Estimate Cost for changing consumer unit

[harshitguptaiitr]

I have a 45 year old house - never rewired.
Fuse type is older type wire fuses. The electric installation has been wired in a mixture of older type plastic covered cable. The electrical installation is dated and in disrepair. The meter is an old unit. The consumer unit contains no modern cut-off devices.
I have obtained a quotation for:

1. Replacing the existing fuse wire type distribution unit with a new metal clad 17th edition distribution unit incorporating RCD protection.
2. Replace the bathroom light with a splash proof item.
3. Provide a part P certificate for the installation.

The electrician is charging me £450 for this work, is this fair and reasonable?

 

[Taylortwocities]

A lot depends on many things:
supply type
earthing / bonding there and up to standard or not
your location
How many circuits involved
Dual RCD/split load or all RCBO configuration

and other items.

So £450 may, or may not be reasonable. It depends on some of those variables.

Best to get more than one quote. Also be absolutely sure that your chosen electrician is a member of one of the Competent Person Schemes and that the quote includes notifiaction of this work to the local authority. In England and Wales, its a legal requirement for this work.

 

[harshitguptaiitr]

Thanks for the reply.
I was under the impression that part P certificate can only be issued after a notification has been done to the local authority.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Wrong. There is no such thing as a "Part P Certificate"

However, Anybody can certify that electrical stuff complies with BS7671 (the Wiring Regulations).

Only a member of a CPS scheme can self-notify that the works comply with Building Regulations.

Notification and certification are separate things, but you need both.

 

[DIYWell]

Difficult to know exactly what's entailed in the job given uncertainty in the wiring, walls etc but here's my take on it:
New CU and parts say £150
New light £50
Day of a sparky @ £30/hr, say £240

So there's £450

Old doesn't mean needs replacing, just means old. Disrepair just means needs fixed. If you're worried about the state of the installation, have an EICR done then you'll know exactly what needs fixed. Alternatively, take a deep breath and have a full rewire done. More expensive, but has the advantage of letting you plan where you want everything.

As an aside, my 45 year old house was wired at two single sockets per bedroom, now each has at least four doubles but all done without the need for a full rewire.

 

[ericmark]

My dad was having a wet room built, for that it needed RCD protection which was included in the price, the electrician brought in by the builder said for an extra £150 he would change whole consumer unit rather than fit the extra box with RCD in, this seemed a very good deal so we said yes go ahead.

However the electrician could not get the RCD to hold in and as a temporary measure put a isolator in it's place, and the builder then ran off into the hills of Corwen neither to be seen again, leaving us to deal with the LABC and arrange for all the paper work and finish off the job.

So decide if you can trust the guy, make a note of his address and who is his scheme provider, believe me it's a real pain getting it corrected when some one runs off, it does not pay hunting for the cheapest, select some one you trust. People can quote really low prices when they don't finish the job.

 

[sparkydave in wales]

My dad was having a wet room built, for that it needed RCD protection which was included in the price, the electrician brought in by the builder said for an extra £150 he would change whole consumer unit rather than fit the extra box with RCD in, this seemed a very good deal so we said yes go ahead.

However the electrician could not get the RCD to hold in and as a temporary measure put a isolator in it's place, and the builder then ran off into the hills of Corwen neither to be seen again, leaving us to deal with the LABC and arrange for all the paper work and finish off the job.

So decide if you can trust the guy, make a note of his address and who is his scheme provider, believe me it's a real pain getting it corrected when some one runs off, it does not pay hunting for the cheapest, select some one you trust. People can quote really low prices when they don't finish the job.

So he quoted to fit the CU, didn't test the circuits first, presumably found (or the RCD found for him) a neutral earth fault which would have shown up in the testing? then he cleared off rather than trace the fault and re-fit the RCD??

 

[ericmark]

So he quoted to fit the CU, didn't test the circuits first, presumably found (or the RCD found for him) a neutral earth fault which would have shown up in the testing? then he cleared off rather than trace the fault and re-fit the RCD??

It was not a neutral fault, it was a collection of faults the faulty sections remained without RCD protection for some time, until house was rewired, 1954 wiring not removed, but yes the daft chap thought he could just connect up wires and it would work. I think however to be fair the builder ran of of cash and did not pay him and 80 miles return trip was simply not going to happen without payment.

Although we had builders name and address no one noted that of the electrician. But my point is trying to get work done on the cheap often does not pay.

 

[inchworm]

From first principles, it seems risky to me to quote for such work. Maybe investigate on a time & materials basis first, then quote for the actual work to be done, or quote for the replacement on the basis that no fault is found with the old wiring.

And best to check that the customer has the means to pay for such work!

