what test should be carried out

[panny300]

if a spur is put onto an existing ring,or a few downlighters added to an existing lighting circuit,what part of the circuit should be tested? the new addition or the whole circuit.
which certificate should it be under?

 

[jj4091]

The whole circuit. Minor works cert.

 

[panny300]

thanks jj. so lets say on a lighting circuit, all lamps/tubes must be removed,any electronics ie dimmers disconnnected,(what if something in the loft or hidden elsewhere is still connected) or something has been taken off the lighting circuit by a previous owner that new owner knows nothing about,which i assume would mean reading a fault,this then has to be tracked down,taking hours maybe? so a job that should be an hour could end up costing a fortune, or does this not happen

 

[securespark]

In some circles, it is accepted to just IR between the phases & earth.

 

[RF Lighting]

thanks jj. so lets say on a lighting circuit, all lamps/tubes must be removed,any electronics ie dimmers disconnnected,(what if something in the loft or hidden elsewhere is still connected) or something has been taken off the lighting circuit by a previous owner that new owner knows nothing about,which i assume would mean reading a fault,this then has to be tracked down,taking hours maybe? so a job that should be an hour could end up costing a fortune, or does this not happen

You should check the circuit you intend to connect to is safe before you carry out any modifications to it.

If it is not then fit a new circuit.

 

[panny300]

what i mean rf is that a previous owner could have connected let's say a light that is not easily found, so a lamp is still in the circuit, which i assume would show up as a fault in your testing?you can't advise the customer to have their lighting circuit rewired as it's not really a fault.
so how would you find out that is not a fault and how long would you spend on tracing it when all the customer wanted was a couple of downlights fitted.

 

[RF Lighting]

It would only show as a fault if it was switched on. Therefore when the power is on you just follow the light.


Its a tough call. Every job is different. Experience often tells you straight away wether a circuit is going to be suitable to connect to.