home electrics

[me2u]

hi all,

im currently rewiring my brothers whole house. i've done a electrical course back in 2001. the problem is i have forgotten alot of it since i work in a different field now. the guy from the council came out today to check the 1st fix.
he came out with some issues.

1. their were no drawings of the design.? is this right because i am a unregistered electrician and doing it on a DIY basis. my brother has just told me where he wanted the sockets and lights i have just run the cable to their location. do i have to do some basic drawings then?

2. earthing hasnt been done yet but he knows about this beacuse the gas meter is being moved . should i use 10mm on both cold water pipe and gas. ? in the bathroom should i use 6mm earthing cable to connect the sink /bath and basin together . where should i run this earth cable to . would the nearest socket be ok? because their is no airing cupboard and i ve read somewhere that you shouldnt run it back to the consumer unit???

3. he said when he comes back he wants the measurements done before the system is power up.I know this is right , but i havent got the equipment to test the circuits.im sure i read on the net somewhere that if you are paying the council to send a inspector out he would do the checks. cant remeber where i read it . but beacuse my brother has paid i think?? £250 for the full check i thought they would be doing all the measurements????

4. lastly is it ok to wire up smoke alarms using the power from the lighting circuit as ive read the insructions and they say to be wire using 1mm cable?? . also because they have to be interlink would it be ok to use the t+e cable where i would put a colour sleve on the bare earth to use that as the link cable??

your help will be appreciated..

 

[Mark1972]

1. I think he's being a bit mean spirited there - I'm NICEIC domestic installer and I never supply drawings. Just do him a plan showing sockets, switches, gas and water main bonds and consumer unit. Should only take ten mins.

2. 10mm to gas and water. 4mm or greater for bathroom bonding. You need to run a cable between all exposed metalic surfaces (cold hot water feed to taps, radiator etc) and all elec equipment in the bathroom (extractor fan, shower, lights etc)

3. Can't help on that one. Each council is different. When I first started out my council charged around 250 to pass the job off - but I could test myself as I was competent and had the gear. I just wasn't part p at that time.

4. Using the lighting circuit is fine. Use three core and earth to interlink though. You need to have an earth connection at each alarm point - even if the the earth isn't actually connected to the alarm.


What area do you live in? I'll quote you to test it if you are reasonably local

 

[me2u]

im from birmingham

 

[Spark123]

You'll not be surprised that provision of information is part of BS7671, see regulation 514-09.
Mark1972, do you provide a schedule? The info required by the regs for a simple installation may be given in a schedule fixed to the CU.

The size of a main equipotential bonding conductor depends on supply type. For a 100A TN-S service a 10mm² will suffice depending on length. For a TN-CS (PME) the DNO should be consulted beforehand to endure they do not have any additional requirements.
The supplementary bonding in the bathroom should connect together any extraneous conductive parts such as hot, cold, radiator pipes, metallic building structure to the CPC of any circuit supplying class 1 or 2 equipment in the zones of the bathroom.

All circuits should be inspected and tested before being energized, they should also be certified before being put to use. This is a basic requirement of BS7671.

Never ever use a CPC for anything else other than a circuit protective conductor. You don't know who is going to work on it next.

 

[davelx]

3) Check here:

//wiki.diynot.com/doku.php

and here:

Circular Letter

and here:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/144518

The OPDM has made it perfectly clear that is it LABC's responsibility to inspect AND TEST. If they cannot do it themselves, they can sub it out AT THEIR EXPENSE:

from the first circular linked above:

"There have been reports that some local authorities are asking householders to have electrical installation work inspected, tested and certificated by someone other than the person carrying out the work. Section 33(2) of the Building Act 1984 (which would give power to local authorities to require persons carrying out building work to carry out such reasonable tests, at the person's expense, of or in connection with the work for the purpose of enabling local authorities to ascertain whether the work complies with the requirements of the Regulations) has not been commenced. This means in our opinion that local authorities do not have the power to require householders to retain an electrician to test and certificate the work in accordance with BS 7671. Local authorities which have adopted such a practice should discontinue it immediately."

and from the second:

"C.7 Local authorities have no powers to ask householders or others who are not qualified to carry out testing and complete a BS 7671 electrical installation certificate at the householders’ expense. Where a local authority thinks that such testing is necessary in the circumstances to ensure that reasonable provision has been made the local authority must do this at its expense."


I suggest you provide the referneces to these circular letters to your LABC and point this out to them!

 

[Mark1972]

Hi Spark,

No - I never provide a schedule. I recall it's in the regs, but I don't think it's very strictly adhered to by the trade in general. It's never come up at an NICEIC assesment either. Let's not shout about it though - I already spend more time than I'd like with a biro in my hand!