is the tying down of an apparently live cable to earth.

Would this be safe? Are there circuits permissible in domestic arrangements which could be such that they have a live and an earth but no neutral? Bear in mind I have a doorbell system installed but it is not in use. There is no doorbell and hasn't been since a new door was fitted some time ago. It's a possible candidate for that live being tied down to earth and in my view that formally makes the circuit safe.

As said, yes, it's good practice.

It also implies that if I want to install a door bell I'm going to have to get a 7way CU put in

It'd be easier to spur off a convenient socket to supply a wall mounted bell transformer....

or in fact a 9 way unit with two isolators so that I can dispose of the fuse box that serves the night storage heater and the overnight immersion heater.

Do you want to? Do you have 2 meters or one? What type of cheap-rate tariff system are you on?

Now, during this week a bulb blew in the living room and it tripped the MCB on the lighting circuit. I am happy with that occurring.

Good - it will happen a lot...

If you look at the live feed off the 20 A MCB you can quite clearly see that goes off into the flat. There's a number of live feeds running off the 32 A MCB to the right of the 20 A MCB. This 32 A MCB is the sockets circuitry.

Is it ok to have multiple cables running from the live side of the MCB like that?

It's OK. Perfectly safe, but technically infringes one of the wiring regs, as separate circuits are supposed to be on separate MCBs. I can see 3 cables, one thicker than the other, my guess is that you've got a ring final wired in 2.5mm² and a 4mm² radial, so no worries.

I suspect there's a link between the 32 A socket MCB and the 6 A lighting MCB. I might be wrong here and that third live feed on the 32 A MCB is running off behind the 6A MCB, it's just very tight, but it looked and felt like a jumper to me and there is a live feed running from the 6A MCB off into the flat. It's difficult to see the tops of those MCB's tho.

Now, if it is a jumper, then what is the purpose of that? It's obviously (?) not bridging the two live feeds, because if it had been doing so and supplying live feed to the lighting circuits from a 32 amp MCB then my lights wouldn't have gone out when the 6 A MCB tripped when the bulb blew.

So I am unsure whether that wire is a jumper or going off into another circuit. Is there any reason there should be jumpers between MCB's on the live side?

No - that would be a very Bad Thing™, but as you say the lights go out when the 6A MCB trips, so there can't be a link - it's just tight, and you can't get get a good view.

Last but not least, if the wiring in the property doesn't pass tests, what do I have to do about it?

Depends entirely on which tests, and to what extent, it fails...

 

[LesleyB]

Lesley.
Yes the scheme cost a bit too

before part P was implemented odpm decided it would cost each sparks circa £500 over 5 years so no need to pass on great costs to consumer.
£500/5 years OH I WISH it was only 10 times that

I'm all for decent assessments. I don't think price should come into it.

If the assessment can be done in a proper manner for £500 a head then that is OK by me to be honest.

But then you do get what you pay for and a one day assessment with an inspection of an installation of the applicant's choosing makes me wonder of the entire value of it.

I can appreciate that it's hard to get everything absolutely spot on and by the book in every installation because of the variety of practical factors one is presented with. I do feel a one day assessment meant to last five years must be a bit weak by the end of the first year or so. No disprespect intended to you or anyone else with membership to said sheme. Don't Corgi gas engineers have to update annually? Is there nothing similar for domestic electricians?

A question here: when it comes to all these trade qualifications and membership schemes, if it's a company advertising they have this level of competence, do all employees of the company have to come up to that standard or can they claim the competence if the skills are spread across employees?

 

[ebee]

Lesley.
Yes the scheme cost a bit too

before part P was implemented odpm decided it would cost each sparks circa £500 over 5 years so no need to pass on great costs to consumer.
£500/5 years OH I WISH it was only 10 times that

I'm all for decent assessments. I don't think price should come into it.

If the assessment can be done in a proper manner for £500 a head then that is OK by me to be honest.

But then you do get what you pay for and a one day assessment with an inspection of an installation of the applicant's choosing makes me wonder of the entire value of it.

I can appreciate that it's hard to get everything absolutely spot on and by the book in every installation because of the variety of practical factors one is presented with. I do feel a one day assessment meant to last five years must be a bit weak by the end of the first year or so. No disprespect intended to you or anyone else with membership to said sheme. Don't Corgi gas engineers have to update annually? Is there nothing similar for domestic electricians?

A question here: when it comes to all these trade qualifications and membership schemes, if it's a company advertising they have this level of competence, do all employees of the company have to come up to that standard or can they claim the competence if the skills are spread across employees?

No assessment and fees is every year plus all the other added costs per year

 

[LesleyB]

The live and the neutral connect to one side of the isolator unit in the CU.
The earth connects to the earthing terminal block on top left of CU and earths to existing circuits run off that terminal block.

A copper busbar (sleeved in black to the right of the isolator unit) connects the neutral to the neutral terminal block and neutrals for existing circuits run off that.

It's usually a thick cable rather than a busbar, but I'm not familiar with that CU.

