My Domestic Wiring

[mstizomad]

Hello,

We recently bought a house, which we mostly gutted/demolished and rebuilt.

I am NOT an electrician, but i have spent several years working as a labourer alongside domestic electricians and being shown what to do by these electricians.

I also have an electricians manual with wiring diagrams and Part P regs that i consulted for all work.

I have wired up my entire house and it has all been running now with no issues for several months. However i do intend to get it all professionally tested and am looking for a local electrician right now who can do the testing.

However i have done the following:

- Original modern Consumer Unit with Main Switch, RCCB and MCB's - Mostly untouched
- New 32A MCB Ring Main for Ground Floor Sockets - 2.5mm twin+e cable - just under 100m of cable total.
- New 32A MCB Ring Main First Floor Sockets + Kitchen Sockets - 2.5mm twin+e cable - 30m of cable total.
( I put First Floor on same circuit due to lack of space in CU and because we ONLY have one massive room and 4 sockets upstairs).
- New 6A MCB Circuit for Ground Floor Lights - 1.5mm twin+e cable - 70m of cable total
- New 6A MCB Circuit for First Floor Lights - 1.5mm twin+e cable - 30m of cable total
- 40A MCB circuit for 8.5kw Shower - 10mm twin+e cable - 30m + shower isolation switch
- 32A MCB circuit for Oven - 10mm twin+e cable - 15m + oven isolation switch
- 32A MCB circuit for outdoor socket (RCD) and shed socket (RCD) - 2.5mm twin+e cable 30m
- One section left spare to be used for Boiler + CH.

For ring main sockets, all sockets connected together one after the other with only two spurs (single socket) on the whole system. Two wires coming out of MCB as there should be for a ring main.

All ceiling roses for lights, all switches and all sockets have been wired correctly. Earth sleeving has been put on all earth cables that come bare out of the standard Grey flat twin+e cable.

All connections have been done very neatly, all cables are neat, organised, not twisted and well clipped.

GF and FF Sockets were tested on High load with several 2.5KW heaters for 6 months with no issues. We have also tested everything using a basic plug in testing device, with no errors or issues flagged. We have never had a random or unusual RCCB trip / power out in 9 months of use.

There are no junctions boxes in unreachable places, in fact 70% of the cable in easily accesible. Have used 30A rated junction boxes for socket spurs and 20A rated junction boxes for the occasional light.

All Earthing from CU to ground spike is original and still in place, all other Earthing from lights and sockets leads back to CU.

However some additional Earthing / Bonding of white goods and copper pipe still needs to be done after the heating has been installed.

I am getting quotes right now to get it all inspected by a professional electrician.

But what do you think to me work?

Thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Hello,

We recently bought a house, which we mostly gutted/demolished and rebuilt.

When you applied for Building Regulations approval, what did you say, or what did you by default allow Building Control to assume, would be the way you would ensure compliance with part P? Because if you told them one thing and then went and did another, you could end up with problems.

I also have an electricians manual with wiring diagrams and Part P regs that i consulted for all work.

This is the entirety of the "Part P regs":

I have wired up my entire house and it has all been running now with no issues for several months. However i do intend to get it all professionally tested and am looking for a local electrician right now who can do the testing.

In all that time you spent working alongside domestic electricians and being shown what to do by them, and in all the consultation of that "electrician's manual", did you not once get told/informed about the testing which is needed before circuits are energised, and then again before they are put into use?

GF and FF Sockets were tested on High load with several 2.5KW heaters for 6 months with no issues.

That is not how you do testing.

We have also tested everything using a basic plug in testing device, with no errors or issues flagged.

Nor that.

We have never had a random or unusual RCCB trip / power out in 9 months of use.

Nor that.

All Earthing from CU to ground spike is original and still in place, all other Earthing from lights and sockets leads back to CU.

And no testing of Ze has been done.

However some additional Earthing / Bonding of white goods and copper pipe still needs to be done after the heating has been installed.

White goods do not need bonding.

And if you have any which are not earthed do not use or even touch them.

But what do you think to me work?

I think it has been done by someone who is deluding himself that he knows what to do.

 

[mstizomad]

Hi,

Yes all of my white goods have been earthed along with every socket and every pendant. I wasn't sure if they needed any secondary bonding, but if they don't then that's great.

It's just the New CH that will need some bonding.

My CU and Ground Earth were tested and passed in 2013 and havn't been touched since. But i will get them tested again soon along with everything else.

Even the connection from the MCB's to the first socket or first light are original. So MCB's have hardly been touched. Most of the wiring the for the Shower and Oven is also original and tested. The Shower was simply moved the the 10mm cable was extended using a 60A rated joining box (designed for 10mm cable).

YES i obviously know that plugging in a load of heaters is not a correct way to test. i was just commenting that this system has been used under heavy load for up to 12 hours per day for 6 months with no issues.

I doesn't take rocket science to wire up a house, compared to a lot of building jobs, it's pretty damn simple. When i used to work on building sites, 80% of electricians work would be done by unskilled Labourers. And then the sparky would come along and inspect/test it all. Labourers would do most of the wiring, but leave the sockets and switches loose for easy inspection.