If it looks like a bargain, it probably isn't.

 

[flameport]

From first principles, it seems risky to me to quote for such work.

There is always some risk.

However many people want a fixed price for whatever the work is, and simply won't even consider unknown time and cost looking for faults which may not exist.
In plenty of cases they won't even accept that there could be faults - it's worked for 30 years so it must be ok, they just want it upgrading to the newest whatever.

Choices for quoting are therefore
a. Unknown and potentially large cost in looking for problems that do not exist and then even more for the new CU.
b. Fixed price which ends with the new CU being installed and working.
c. Fixed price for the CU and then potentially unknown large costs for fixing faults which then were found with the added mess that they now have to be paid for otherwise the new CU won't work.

Quoting for a will mean you won't get any work if others are quoting b.
Most people will want b.
Some undesirables quote on the basis of c with a cheap price initially and then sky high for any subsequent 'required' repairs. They are the customers which then complain all over the place that they were ripped off.

With experience it's fairly easy to quickly identify properties which will be straightforward with perhaps a few minor problems. And those which are a dogs dinner and probably need days of work or a complete rewire. Prices are then adjusted accordingly, or in rare cases the 'price for a new CU' isn't provided because it's obvious that the number of likely problems will be far in excess of any sensible price.

 

[inchworm]

Wrong. There is no such thing as a "Part P Certificate"

However, Anybody can certify that electrical stuff complies with BS7671 (the Wiring Regulations).

Only a member of a CPS scheme can self-notify that the works comply with Building Regulations.

Notification and certification are separate things, but you need both.

Somewhat OT but..

Local Authority will if asked provide a competent person to sign off, for a fee. I suspect that it is an attendance fee rather than a one-off fee to return should rework be necessary. This makes it possible for the wiring work to be done by anyone without a CPS certificate.

Also I believe that there are plenty of electricians at work today who employ someone else to certify because they are not suitably qualified.

Not sure of the rights and wrongs of these alternatives but they give you choices.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Somewhat OT but..

Not really. It is factual.

Local Authority will if asked provide a competent person to sign off,

Will they?

for a fee.

If you mean the notification fee, it is likely to be a hefty sum and you don't have to ask them to do anything; they will tell the DIYer what to do - if they accept he is competent to do the work.

on top of the cost of a registered electrician

If you are employing a registered electrician then you don't need to involve the Local Authority.

more than a I suspect that it is an attendance fee rather than a one-off fee to return should rework be necessary.

Not sure what that means.

This makes it possible for the wiring work to be done by anyone without a CPS certificate.

If the LA deem the person competent.

Also I believe that there are plenty of electricians at work today who employ someone else to certify because they are not suitably qualified.

That may be alright if the certifier/notifier trusts the fitter and/or inspects the work as it progresses - if not it is illegal.
I think you are confusing certification (issuing Installation Certificate and Schedule of Inspection and Test Results) and noftification (stupidly called self-certifying).

Not sure of the rights and wrongs of these alternatives but they give you choices.

Only two choices -
Notify the LA before you start, or
employ a registered electrician.

 

[inchworm]

Will they?

In my limited experience, yes.

If you mean the notification fee, it is likely to be a hefty sum and you don't have to ask them to do anything; they will tell the DIYer what to do - if they accept he is competent to do the work.

I don't think that they offer instruction or direction, just pay a qualified person to sign the job off if it stacks up.

Not sure what that means.

I'm not totally sure of my ground, but I think that if the job did not get signed off, they would charge again to get the inspecting electrian back.

If the LA deem the person competent.

The job isn't being undertaken under their aegis, only inspected by them. So they probably don't care. But I could be wrong.

 

[EFLImpudence]

In my limited experience, yes.

Ok. Why would they do that?

I don't think that they offer instruction or direction,

They certainly do sometimes, or
perhaps they are supposed to but are as slack as some tradesmen.

just pay a qualified person to sign the job off if it stacks up. I'm not totally sure of my ground, but I think that if the job did not get signed off, they would charge again to get the inspecting electrian back.

As I said, it depends whether you are talking about
Electrical Certification or Building Regulations Completion or Compliance Certificates.

The job isn't being undertaken under their aegis, only inspected by them. So they probably don't care. But I could be wrong.

If it isn't under their aegis, then they will not be involved.

 

[inchworm]

EFLImpudence, the answers are known in detail only to the building inspectors, AFAIK. I have never been able to find detailed guidance online, so my contribution to the sum of human knowledge (as opposed to conjecture) on this point is over.

But wait, there is another way to do it - just go and wire the property up and tell no-one. Then plead ignorance and pay the regularisation fee if required to, along with any necessary remediation. I have a feeling that this is quite a popular option.