Electric safety certificate

[h1spm]

I wonder if anybody can confirm if this is correct...

A friend is looking at renting out a domestic property and has been told that he needs to get a electric safety certificate - presumably a landlords certificate.

He therefore got an electrician to carry out a check, and was told the following.

The wiring is 30-40 years old but the consumer unit is virtually new.

This is the but he can't understand, the electrician has told him he cannot pass the electrics because of the new consumer unit, but he would have done if the old consumer unit had not been replaced.

Why is this?


Thanks

Shaun

 

[martinxxxxxx]

It must say more than that ..Surely?


Did he not get a Periodic Inspection Report?

Martin

 

[chivers67]

whoever replaced the consumer unit should have provided a certificate. There's nothing preventing an electrician passing it as safe as long as every circuit is tested and thoroughly checked, however if the wiring is that old it should be re-wired

 

[Chri5]

The inspector clearly has ground to believe the overall system isn't of a standard.

What needs to be confirmed is why. If the board is new'ish then I'd suspect there's something outside the board that fails the system.

Earth bonding 10mm for gas / water ?
Tails not being 25mm ?
Very old wiring ? (rubber, no earth lighting)

If the system was acceptable under the 16th, that isn't a straight fail even at today's standard- if it were 95% of houses would be in darkness.

Since your mate paid someone to do a report, get hard copy and post it here and we can pick over his findings.

 

[SparkyNinja]

the electrician has told him he cannot pass the electrics because of the new consumer unit, but he would have done if the old consumer unit had not been replaced.

The fact that a newer consumer unit is installed is irrespective. The report should be done on it's existing condition.
As for the electrician saying it would have passed prior to the change, either your friend has his wires crossed or the electrician likes to waffle.
An installation of that age will likely need rewiring, what observations were made on the periodic?

 

[Paul_C]

however if the wiring is that old it should be re-wired

Not necessarily. There may be things which don't meet the current standards in every detail, there may be things which have been incorrectly added over the years and need attention, and it's possible that damage has taken its toll over the years, but they're not reasons to give a blanket "if it's that old it needs rewiring" assessment without actually seeing it.

There seems to be a growing tendency toward dismissing anything more than a few years old as being in need of complete rewire now.

 

[ColJack]

life expectancy of old wires = 25 years.
life expectancy of new wires = 40 years ( thanks to advances in plastics etc.. )

so anything over 25 years needs a good look at, but as said not a definite rewire..

 

[h1spm]

Thanks for all your responses, I have obtained a copy of the Periodic Inspection Report. The comments are as below.

Extent & Limitation of the inspection -
Visual inspection, no dismantling or lifting of floors.

Observations -
Main consumer unit has been modified to current regulations, therefore all the circuits it provides for and the earthing need similar updating.

Is this all correct / reasonable?

Thanks again

Shaun

 

[riveralt]

I would assume that those comments were included in the observations and recommendations section. I will also assume that nothing else has been added which seems odd.

There should have been an explanation as to why he came to this conclusion - be it the insulation was starting to crack or that it failed some of the tests outlined in the schedule of test results - which should be included as part of the PIR.

The inspector is wrong just to say because it has a new consumer unit all circuits and earthing need updating.

Incidentally, there is no legal requirement for an electrical landlord certificate (PIR) to be issued when renting out property. There is for gas (yearly) but not electric.