Poss. illegal Re-Wire?

[britishrallying]

Hi,

Been up to my mates house preparing to plaster his nursery, when I discovered something im not happy with.

He had his house rewired a few months ago by a company. Got the Cert, once a bloke checked the work out.

The nursery has 2 plug points, both used to be on the ring mains, but since the rewire one is now a spur? But the thing that worries me is how they have put the wire to it!




As you can see from the photos the wire comes up from behind the skirting then curves into the cage but the wire is protruding 5mm out of the wall, the cage is also protruding about a cm. The plug used to be a single socket. The old wires have been cut, as seen in the photo.

Also noticed the cages arn't earthed!!

Can any body tell me if this is illegal? to me its proper dodgy.

Just want some advice so I can pass it onto my mate before he phones the company, basically so he knows what hes talking about so they cant fob him off.

Another thing I noticed was this:





Do the wires suppose to go through the center of the joists or is that just recommended? And surely wires should remain as flat as poss, cant really see from the photo but looks worse up close, there all twisted round one another, causing more resistance?

Any help will be gratefully appreciated,

Regards,

Gareth

 

[RF Lighting]

Cables are not allowed to be run in notches unless a steel plate is fitted over the notch to prevent penetration of cables by nails and the like.

They should be run through the joist at least 50mm from both the top and bottom of the joist

 

[simon_d]

bein twisted wont have much effect. as for running at top of joist, they should be protected by a steel plate to protect again nails etc. some people would rather put them in existing notches for a few reasons. 1 its easier and 2 you dont weaken the joist even more.

socket does look a mess but from the wiring side, there is nothin wrong with it bein a spur, altho i wouldnt expect to see any of these on a new circuit

 

[securespark]

Cables - are they 2,5?

That old socket box - it has got one fixed lug at the side, has it?

IIRC, new regs do not require earth tag to back box, if one of the used lugs is fixed. If they are both adjustable, then earth tags should be in place.

 

[Spark123]

Hopefully some info on where concealed cables should be run:
http://www.niceic.org.uk/downloads/C5-43.pdf
http://www.niceic.org.uk/downloads/concealedcables.pdf
http://www.iee.org/Publish/WireRegs...les_concealed_in_thin_walls_or_partitions.pdf

 

[Adam_151]

Its a bag of **** and in contravention of BS7671, illegal would actually be a much harder term to apply since BS7671 is not statutory, you'd have to revert to other documents (such as the building regulations) which are statutoy but which have a much vaguer requirement of what is needed, and recommend BS7671 compliance as a sure-fire way to comply, but don't don't actually require BS7671 compliance.

Thus I'd be complaining that its total crap and doesn't comply with BS7671 (I'll look up a few reg numbers later to go with your pictures if you want ) but the main one should be able to be found within that NICEIC download linked to earlier (about cables in walls and partitions)

 

[Big_Spark]

Whilst it does not look like the best job ever done by a spark, and the cable coming in the side of the socket box is very questionable, nothing you have said or posted would be illegal, as Adam pointed out, BS7671 is not a statutory document.

In the first instance I would complain to the contractor who undertook the work and ask that a contracts manager or a director come out and inspect the work to see if they find it acceptable.

If they do not give your friend satisfaction, and they are NICEIC registered, then complain to the NICEIC who have procedures in place to compel contractors to put right any works that do not meet acceptable standards, and they must do this at their own expense.

Without physically looking at the job with our own eyes, it is difficult for anyone to comment properly on the installation.

 

[britishrallying]

Thanks guys will pass the info on, looks really dodgy with the spur curving into the box above the plaster

Thanks again for the help,

Gareth

 

[plugwash]

Whilst it does not look like the best job ever done by a spark, and the cable coming in the side of the socket box is very questionable, nothing you have said or posted would be illegal, as Adam pointed out, BS7671 is not a statutory document.

that is true, however part poo does require reasonable precautions to be taken to protect from electric shock, running a concealed (well sort of concealed at least) outside of the expected zones could be considered a breach of that.

If he is a member of a part P self cert scheme (niceic,napit,eca etc) then this should be reported to his scheme. If not then he is probally breaking the notification parts of the building regs as well.

 

[kevnurse]

That socket box looks very much like a light switch box. It doesn't have the depth needed to accomodate the fascia plate. Not good.

 

[slippyr4]

That socket box looks very much like a light switch box. It doesn't have the depth needed to accomodate the fascia plate. Not good.

nah, it's a 25mm deep box - it's got 20mm grommets in it, which won't fit in a plaster depth box. the box itself is fine.

 

[britishrallying]

The electrical company who did the work came out on friday and fixed their mistakes.

It was an older bloke who came out this time, he was a bit shocked when he saw the work that had been done!!

Thanks for the advice guys

Gaz

 

[Quadroclops]

Following on from all this ...I suppose I ought to re-wire my old cables -all of them cross joists in notches & I don't want to weaken joists -this house is about 250 years old- does anyone know where I can get suitable metal plates as mentioned by Simon_d?

 

[Big_Spark]

Any decent electrical wholesaler such as Edmundson, Newey & Eyre, WF (Wholesale Fittings), Eyre & Elliston or Medlocks.

 

[slippyr4]

or if you don't have any of them near you, try here