It might be a piece of very thick cable. It is round but it's single core and it's definitely copper.

Live feed to existing circuits run from the top of the MCB's. The live feed from the mains runs along a toothed copper busbar which also connects to the isolator unit thus providing a mains supply that can be isolated at the CU.

Yup.

One thing that at first sight doesn't quite make sense is the tying down of an apparently live cable to earth.

Would this be safe? Are there circuits permissible in domestic arrangements which could be such that they have a live and an earth but no neutral? Bear in mind I have a doorbell system installed but it is not in use. There is no doorbell and hasn't been since a new door was fitted some time ago. It's a possible candidate for that live being tied down to earth and in my view that formally makes the circuit safe.

As said, yes, it's good practice.

Good am happy with that

It also implies that if I want to install a door bell I'm going to have to get a 7way CU put in

It'd be easier to spur off a convenient socket to supply a wall mounted bell transformer....

Thanks for the right words to describe the unit I was struggling a bit there . There are no convenient sockets in the hallway where this unit is mounted.

or in fact a 9 way unit with two isolators so that I can dispose of the fuse box that serves the night storage heater and the overnight immersion heater.

Do you want to? Do you have 2 meters or one? What type of cheap-rate tariff system are you on?

I have Economy 7. I need it. The flat is all electric and I have one huge Creda Comfortaire storage heater (it's in it's own cupboard and is about 6ft tall). It costs a small fortune to run up when winter starts but slows down to about 30 units a night after about three nights. Depends how much I use the warm air circulation system to take heat off it tho. FWIW I have tripped the MCB for that circulation system so that it doesn't kick in with the temperature dropping at night.

I also have a large water tank with two immersion heaters, one at the top for spot heating and one at the bottom which only runs at night and heats the whole tank. The tank is about five foot tall.

Now, during this week a bulb blew in the living room and it tripped the MCB on the lighting circuit. I am happy with that occurring.

Good - it will happen a lot...

If you look at the live feed off the 20 A MCB you can quite clearly see that goes off into the flat. There's a number of live feeds running off the 32 A MCB to the right of the 20 A MCB. This 32 A MCB is the sockets circuitry.

Is it ok to have multiple cables running from the live side of the MCB like that?

It's OK. Perfectly safe, but technically infringes one of the wiring regs, as separate circuits are supposed to be on separate MCBs. I can see 3 cables, one thicker than the other, my guess is that you've got a ring final wired in 2.5mm² and a 4mm² radial, so no worries.

Well, so long as it's safe. I have no clue how one would properly terminate such a setup, Should they all have their own MCB?

I suspect there's a link between the 32 A socket MCB and the 6 A lighting MCB. I might be wrong here and that third live feed on the 32 A MCB is running off behind the 6A MCB, it's just very tight, but it looked and felt like a jumper to me and there is a live feed running from the 6A MCB off into the flat. It's difficult to see the tops of those MCB's tho.

Now, if it is a jumper, then what is the purpose of that? It's obviously (?) not bridging the two live feeds, because if it had been doing so and supplying live feed to the lighting circuits from a 32 amp MCB then my lights wouldn't have gone out when the 6 A MCB tripped when the bulb blew.

So I am unsure whether that wire is a jumper or going off into another circuit. Is there any reason there should be jumpers between MCB's on the live side?

No - that would be a very Bad Thing™, but as you say the lights go out when the 6A MCB trips, so there can't be a link - it's just tight, and you can't get get a good view.

Good.

Last but not least, if the wiring in the property doesn't pass tests, what do I have to do about it?

Depends entirely on which tests, and to what extent, it fails...

OK. I'll re-request a test when they come round on Tuesday. If the wiring fails then I want to know where it fails and why so that I can plan the appropriate action.

Thank you all for your help on this

Lesley

 

[andy]

OK. I'll re-request a test when they come round on Tuesday. If the wiring fails then I want to know where it fails and why so that I can plan the appropriate action.

Thank you all for your help on this

Lesley

they should do a PIR, which should have been done before. they will leave this with you and all faults will be shown on that

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Lesley.
Yes the scheme cost a bit too

before part P was implemented odpm decided it would cost each sparks circa £500 over 5 years so no need to pass on great costs to consumer.
£500/5 years OH I WISH it was only 10 times that

Oh be fair - it is not £1K p.a.....

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm all for decent assessments. I don't think price should come into it.

This is not the time to pick at this festering sore once more, but the Part P competent person scheme was not designed to improve standards, dissuade cowboys or help the consumer...

Don't Corgi gas engineers have to update annually? Is there nothing similar for domestic electricians?

No, and whats worse...:

A question here: when it comes to all these trade qualifications and membership schemes, if it's a company advertising they have this level of competence, do all employees of the company have to come up to that standard or can they claim the competence if the skills are spread across employees?

I don't know what ratio is allowed, but with some of the schemes, e.g. NICIEC (but there could be others) a company can be registered on the basis of one qualified and assessed supervisor to a number of dribbling knuckle-draggers.

