No Earths in House Sockets

[mossmeister]

I've recently just bought a ground floor flat flat that was built some time ago.
The sockets have no earths in them, only a red and black wire, and only one double gang in both bedrooms. The consumer box looks pretty old too.

As I am thinking of renting it out am I required to modernise these?

If so is there a quick and easy solution?

I really don't fancy making a mess of all of the walls to try and chase new cables in, although I don't mind spending a little money to rectify the situation.

Any help would be very much appreciated, thank you

 

[JohnW2]

What you describe sounds like a very dangerous situation and it also sounds as if you may well need a total re-wire - which, as you say, could be very disruptive. It's a pity that you didn't get the electrics inspected before you bought the flat.

You need to get an electrician to inspect the electrical installation asap and advise. In the meantime, I'd suggest that you try not to use any of the electrical installation.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Iggifer]

there is no quick solution I'm afraid.

What kind of sockets are they? Standard modern sockets or round pins?

You are required to have an electrical inspection before you can let it out, and there is no way any competent electrician would give you a clean bill of health with no earths to sockets (and presumably any other circuit)

I would think about setting some cash aside for a rewire. How many bedrooms?

How old is the building?

 

[AndyPRK]

Pictures would be good and help give you an answer

 

[deadshort]

Hi, if the installation is wired using conduit that was the used as the earth connection, my first house was built in 1967 and all it was standard in the 60's.

Regards,

ds

 

[RF Lighting]

Could be steel tube or pyro, but either way it needs a competent electrician to look at the installation. You have a duty of care as a landlord to ensure your property is safe to let out.

 

[JohnW2]

The sockets have no earths in them, only a red and black wire ...

In view of some of the comments/suggestions which are being made, can you tell us whether there is anything connected to the earth terminals on the back of the sockets (in addition to the red and black wires being connected)? If there is something connected to the sockets' earth terminals (maybe bare copper wire, maybe green or green/yellow), where does it go?

Kind Regards, John

 

[mossmeister]

The sockets were just standard sockets. I did notice that the cables were running through conduit and as the flat is old Im guessing that this was used as the earth as someone has mentioned.

I received an electrical certificate with with the flat that an electrician has signed off, see attached image, so they must have some sort of safety standard.

If the general opinion is to rewire then is there a skirting trunking that people would recommend as I do want to keep the cost and disruption to a minimum.

Thanks again

 

[mossmeister]

The sockets have no earths in them, only a red and black wire ...

In view of some of the comments/suggestions which are being made, can you tell us whether there is anything connected to the earth terminals on the back of the sockets (in addition to the red and black wires being connected)? If there is something connected to the sockets' earth terminals (maybe bare copper wire, maybe green or green/yellow), where does it go?


I'm pretty sure there was a bare copper wire connected to the back boxes, although I have no idea where these go. I think I will try and get an approved electrician round to have a look.

 

[mossmeister]

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• mossmeister
• 7 Jun 2015
• 1

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[mossmeister]

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• mossmeister
• 7 Jun 2015
• 1

 

[Taylortwocities]

The certificate shows that there is an earth on the sockets as he has measures a Zs Ω value on the EICR.


I am not sure how much to trust it though, as he has CERTIFIED that the earth (CPC) on teh socket circuit is 1.5mm² in size. But you are saying there is not earth. That does lead me to think that either
1. you don't understand what you are looking at (please post a picture of the wiring behind a typical socket ).
or
2. the electrician who did the EICR was lying

 

[JohnW2]

Untitled

• mossmeister
• 7 Jun 2015
• 1

That schedule seems to indicate that both your sockets and lighting circuits do have earths and, not only that, but the tests indicate that the earths are satisfactory. Something is wrong - you need to get another electrician to look and advise.

However, with only two circuits, it does very much sound as if you may need a rewire.

Kind Regards, John

 

[mossmeister]

I will get an electrician round to make sure Im not being an idiot - better safe than sorry.

Could anybody recommend any skirting trunking that they use if I do require a rewire though.

Thank you in advance for helping me - much appreciated

 

[flyingsparks]

We need pictures of inside a socket to answer this one!