newbee, needs sparky's opinion

[madmac]

Just signed up to this forum so excuse my general ignorance. I hope i've posted in the right section.
My post is concerning electrical requirements for a bathroom and kitchen installation. The property is a 1910 terrace with recently tested and certified wiring and new main board.
I guess I'm part answering my question but would like it confirmed my the experts.
I would like to do as much electrical fitting as possible myself as I'm a competent DIYer but after reading some of the posts on here that generally get expert and informed responses, I am presuming that I should get a certified electrician to carry out the work on my behalf.
I guess I should stick to my professional occupation, earn enough money and employ a sparky to do the job correctly, thus avoiding potential life threatening problems in future i.e house burning down etc.

 

[jockspark]

yes madmac you have answered your own question.
i wish there were more like you some people think
they know what to do then it all gets to much
they call in a spark who then has to sort out the mess and it cost
more than the initial job as you say do your own job to earn
the cash to pay the professional

 

[NoSparks]

All depends what your professional occupation is. Doing the job "properly" is not just a case of stringing a bit of cable between sockets, however there is a lot of donkey work. If you want to do some yourself, then get a friendly skilled electrician to go through your design with you and advise you on cable routing, then you can do the brick bashing and pull the cable. But get him to check it again before its all sealed in. Best to let him do the connections or he will have to thoroughly check each accessory before testing and signing off the installation.

 

[madmac]

Many thanks to you both, I'm a staff nuse so not really got any transferable skills by profession although I am very competent at following good advice and more than capable and willing to complete the donkey work in regard to the installation, routing / spacing / size of the wiring and I guess I need to be able to show all cable routes and incomplete terminations. i will have a word with a sparky regarding the job and I am presuming that he should within reason be open to donkey work being completed (under his instruction and subsequent inspection) then he can do all the connections and commissioning.

Oh P.S I'm not a madnutter insomniac posting in the the wee small hours, I'm on a night shift at work...................

 

[Chri5]

Make sure you spend some time designing your total wiring needs and get some floor foot prints done for each level ,

Mark off the locations for the service head, the fuse board, a TV amp / distribution box, BT and any data cables.

You can do all the BT, Data, TV and audio cabling. You can even do the earth bonding for the gas and the mains water.

You can only do the electrical in tandem with a electrician. So study the docs on routes, passage through joists and safe zones.
Read all the on site Wiki which covers a good heap of the base issues. Cable bashing, now requires some finesse and simple areas like drilling in to joists, notching, cable grouping and cable separation between LV and ELV might be unknowns.

Get a site meeting, be straight with the guy and the more confidence and knowledge you extrude the less likely that your 'savings' (through doing the work yourself) won't be eaten up with 'extra' cost (the guy inspecting everything weekly for months).

Also remember that a blank canvas, unoccupied, furniture gone, easy floor access will save a fortune on any rewiring project. Some jobs are split 60:40 productivity v lift, shift and access.

 

[madmac]

Thanks chris, you all have been helpful. Ive been very lucky and the fully fledged electician I have met with is someone I have known since he was a kid growing up on the same street. He is coming round tomorrow to blitz the job. I'm clearing the decks up stairs above the kitchen and landing and we are going to creat a new ring main with drops for every thing in the kitchen, were going to use separate feeds for double oven and hob 6mm, 10mm cable for the 9.5kw shower etc .Dont quite know the tech bits in their entirity but he's adding and uprating the main circuit board to suit.
BRING IT ON TOMORROW, I'll be there with me saw and crowbar hammer and nails etc.

 

[ericmark]

I would read the post on "High Zs" this gives you a little insight to the problems.

It is so easy for a guy in the shire hall to stick your readings into an excel program and high light any mistakes.

And there is a big difference between skilled and competent. And it is unlikely any DIY person is competent which is classed as being skilled and having experience plus the ability to protect others as well as your self from danger.

Yes under Part P it says you can do the work yourself by first submitting plans to the local authority but in real terms that means electricians who work on commercial electrical systems and are doing some work at home.

Ask yourself the question would the knowledge you have stopped you making same mistake as guy with Zs problem. If not you should not be doing the work.

And its not so much the skill either the cost of the test equipment at £750 is not at a level where any DIY person is likely to have their own. Yes you can hire but even that is expensive. Then add the £115 the council charge and very quickly it becomes more expensive to DIY then get someone to do the job.

Chri5 has given you some good advice. I wish you all the best what ever way you go.