Shower electrics

[divvy]

I need to move my electric shower to another wall I'm confident in moving the electrics just seeking your advice for a couple of questions please?

1, I have an old consumer unit not a flash RCB type, can I move the cable without having to upgrade to either a new unit or dedicated RCB for the shower? I would get an electrician in to do this.

2, Say I can move the cable, would I be breaking the law because of Part P, I know very little about this and there is very little info about for home DIY'ers.

Thanks

 

[Steve]

If your consumer unit is an old rewireable fuse type, or uses plug in cartridge fuses, I would consider getting an electrician to look over the whole electrical installation, and conduct a PIR (periodic inspection report). The age of the fuse box may indicate more serious age defects elsewhere, such as VIR cable.

AFAICT, this DOES come under the scope of part p. You are altering a circuit in a bathroom, and as such you have 2 options.

1. Notify your local area building control department of the work before you commence. They will organise inspection and certification of your work.

2. Employ an electrician to do the work and notify BC for you. In many cases for minor jobs this does work out cheaper, and in the case of replacing a fuse box, is something I would recommend, not only because of the complexity, but it is very hard to keep some inspectors happy when it comes to isolating the electricity to your house - I would imagine many are quite . . . picky about it.

 

[divvy]

Thanks for your advice.

If I was to keep the shower where it was but just replace the shower, would I still need to replace the consumer unit. Not trying to be a tight git, would like to know if I can replace the shower without the need of an electrician and the new part P laws?

What is AFAICT?

 

[mikeyd]

What is AFAICT?

As far as I can tell it's an acronym, not sure what for though.

 

[securespark]

GROAN.

(Not another acronym)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Say I can move the cable, would I be breaking the law because of Part P,

Not if you do it safely, and you notify the council before you start.

I know very little about this and there is very little info about for home DIY'ers.

¿Que?

3160 hits.

Over half a million hits.

If I was to keep the shower where it was but just replace the shower, would I still need to replace the consumer unit.

"Need" is a judgement call of a point along the spectrum from "in an ideal world" to "OMG she's gonna blow". As advised, get an electrician to look at your whole installation - the state that it's in and the advisability of overhauling it is not related to replacing the shower, except that if you do upgrade the shower circuit you could probably have a more powerful shower.

Not trying to be a tight git, would like to know if I can replace the shower without the need of an electrician and the new part P laws?

"New"??

1) The consultation document for Part P was issued nearly 6 years ago in May 2002.
2) The results of the consultation were published in September 2002.
3) The first Part P amendment to the Building Regulations was made on 13th July 2004, and laid before Parliament on 22nd of July 2004.
4) Part P came into force over 3 years ago on 1st January 2005.