Want to change my old Fuse box

[GavinC]

Hi Chaps.

Hope you can help me. I purchased mu house now 2 years ago, and it needed alot of work. I have fitted a new Kitchen new bathrooms started every room from scratch and now im nearly done. I have changed all the sockets and light switches for chrome ones, and wired in new switch locations in the Kitchen, by cunning the ring main under the floor attaching a junction box and then witing out an extra cable to my new sockets. Additionally i have earthed all the pipe work in the bathrooms.

What i want to do now is have a new fuse box in stalled as its an old wired one so if a fuse blows i cant just flick a switch. I'm told that i need to update my earth supply to the fuse box by connecting it to my Gas piping, I have no problems doing this, is it correct and what earth cable should i use? Then im going to get a sparky to fit the Box (as i think that changing this is even above my head). Is there anything else i need to do other than present a new earth before i call one in? and does anyone expect me to have any issues with me having done the work i have described above.

Any advice welcome.

Cheers

 

[Steve]

I have an issue with the kitchen sockets - you cant just create a spur and run loads of sockets on it willy-nilly. Maximum on one spur is a double socket. Any more is dangerous.

 

[GavinC]

In the kitchen i have added 2 sockets both at oposite ends, and in both instances i cun the ring added a connecter (is this a spur) and wired in 1 double socket of each. Is this what you are meaning?

 

[EddieCurrent]

Hi,
How have you tested and notified the work that you have been doing, if you have done this much, properly, then I wonder why you ask these questions ?
"by running the ring main under the floor attaching a junction box and then witing out an extra cable to my new sockets". This jb must be accessible ? one cable for 'sockets' ?? ( in a kitchen !!)

If you did not test the work as you went along , who knows what the spark might find !!


10mm will do for your mebc.

The testing and inspection that the elec will do will find out if there are problems within your home, and he can check your bonding is up to scratch, he'll be well worth his money believe me.Get him in sooner than later my friend.

 

[GavinC]

Thanks for the reply.

I did not run the ring main, i have cut the existing one and just wired a plug socket into where i cut it.
The testing i did was to pulg something in (i.e a light or microwave), and they have been working away happly every since (2 years) is there something else i should have done? or can do now.

I cant get to the connections under the floor anymore, as the wife has put a very expencive floor over it. and i cant get it up withiot destroying it, and that would be more than my life is worth .

 

[ColJack]

exactly the point, every junction box needs to be accessible for testing.

since this is something I do not do, ever, I don't need to know whether you can or not.. but... you can AFAIK, spur ONE SINGLE socket off a ring, NO MORE....!!

the wrath of the missus will be the least of your worries if those cables overheat or the connections come loose and your house burns down..

 

[GavinC]

very good point.

I take it that the sparky will be able to tell if there are any issues with the wiring circuits over heating when he tests it when putting in a new fuse box?

One other thing i just remembered, i have also moved one socket when i movesed an internal bedroom wall, i just used a connecter to extend the current wiring by about 2 foot. Is there anything wrong with extending like that?

 

[EddieCurrent]

Hello,
As long as the 'spurs' that you have fitted are fused @13a say, then you can have as many as you like, but a kitchen is not the place to experiment with max demand .

May I ask if you fitted earth 'fly leads' to your new shiny sockets and switches ?

Do you know what Part P is ?? It's important and relevant and lost me my job this year, your loss my be greater if you dont adddress this sensibly.

 

[GavinC]

The spurs i purchased from B&Q are 13a i believe. From what i remember as it was some time ago.

All the sockets i havfe fitted in the house are earthed.

Is part P what governs Electitians? i understand that i need a part p qualified sparky to change my fuse box and test my cabling. Once he has done this, im covered if i ever wish to sell my house . But correct me if im wrong

 

[C&GStudent]

You should have started this thread before you started DIYing your lectrics Gavin!

Now you have inaccessible junction boxes, cables extended with connector strip, and God knows what else!

You have also carried out illegal work.

I don't particularly care myself, but it sounds like you don't really have a clue what you're doing.

I would give up all electrics from now on, including bonding your gas, and just call a spark to see if he can sort you out.

 

[EddieCurrent]

Hi,
Part P is a Building Control Reg. BS7671 are the electrical guidelines, both are interlinked when it comes to domestics. Work carried out in special locations, bathroom,kitchen needs to be notified and inspected as you do it.
I am not in 'the game' but I would say that the spark would carry out a PIR and this should satisfy the requirements when selling etc. But you will have to understand he needs to make sure it complies with not only Part p, the 7671 but also various regional measures asked for by your local BCO.

('He' or 'She', is signing off an installation which they are responsible for and doing so, and it is much more difficult to see its compliance when someone else has wired it, and may take a in depth inspection and test).

As I say, hope all goes well.

 

[securespark]

May I ask if you fitted earth 'fly leads' to your new shiny sockets and switches ?

Don't need to if at least one occupied lug is fixed, assuming they are not metal light switches.

 

[didthathurt]

The PIR will not certify that the installation complies with the Part P. We are already informed that it does not comply with the 16th edition. All screw terminals have the potential to become loose with time - I find that there is slack to take up only a few minutes after the first tightening of new screw connections.

You say

cunning the ring main under the floor attaching a junction box and then witing out an extra cable to my new sockets

and then

I did not run the ring main, i have cut the existing one and just wired a plug socket into where i cut it

Which is it? Unless you used a JB with at least 5 terminals and a rating of 30+ Amps (and I don't know of one like that being readily available) you cannot have extended the ring or done it safely. If you have put the JB into the existing ring and run one cable to the socket (what size cable?) then you have created an unfused spur which does not comply with the 16th Edition due to the JB's being hidden under the floor.

This work cannot, legally, be signed off by an electrician other than one appointed by the local BCO, in which case the JB's would need to be exposed for the inspection (and would be declared unacceptable). I certainly wouldn't touch this from a certification point of view.

PS

Once he has done this, im covered if i ever wish to sell my house

The law requires that you declare matters that may affect the value of the house. You could find yourself being sued for the cost of making the installation compliant or, even, for damage or injury caused many years later!

 

[ColJack]

he doesn't say how long ago this work was done. ( says bought the house 2 years ago ) so it might have pre-dated part P..

both those things you quoted read the same to me..

he cut the ring, then joined it back together with a JB adding a third cable for his spur..

heres a question for you then, if an electrician registered with part p can only self certify his ( or her, lets not be sexist ) own work, then in 10 years time do you need to get the same one back to do the PIR??

and do you then need to go to the BCO and say you want a PIR and ask for a sparky to be sent round?

 

[dingbat]

he doesn't say how long ago this work was done. ( says bought the house 2 years ago ) so it might have pre-dated part P..

...which came in over two years ago.

heres a question for you then, if an electrician registered with part p can only self certify his ( or her, lets not be sexist ) own work, then in 10 years time do you need to get the same one back to do the PIR??

(here we go, again...)
Anybody competent can sign the relevant parts on an EIC, depending on what elements (Design, Construction or Inspection & Testing) they are responsible for.
However, only a person enrolled on a 'competent persons scheme' can self-certify that the work complies with ALL relevant Building Regulations.
PIRs:
A) are not covered by the building regulations, and
B) are an assessment of the state of an installation at the time of the inspection and can be carried out by anybody suitably competent. (By the way, this excludes 90% of 'electricians'!)

and do you then need to go to the BCO and say you want a PIR and ask for a sparky to be sent round?

Building Control are only concerned that work carried out is up to scratch. Future inspections are of no concern.