What does an inspection result it

[unskilled]

I am in Scotland and I think that may be significant.
My house was built in about 1905 and has obviously been rewired since then. It is grey PVC cables and a fuse box with re-wirable fuses.
I'd like to find out any problems with my electrical installation but I do not want to suddenly find myself with no electricity.
If I ask a local electrician to do an inspection will he simply give me a report and list of recommendations or is it like with gas when the inspector has the power to terminate the supply if it is not 100% safe.
I'm reasonable sure there is nothing too bad but I'd like to check.
Does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to get an inspection of a two bedroomed flat?

 

[Taylortwocities]

You can ask an electrician with the necessary level of competence to carry out the inspection and make a report.
Your electrician should have a qualification in Inspection & Testing. City and Guilds 2391 or equivalent. Do check this as, in my opinion, many electrical installers are able to wire things up, but don't have the skills to make thourough checks, report and make judgement calls on existing installations.

This may give you an insight into what is involved. http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/mediafile/100126678/best-Practice-Guide-4.pdf

The electrician will need to disconnect the power to carry out some of the tests. He will produce a report that will classify anything that he/she may find that does not meet the requirements of TODAY's wiring regulations (BS7671).
Note that regulations are not retrospective, but he will/should highlight things like your rewireable fuseboard does not meet today's requirements, and will make a recommndation that it should be brought up to date. (See C3 Improvement Recommended in the above link).

It is unlikely that a fault would be found that would require that power is disconnected immediately. He/she will call your attention to anything that endangers life or property - you will probably want that made safe immediately?

Cost is hard to detail. I would expect a couple of hours on site plus at least an hour to produce a report + travel. So allow half a day of cost.

Best to get two or three quotes. Avoid anyone that says they can do a "drive by" inspection or claims they can do it in an hour or so - it isnt possible.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is unlikely that a fault would be found that would require that power is disconnected immediately.

And even then, to answer the OP's main worry, unlike with gas an electrician does not have the power to turn your supply off.

 

[ericmark]

One is not permitted to make a dwelling uninhabitable without finding alternative accommodation for the occupants. One of course could phone a 5 star hotel and confirm there is a vacancy but one can't simply switch off and lock off.

The problem arises that to test one has switched off and as an electrician one can't switch on an unsafe system. However neither can one lock it off. If the house holder chooses to switch it on again as you leave the door than that's up to him.

The same is basic true for gas they like the electrician can turn it off but not do anything to prevent it form being switched on again if needed to make the home inhabitable.

Very different with commercial premises the electrician can in theroy over ride the managing director although nothing stops the director then firing the electrician. Remember it's making it uninhabitable so can't remove lighting, cooking and heating including domestic hot water but to isolate the radial supplying TV is permitted.

In real terms common sense must prevail and if for example the immersion heater has an earth fault then he should really disconnect it even if strictly not permitted as for one thing it could cause further faults meaning loss of all power and two there is a very real danger. And you as the house holder would be crazy to want him to do anything else.

But in real terms faults getting code one are rare without the owner being aware before testing there is a problem.

Electrical systems are designed to fail safe and if the earth in intact in the main that's what they do. The exception is the lights. Pre-1966 it was not required to earth lights. In theroy since homes should be tested every 10 years, Scotland every 5 years then this fault should have been highlighted many times. But in the real world there are many houses with no earth on the lights.

The major problem is DIY or other work damaging the electrics but not enough to cause it to stop working. The sad case of Emma Shaw shows how it does not need to be the electrician to make the system unsafe it could just as well be the plaster, and plumber both also made errors although it was the lack of testing which allowed these errors to cause a death.

Fortunately case like this are rare. Mary Wherry case hit national news and clearly this in unusual.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Mary Wherry's case hit the news because of who her mother was, not because her death was due to a rare cause.

 

[ericmark]

To me we have two things we need to protect from.
1) An electric shock.
2) A fire caused by an electrical fault.
The death form electric shock gets good publicity but a fire less so as there is normally some uncertainty to if an appliance or installation caused the fire.

With commercial I have had the job of testing every electrical junction box for loose connections often having the label service. But with domestic owners are less inclined to give up their hard earned cash to have some one test terminals to see if tight enough.

The EICR or PIR with commercial included correcting faults as the whole idea is to reduce down time and so safe money. With domestic the electrician testing and inspecting often only does that and a second electrical is required to actually do the repairs.

It's all down to trust really, a firm will likely employ the same electrician over a long time and he will have a working relationship and knows what needs authorisation and what can be done as found.

With domestic so often price is the major item. Commercial trust is the major item. Plus of course being flexible and doing the repair with minimum disruption to production. When I was a lad we would often use the same electrician as the firm used we knew what he was like. But Part P and the Scottish equivalent resulted in electrician working on domestic having to pay to be a member of a scheme so electricians had to decide commercial or domestic and in the main electricians go one way or the other so no longer can you get the firms electrician to work on your house.

With an EICR there is nothing to stop a commercial electrician doing the work. But it is all recommendation rather than price.

 

[SimonH2]

One is not permitted to make a dwelling uninhabitable without finding alternative accommodation for the occupants.

Actually, that isn't true.

In certain cases, and gas is a prime example, there are people who are allowed to disconnect and "lock off" a supply. In the case of an RGI, he is not permitted to leave a gas supply connected to a faulty/dangerous appliance. Technically the owner/occupier is permitted to refuse permission to disconnect the appliance - but in that case the RGI can call Transco who will (if it's the only option left) dig the road up and disconnect the supply pipe.
That is set out in various regulations and codes of practice.

For electrics, it's a different matter. However, if a sparky came across a situation where there was an immediate danger to life, then I believe he can call the DNO who can, if they agree, also disconnect the electricity supply. I suspect that's a quite rare occurrence given that electricity doesn't "leak out" and create an explosive atmosphere or create toxic gasses in use !

EDIT: Just to clarify - making the property uninhabitable doesn't put the issue of where the occupants go onto the person causing the disconnection. It would be for the homeowner or landlord to find alternative accommodation.