Possible breaches of wiring regs?

[freddie43]

My landlord has recently upgraded my heating installation and I am concerned about possible breaches of IEE wiring regs

Can anyone please advise on the following ?

- cable jammed between floorboards and hot pipes.
- cable run through loose floorboard
- cable scorched by blowlamp, then scorching scraped off!
- solder spilt on cable
- cable run unsupported across ceiling joists

pictures at: www.spig.clara.net/regs

The contractor has been back to hear my concerns but does not believe that any of the above breach the regs

Any comments gratefully appreciated

 

[Softus]

Was a certificate issued upon installation, and was the installation tested?

 

[1974stephen]

Was the electrical work carried out by an electrician or a heating engineer, or did he have two caps in his van?

 

[freddie43]

Not clear how either of those affect it. Either it is in breach or it is not...?

Work carried out by 'electrician'. No certificate issued yet - system allegedly not commissioned - although up and running!

 

[1974stephen]

A lot of BS7671 are very much open to interpretation. For many a breach is merely bad practice, which I think is what you have here. Was the junction box already installed in the top photo, or was that installed as part of the work? Strictly speaking this is a non accessible joint due to have to lift carpet and floorboards to get to it, but show me a house without one, and I'll show you 20 that have.

There are buildings the length and breadth of the country with installations as bad and far worse than you have here.

If you have test results to prove that the installation was tested as Softus asked, then you will have nothing to worry about from a safety point of view.

 

[bsimmo]

Personally from my point of view

Pic1) cable touching pipes.. not a problem, 60C water will not melt through the cable insulation, mind your pipes should be lagged anyway.
As for the jamming, it's just not nice to see... (probably used to stop the pipe banging against the board

Pic2) If it bothers you, re-route it yourself

Pic 4&5, more a asthetic thing, the cables not really damaged in a way it will be effected.

Pic6) Don't know why you are bothered, not as if it's a living quarters. Far more risk from the insulation and the falling through the ceiling.

 

[Albert]

I know that it is hard to accept but the regulations main concern is safety! The reason you have been asked whether you have a certificate and the test results because this is the best indication if a cable was damaged. The fact that it looks bad does not mean necessarily that you are at risk. Obviously the inspection includes several checks and one of them is visual. Not nice does not mean not safe...

Do not get me wrong, like the other people in this forum I do not think that this job is a nice job but unfortunately if the test results are good you can not do much...

 

[freddie43]

Thanks for all the replies. Ironic that I seem to have higher standards than the people who did the work, but the government won't let me do it!

My boiler goes up to 90'C, and I would have thought that a loose floorboard pressing pvc wiring against a hot pipe would over the years make quite an impression.

As for rerouting the wiring: a) I'm not allowed to, b) I can't because it is 4 core + earth and the earth is crimped inside the junction box

 

[Albert]

My boiler goes up to 90'C, and I would have thought that a loose floorboard pressing pvc wiring against a hot pipe would over the years make quite an impression.

For this you can do 2 things
1) IMO 90'c is too high anyhow, in a normal household the temperature does not have to exceed 70'c.
2) you can put some isolating foam between the hot pipe and the cable and this reduce significantly the risk of damage to the cable.

 

[Paul Barker]

However the OP has a valid complaint because cable and copper pipes should be 2" space between them if that can't be achieved 1" is acceptable. If that can't be achieved then the pipe should be insulated at the point of contact.

Cable run in the loft is fairly standard, but better practice would be to lay a plank across the joists and clip the cable atop of that, but you can't demand it.

The cable run over the top of the pipe to be pressed onto the pipe by floorboard is likely to suffer mechanical damage with pedestrian traffic. I would request the installer change that, as when the live conductor finally works through to the copper the pipe will become live.