NICEIC Inspections & Approval

nstreet · 26 Sep 2004

We moved into our new home last December and we are now making changes to various things. When we moved in we noticed that the CU cover has been inspected and approved by a NICEIC member the year previous, so we assumed that all elctrics would be ok.

I have just chnaged the heating controls and isolated what I thought was the CH system at the CU, when I commenced work, whilst checking the cables I found it was still live. Through trial and error I eventually found the correct mcb. Not being happy with this I checked a few others and found to my horror that the mcb marked HW doesn't isolate the electric hw and it infact comes off a spur on the main ring. Who knows what other problems there may be.

How in depth are NICEIC inspections and are they worth it?

breezer · 26 Sep 2004

i should say they are like an MOT

you need one, it should be done thoroughly, but a few £ in the right place (so i am told) and hey presto

I should say that most people are not willing to pay for something like an inspection because to them its a waste of money, so as i said a few £ here and ..............

Leeds spark · 26 Sep 2004

came accross this once myself.Turned out the board had been bought secondhand and nobody bothered to alter the markings.Out of interest,has your house had an immersion heater removed and combi boiler fitted?Many plumbers fit the spur themselves from the nearest available point,which is usually the ring main.

Lectrician · 26 Sep 2004

Was a periodic report that was done (a sticker would be put oc CU to say its done)??

There is nothing to force a home owner to correct problems found during an inspection, these faults will be listed on the periodic test forms.

A few incorrectly labeled MCB's isnt the end of the world.

nstreet · 26 Sep 2004

There is a sticker on the CU but we have no report.

It may not be the end of the world but think of the consequences of incorrect labelling. Electrocution, because you thought you had isoltaed the supply. Fire risk, you have a faulty circuit so you isolate it at the CU, but you haven't isolated the right one, fault still exist and possibility of fire.

Lectrician · 26 Sep 2004

but you should, off course, prove a circuit is dead and safe to work on.

in my opinion, if a board supplies, say, 3 socket circuits, they should all be simply marked sockets. A discription of "upstairs left sockets, 2 downstairs in kitchen and one in the larder" just confuses, a DIY-TWIT would turn it off, and not prove dead. (but he soon would be).

Damocles · 27 Sep 2004

There you go again, no he wouldn't. He would most likely be sitting there cursing whoever labelled the switches.

ban-all-sheds · 27 Sep 2004

Damocles said:
There you go again, no he wouldn't. He would most likely be sitting there cursing whoever labelled the switches.

Instead of doing the correct thing, which is cursing himself for being such a

Lectrician · 27 Sep 2004

Insults!!

BAS, great emoticons.

nstreet · 27 Sep 2004

Not sure who is having a pop at who here.

Yes its sensible to check what you are working on is dead. That i did which is how i found the problems. Yes you can losely lable things e.g upstairs sockets. But what sort of plonker labels the cooker hood as Hot water, Labels the CH as immersion heater and the mcb that is labelled heating, we don;t know what the f*** that does as we haven't been able to trace it.

How about when you're not around at home, does wifey know how to check a circuit is dead and isolate the correct mcb because the CH has gone mad and is about to burn the house down.... Oh yeah it must be the breaker labelled upstairs lights.

If you are not going to bother with sensible labels why bother, let just have all the mcbs unlabelled.

securespark · 28 Sep 2004

nstreet said:
and found to my horror that the mcb marked HW doesn't isolate the electric hw

I think people are having a pop at the geezer whothinks it is reasonable to make assumptions (a VERY dangerous practice with Electricity) - and that there should be an accurate circuit description at the CU - when pulling fuses. To rely on labelling as a means of isolation is madness.

It is VERY common for circuits to be altered, removed, replaced etc, and the circuit description to be left as is.

ban-all-sheds · 28 Sep 2004

securespark said:
I think people are having a pop at the geezer whothinks it is reasonable to make assumptions (a VERY dangerous practice with Electricity) - and that there should be an accurate circuit description at the CU - when pulling fuses.

Yes and no. It is reasonable to expect an accurate description at the CU; 514-01-01, 514-08-01 etc.

It is unreasonable to trust your safety to its accuracy without checking it.

It is VERY common for circuits to be altered, removed, replaced etc, and the circuit description to be left as is.

Very common, and wrong.

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

NICEIC Inspections & Approval

breezer

Similar threads