flickering lights - full rewire

[Pat6606]

I have just had a terraceed house built in 1900 rewired however all the lights in the house now flicker intermittently, that is to say dim very briefly every 5/10 minutes or so. There are no appliances in the house apart from a small fridge, however, I have noticed that if you turn on a vacuum the lights then dip (ie dim for a longer period and go darker). Whether this is linked or not on 3 occasions when using an electric saw all the "fuses" blew, including lights. Although the electrician was adamant that it was a fault on the builder's saw.

The electrician is very reassuring and tells me that the 17th Edition of Part P, has increased the RCD protection making it super sensitive so this is the cause. I know the bit about RCD protection is true but I am not inclined to believe this is the cause.

However, I am not sure if I should worry or not. I need to be sure of my facts because the electrician is refusing to come back. Whether or not this is because of a "flickering fault" that may be difficult to find or whether it is because he butchered my house while rewiring I am not sure. He channelled plaster off which was in some places 2 foot wide but did not channel into the brickwork so now that I have had most of the house re-plastered (which he refused to do- just left exposed cables) the cables are standing proud. I asked him to come back and relocate all cables above sockets/switches to an acceptable depth. He is registered with Durham registered traders and NICEIC but I think he is shoddy and worried that it is dangerous too.

Basically, my queries are, is the new RCD sensitivity so sensitive that lights will flicker and I guess where should I go from here? He gave me safety certs but as the house is rented out, I really need to be doubly sure.

Yours Pat

 

[SparkyNinja]

Exactly what certs did he give you?

Hopefully 'the 17th edition of part p' wasn't exactly what he told you.
Can you post a picture of the fuseboard, so we can see how he has allocated your circuits.
Plus if you could scan or take pics of your certs (with your personal details covered) that would be useful.
An RCD will not cause any effects on your lights when in normal operation. It will just protect the circuits, not effect them.
There are a few possibilities as to what could cause this with the lighting. My first thought is that you may have neutral either borrowed from another circuit or just connected wrong at your fuseboard.

Any proper tradesman, proud of their work would not refuse to return in this situation.

If you can post some pictures giving us an idea of his workmanship then maybe we can help, you may have to get another electrician round.