How likely?The most serious widespread defect likely to be found is no earth to lighting circuits.
How likely?The most serious widespread defect likely to be found is no earth to lighting circuits.
MEM?Also avoid cheap CUs with three letter names such as mcg, cgd, ced etc.
How likely?The most serious widespread defect likely to be found is no earth to lighting circuits.
On the PIR, if a PIR concludes that any rewiring is needed does this act as a legal block on continued use as a failed GasSafe check would, or is it up to the customer to choose when to rewire?
You appear to have re-posted the photo of the gas set-up!Here is aphoto of the earthing at the water inlet / stopcock. The cabling heads down below the bottom shelf in the unit so can't see where the other end attaches. Oh, and the stopcock will soon be replaced with a plastic push button type valve.
Can't tell from any of those photos. You'd have to look inside an accessory (switch, ceiling rose etc.) of the lighting circuit, or the CU (heeding previous warnings), to determine that.One other thing, do the images I posted earlier suggest the lighting circuits are earthed (my guess) or are not earthed?
No matter how long or difficult the route, the bonding of the water pipe must go from the water pipe "as close as practicable to where it enters the premises" to the "Main Earthing Terminal" (and your CU is seemingly being used as that, which is quite common and acceptable)The bonding to the water pipes is in the kitchen, so won't be going to the CU. There is a tap in the garage that would be 1.5-2m cable distance away from the CU though, so should the bonding to water pipes be there instead?
That's obviously 'a matter of opinion' (hence the change in regulations over time, despite physics not having changed!), but I think that most people would feel that, with a PME earthing system, you really should have at least 10mm² main bonding cables. I doubt that many electricians would be happy to, say, change the CU without ensuring that the bonding was up to that standard (and also that the main earth connection from supply to CU was of adequate size).I know concepts of what is and isn't safe change over time, but is there any particular reason cables now need to be at least 10mm2 but didn't back in the early 70s?
Possibly - although it may well be a 'mess' inside there, and difficult to tell from a photo. It would probably be easier (and safer) to look behind one of the light switches, or in a light fitting, and see if the cable has an earth. I personally would not advise you to open the CU, since there are multiple potential hazards, if one is not familiar with the innards of such things. Whether you really need to do all this investigating yourself is a different matter - you really need to get an electrician to look at (and test) the whole installation in order to determine what the full situation actually is.So, if I take the fuse box cover off when I get a chance this evening (hopefully), take a snap and post it here, hopefully that will clarify the lighting circuit earthing?
The 'pulling through' might work - but there is no way of knowing without trying. As you say, it depends upon things such as 'tight corners' and, of course, whether the cable has been clipped anywhere!Ah . Well, that presumably makes replacing the CU a significantly more involved task then, given that the kitchen and garage are at opposite sides of the house. I wonder whether a 10mm2 cross section cable could be attached to the CU end and then pulled through from the sink end. I've pulled cabling through ducts before but not over this distance and not when there are probably some tight corners and it might alreayd be 'cosy'. If not I guess it's a floorboards up or cut into the walls job, depending on where the ducting is.
No, you're not correct in that assumption Routing of the bonding cable on the outside of the house can be acceptable, provided it is installed in a manner which minimises the chances of mechanical damage (as low as the dpc might be considered by some to be a bit iffy in that respect).Something else occured to me. Am I correct in assuming the bonding needs to be routed within the house (ie that a route around the outside of the house, at something like dpc level, would not be acceptable)?
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