Edited for typos

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

they should do a PIR, which should have been done before. they will leave this with you and all faults will be shown on that

When the CU was being replaced, the full CRIPPLE set should have been done..

 

[ebee]

Lesley.
Yes the scheme cost a bit too

before part P was implemented odpm decided it would cost each sparks circa £500 over 5 years so no need to pass on great costs to consumer.
£500/5 years OH I WISH it was only 10 times that

Oh be fair - it is not £1K p.a.....

BAN

I know its opening up old wounds but yes realistically probably is about £1K a year in real times depending on your viewpoint.

OK some have stated public liabillity ins as one cost but I say as we should have it anyway you can not count that (I upgraded from £1M to 2M several years ago at a difference of £12/year preminum).
Regs and other things well to some extent I suppose - example had a Yelow book since it came out then added ammendments but I got a Brown one now. Same with onsite and the guidance notes so I think it`s fair to count then at least in part.
Elect at work & mem of guidance dito.
Quallity Assured national warranties ins no I did not have that before.
Risk assessement on EVERY JOB - did it in my head before now got to do it on paper.
Cert all jobs even changing a switch (Minor works) well even I admit that have not always done them in the past (Nor most NIC leckys methinks)
Registering jobs - the fee itself plus time doing it.
2381/2391 courses/exams both the fees & time spent doing it. Ok know you should be upgrading regularly but how often.
NAPIT I believe stipulate 3 years others say providing to 16th OK but I think probably say 5 or less years.
Test meter updates/recalibrating OK I know we should have then anyway but how many of us have been using the same equipment for years until it packs up. So some cost there is fair?
OK difficult to put a defining figure on it all but I would say £500/year is too low and £1000/year MIGHT be a more realistic figure taking all fair thinks into account.

At least NAPIT insist on all employees must have "A good Grasp" The NIC & others do not and I think NAPIT is rightin that respect. In fact I know of one NIC firm employing non 2381/91 chaps to do masses of Periodics and the qualifying supervisor fills the sheets in. END result well guess! PATHETIC. and the NIC does not seem to mind so I am told by another NIC friend of mine who mentioned it to his assessor. In fact I think it`s a bluming scandal.

PS did you read my entry BAN ALL SHEDS - they moved it to general chat - I had you in mind when I entered it, I thought it would tickle you.

Cheers Ebee

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I know its opening up old wounds but yes realistically probably is about £1K a year in real times depending on your viewpoint.

Or depending on how keen you were to do things properly before?

OK some have stated public liabillity ins as one cost but I say as we should have it anyway you can not count that (I upgraded from £1M to 2M several years ago at a difference of £12/year preminum).

No - you're right - you can't count that.

Regs and other things well to some extent I suppose - example had a Yelow book since it came out then added ammendments but I got a Brown one now. Same with onsite and the guidance notes so I think it`s fair to count then at least in part.
Elect at work & mem of guidance dito.

You should have them anyway. Old ones with amendments applied are perfectly OK. I think it is wrong for NICEIC (dunno about the others) to force you to buy new ones even if you already have them, so I'll let you count the cost of them, but only in the first year - they don't make you buy them again. Still - I picked up a bargain regs, GN3 & EAWR memo on eBay from someone selling his surplus copies, so it's not all bad....

Quallity Assured national warranties ins no I did not have that before.

An interesting point. I think any customer who goes with any tradesman who doesn't offer an insurance backed warranty needs his head examined, but it ought to be consumer choice - caveat emptor and all that, and therefore tradesman's choice. OOI, what are the premiums, and do they come after you for recompense if they have to pay out?

Do you also have PII?

Risk assessement on EVERY JOB - did it in my head before now got to do it on paper.

Is that really required for house-bashing? Does it take a long time?

Cert all jobs even changing a switch (Minor works) well even I admit that have not always done them in the past (Nor most NIC leckys methinks)

Well - you know that you should really have been doing that all along, don't you..

Registering jobs - the fee itself plus time doing it.

How much is the fee? How many notifiable jobs do you do in a year?

2381/2391 courses/exams both the fees & time spent doing it. Ok know you should be upgrading regularly but how often.
NAPIT I believe stipulate 3 years others say providing to 16th OK but I think probably say 5 or less years.

Well - you know that you should really have been keeping up to date all along, don't you, but there's a big difference between doing that and voluntarily retake your exams every few years, something I doubt that even the most conscientious electricians used to do, so you can have ¹/3rd of the cost & time of those per year. If you're genuinely skilled than you'd need no time to prepare, just a day off for the exam.

Test meter updates/recalibrating OK I know we should have then anyway but how many of us have been using the same equipment for years until it packs up. So some cost there is fair?

No - you know that you should have been doing that all along, don't you.

OK difficult to put a defining figure on it all but I would say £500/year is too low and £1000/year MIGHT be a more realistic figure taking all fair thinks into account.

Take out all of the things a conscientious professional should have been doing anyway, and I'll bet it's closer to the former?