I'm very sure that everything is fine, but i will happily pay to get it all properly tested and to get a second opinion.

Building Regs in my area don't seem very interested. There are people in my area who's whole roof structural is structurally inadequate / dangerous, yet building regs never inspect. I studied structural engineering.

If you are so sure that i have done it ALL wrong, please explain to me what exactly i have done wrong?

As far as i can tell, i have earthed all correctly, connected and wired all correctly, used the correct types / dimensions of cables, not exceeded max cable lengths, clipped correctly and i have proper RCCB and MCB protection on all circuits.

I have an electrician coming around in two weeks to look at and test it all and make changes if need be.

Thanks

 

[mstizomad]

One other point that i forgot to mention. The house had been previously fully wired up by a proper sparky in 2013.

When i gutted and demolished the house and took off the entire roof structure, i made note of all the electrics and exactly how they were done. I also took tonnes of photos.

The GF sockets were a Ring Main using 2.5mm grey twin+e cable, each socket linked to the next and the lights were all linked to each other and their switches using 1.5mm grey twin+e cable.

And the only bonding was on some of the copper pipes for the Central Heating.

All of this was tested and certified in 2013.

I have copied this throughout the entire Re-Wire, all being done exactly as before, but just with more circuits.

 

[deadshort]

If its reassurance you're looking for you won't get that here I'm afraid. Speaking from experience the majority of contributors are far more intelligent than you and i, and as such will spend hours bullying you, and when they get bored with that, they will then hijack you post to feed their own egos with regs wa…..k for hours.

Ask a real live electrician to inspect your work.

Kind regards,

DS

 

[mstizomad]

If its reassurance you're looking for you won't get that here I'm afraid. Speaking from experience the majority of contributors are far more intelligent than you and i, and as such will spend hours bullying you and when they get bored with that the will then hijack you post to feed their own egos with regs wa…..k for hours.

Ask a real live electrician to inspect your work.

Kind regards,

DS

Hello Deadshort,

Thanks for your response. I will indeed get it properly tested very soon by a proper electrician.

I was just looking for constructive advise / criticism in the mean time, which you have provided.

Thanks

 

[mstizomad]

I now have 3 x quotes of £120-150 to inspect and test all of my wiring and the Consumer Unit and provide a certificate if it all passes.

 

[deadshort]

I now have 3 x quotes of £120-150 to inspect and test all of my wiring and the Consumer Unit and provide a certificate if it all passes.

Great, let us know if you pass your exam !

DS

 

[Risteard]

I now have 3 x quotes of £120-150 to inspect and test all of my wiring and the Consumer Unit and provide a certificate if it all passes.

You won't get a certificate. In fact you cannot now get a certificate.

All you could possibly get is a Report on the condition of the electrical installation - initial verification cannot take place after the fact.

 

[JohnW2]

All you could possibly get is a Report on the condition of the electrical installation - initial verification cannot take place after the fact.

In electrical terms, the only real potential issues are some aspects of inspection, if some of the installation is no longer accessible for inspection. As far as testing is concerned, again in electrical terms, a current set of test results is more important/useful than are test results obtained during 'initial verification', at some time point in the past.

However, bureaucratically it's not necessarily quite as simple as that!

Kind Regards, John.

 

[ericmark]

You can't now get a compliance certificate, you can only get an installation certificate if you make it out, and you have already implied you don't have the skill, so your only option is to go to LABC and ask them for a completion certificate, they will likely charge you not only for registering the work but also for a third party to undertake an EICR. On the basis of the report the LABC inspector will decide if a completion certificate can be issued, or if they want something exposing. I was having kittens when he was considering if our drains needed exposing when the builder we hired ran off, and when I went to tell them I was taking over the job. He is within his rights to ask for floor boards to be lifted.

If I was buying the house, I would just accept it will need a re-wire. You may be lucky, but DIY can cost more than getting some one to do it for you.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I have not read the whole thread, could not be arsed!
Obviously the OP has broken the law with regards to part p, which he/she claims they have followed (not).

The only way, (without making all the cables of all circuits visible for inspection) to get a certificate to cover all the circuits, would be to have the consumer unit swapped or reinstalled (providing it complies to AMD3).

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I now have 3 x quotes of £120-150 to inspect and test all of my wiring and the Consumer Unit and provide a certificate if it all passes.

Did you inform these companies of the truth?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

What they've all said. Your £120-£150 will get you an Electrical Installation Condition Report. Some tests will be carried out but what that report can not and will not certify is that all aspects of the installation comply with the regulations in force. If you're planning on living in the place for ever and ever then no major issues (if you've done as good a job as you think you have). If you're selling it on in the near future then you've got some issues to deal with in the Vendors Questionnaire.

 

[John D v2.0]

GF and FF Sockets were tested on High load with several 2.5KW heaters for 6 months with no issues.

I know it's a bit late, but next time you do electrical work bear in mind that's probably the worst way to test it. You need to prove it's OK before you turn high power things on, even if it means paying someone to test. Seems you got away with it, but once you learn what all the tests are for you'll never feel safe in a house that hasn't been tested again!