Help! Do I have major problems?
- Thread starter gus4778
- Start date
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It's too small though, and if an apprentice of yours presented that as an example of his workmanship would you say "well done lad, good job"?
Look gus4778 it doesn`t matter whether or not your board is or isn't big enough or whether or not in some peoples opinion whether it is safe or not. you have had someone ( competent ) look at you board and say that there is a problem with it, I personally would not do any work for you without you agreeing to at least tidy the board up, (if I thought it wouldn`t need replacing) It would be so time consuming to do any sort of test or provide a proper shcedule of results on that board.
While I appreciate what you're saying, please try and understand where I am coming from, because to me the bits in bold are the critical points... I had someone you was allegedly competent do a lot of work for me, and to whom I paid a lot of money for his alleged expertise. I need to know whether what has been done is good/bad/dangerous, preferably from someone who doesn't have a vested interest in trying to sell me more stuff that I might not need!
While I am very grateful for the advice of people who have contributed to this thread, it's notable that even with the level of knowledge and expertise of those who have contributed, people still seem to be disagreeing on how good/bad/dangerous this work is (and I appreciate that you can only take so much from a picture)! The reason I posted on here is because I believe I can get some sensible impartial advice. Believe me, if someone I knew and trusted said 'It's unsafe, change it!' it would be done straight away, because there is no way I would risk my property or more importantly my family over a few quid. What I would be a bit hacked off about is being taken advantage of when I have been trusting to someone who I was led to believe was competent and knowledgeable.
Allegedly someone 'competent' did the job the first time!
How do I (as a layman) know that the new guy is more 'competent' and knowledgeable than the old guy? Trust me, if I get this redone (which is looking very likely) I want to know that someone isn't going to take me for a ride again. I clearly don't want to make the same mistake again do I...
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Either Contact the Electrician who did the original work and issued the original certificate or
Contact NAPIT Customer service.
Incidentally how many circuits were shown on the EIC?
T
tonyelectric
Gus the answer is simple, get three separate electricians round to look at it and see what they come up with, by rights they will all pick up the important issues and that will give you a clear idea of where to go.
Although not foolproof there is an organisation called CheckATrade that works a feedback scheme a la fleabay to rate tradesmen, they are online and you can search members in your area - be warned though their system is not foolproof so a cowboy could still lurk behind good feedback.
And finally if the work was done by a NAPIT contractor, ring NAPIT, complain, get their inspector out, the work will be guaranteed via NAPIT and they will arrange for another contractor to correct any faults
Although not foolproof there is an organisation called CheckATrade that works a feedback scheme a la fleabay to rate tradesmen, they are online and you can search members in your area - be warned though their system is not foolproof so a cowboy could still lurk behind good feedback.
And finally if the work was done by a NAPIT contractor, ring NAPIT, complain, get their inspector out, the work will be guaranteed via NAPIT and they will arrange for another contractor to correct any faults
Gus, without seeing any test and inspection sheets, nobody can really say whether the installation is dangerous or not.
From the photos and information you've supplied, it looks like you've got a couple of ring mains on circuit 5. Not dangerous, per se, but not good practise either. Same with the hornets nest at the top - they're not going to start fighting and burn your house down, but the guy who did it wasn't very tidy.
Like I say, we can't start saying dangerous or not for sure without doing some inspection and testing ourselves, which is why you need a second opinion in.
Nobody can tell from just looking at photos.
All we can get from the picture is that the CU is too small (as in too small to be regarded as a quality choice by the installer rather than too small to be safe), and badly wired up (as in too badly to be regarded as quality work by the installer rather than too badly to be safe).
I wish that the guys here with photos of neat installs would post them so that you can see the difference.
It is difficult, and I sympathise with you.
As ever, personal recommendations are always the best way to find a reputable tradesman, but if you're having to go ahead without much in the way of those, or references, don't put any store by registration itself - sadly it is possible to become registered with woefully inadequate qualifications and zero practical experience. You don't have to spend long here to see people cropping up who are registered and "qualified", but who are clearly seriously incompetent in reality and who should not be charging for their services.
You were looking for someone to wire of a new extension, rewire of part of the main house and install a new consumer unit. It may surprise and dismay you to learn that it is quite possible to become a "certified electrician" without ever having done any of that before, and without having acquired any of the practical skills needed to do it without half-destroying your house in the process.
It's your money, lots of it, and you have every right to ask prospective tradesmen what their qualifications and experience are. Just being listed here is not a good enough guide. No genuinely experienced electrician, with the "full set" of C&G qualifications and years of experience will mind you asking - in fact he will wish that everyone was like you.
I feel sorry for people who have been misled by training organisations and (shamefully) the Competent Person scheme organisers into thinking that a 5-day training course, a couple of trivial examples of their work and some basic understanding of how to use test equipment will make them an electrician, but not sorry enough to agree with them trying to sell their services to Joe Public.
This is a real shame to see, there is plenty of cable at the board for that to all be dressed in neatly, tbh I cannot say that it looks dangerous BUT it would be a nightmare to do any fault finding on, you could almost guarantee that none of the neutral or CPC's are terminated in corresponding terminals.
Benefits of a new consumer unit would be that you would have more circuits which means should one fail for what ever reason that your life in general will be far less affected, also if it is neatly installed then anyone who needs to work on the system will find it much easier. With a new consumer unit (or two stacked) you could share the circuits out over multiple RCD's which would make life more convenient for you too when one trips, or if feeling flush opt to have RCBO's for each circuit, although with an installation with as many circuits as you have I would guess the large difference in price could be too much and not justifiable.
There is only one exception for an untidy board and that is where a replacement has taken place and the existing wiring has not got enough slack on it, even then it should not look that bad.
Some of those lighting circuits may have been doubled up due to having shared neutrals but any tidy spark looking to change the unit would check this out first.
I suppose in short that aesthetics aside it doesn't appear to be dangerous but a new consumer unit could make your life easier in the future should you gain problems with faults. Remember, although the wiring can be fine, appliances can develop faults, as your installation stands, with an earth fault on the RCD side, you loose power to every socket, you cooker and electric shower.
Benefits of a new consumer unit would be that you would have more circuits which means should one fail for what ever reason that your life in general will be far less affected, also if it is neatly installed then anyone who needs to work on the system will find it much easier. With a new consumer unit (or two stacked) you could share the circuits out over multiple RCD's which would make life more convenient for you too when one trips, or if feeling flush opt to have RCBO's for each circuit, although with an installation with as many circuits as you have I would guess the large difference in price could be too much and not justifiable.
There is only one exception for an untidy board and that is where a replacement has taken place and the existing wiring has not got enough slack on it, even then it should not look that bad.
Some of those lighting circuits may have been doubled up due to having shared neutrals but any tidy spark looking to change the unit would check this out first.
I suppose in short that aesthetics aside it doesn't appear to be dangerous but a new consumer unit could make your life easier in the future should you gain problems with faults. Remember, although the wiring can be fine, appliances can develop faults, as your installation stands, with an earth fault on the RCD side, you loose power to every socket, you cooker and electric shower.
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