Problems after new consumer unit fitted

[leigh jones]

Someone who works for a company but will do private jobs of a evening or weekend

 

[deadshort]

Thanks, I hope he does a better standard of job from 9-5 mon to fri ? May be he relaxes in the evenings and weekends ?
But seriously ,he needs his R's kicked ,is he an apprentice ?

DS

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks, I hope he does a better standard of job form 9-5 mon to fri ? May be he relaxes in the evenings and weekends ? But seriously ,he needs his R's kicked ,is he an apprentice ?

To be fair, other than for the 'mistake' (and hands up who has never made one!), I've actually seen far worse done by well-established/'experienced' electricians doing their day job!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Well, I would point to 610.1:

Every installation shall, during erection and on completion before being put into service, be inspected and tested to verify, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the requirements of the regulations have been met.

Thanks - saved me from typing the same thing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I paid an electrician to wire it in. He did it as a foreigner so he won't be able to come back until the weekend.

It just gets worse, doesn't it.

Did he self-certify the work for Building Regulations compliance?

Did he notify it in advance?

Did he even give you an EIC?

Do you know who his employer is?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

To be fair, other than for the 'mistake' (and hands up who has never made one!), I've actually seen far worse done by well-established/'experienced' electricians doing their day job!

I being the person responsible for the Design, Construction, Inspection & Testing of the electrical installation (as indicated by my signature below), particulars of which are described above, having exercised reasonable skill and care when carrying out the design, construction, inspection & testing hereby CERTIFY that the said work for which I have been responsible is to the best of my knowledge and belief in accordance with BS 7671:2008, amended to 2015 except for the departures, if any, detailed as follows:​

 

[JohnW2]

I being the person responsible for ... :

If you look at the context, you will see that I was referring to the visually-assessable quality of work illustrated in the photo of the CU, in the context of a suggestion that it may have been done by an apprentice. As I said, I've seen far worse done by"well-established and experienced" electricians.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Doesn't matter whodunnit - the regs are quite clear that an inspection exercising reasonable skill and care is mandatory.

 

[securespark]

I did not ask what the regs require but, rather, whether it was common for electricians to undertake functional tests on every final circuit.

I don't know why you won't accept 610.1. It's all about carrying out I&T and it is plain that has not happened.

However, I think most sparks would go round and check circuits were working by switching a few things on.

Certainly, if it were a "borrowed neutral" scenario with the two circuits either one on each RCD or each on an RCBO, you would know about it when switching lights on, which I certainly have done as part of the testing procedure.

 

[flameport]

whether it was common for electricians to undertake functional tests on every final circuit.

I do - for the majority it's just a matter of turning lights on, or the immersion heater / cooker / shower / whatever else is attached to the circuit.
For the sockets it's a vacuum cleaner, which is inevitably required anyway to clean up any mess. Or a kettle.

The only ones which are not are storage heaters, due to the lack of E7 or similar during the day. However they are left on full and the customer can then confirm they all heated up during the night.

 

[JohnW2]

I don't know why you won't accept 610.1. It's all about carrying out I&T and it is plain that has not happened.

You're quite probably right. However, all we know for certain is that the electrician (presumably!) didn't try switching on the oven or hob - for all we know (for sure) at the moment, he may have done all of the other normal/standard "I&T".

However, I think most sparks would go round and check circuits were working by switching a few things on.

Thanks - that partially answers my question - but would you say that those "few things" would usually (or always!) include an oven or hob?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I do - for the majority it's just a matter of turning lights on, or the immersion heater / cooker / shower / whatever else is attached to the circuit.

Fair enough. Thanks. Do you think that most electricians do the same?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Deleted member 18243]

No it isn't.

Green - line and neutral of the same circuit connected to different RCDs.
Yellow - total lack of cable grommets/glands resulting in damage from the sharp metal edges
Pink - cables entering via the top surface, which given the state of the other entries will have no grommets and won't be sealed either.

Generally a very poor effort.

View attachment 112581

Looking at the yellow item, how would a domestic electrician correctly deal with that large rectangular cutout in the enclosure?

I work with factory 3 phase boards, sometimes old and much-altered ones, and I make sure everything is glanded and any holes covered, sometimes by fabricating my own gland plates and covers.

My own consumer unit at home, fitted over 30 years ago (metal) has these large openings at the back, and has plywood behind it. Cables enter through holes in the wood, positioned such that they cannot ever get near the edges of the metal cutout. This has always been adequate in my case - but I can see that it is not the case in the photo. Poor workmanship!

 

[flameport]

how would a domestic electrician correctly deal with that large rectangular cutout

Not remove it in the first place if possible.
If unavoidable, there are flexible plastic strips which can be fixed over the sharp edges. Some consumer units are supplied with one.

 

[securespark]

[cough]Hager[/cough]