Rough price guide

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We've just had a new garage built which is approx 25ft from the house.
We've run armoured cable underground and into the garage and the other end into where the fusebox is.
Were getting some quotes for the following but want a rough guide on what to expect to pay so we know we aren't being ripped off again (based in Yorkshire)

connect cable to fusebox
5 x 4ft striplights
1 light switch at side door to turn on 1 striplight at back over workbench
1 light switch at side door to turn on other 4 striplights in main area
1 light switch at front door of garage to turn on main 4 stripslights
4 plug sockets at rear over workbench

i'm guessing some sort of junction box is needed from main armoured cable to split wires running to lights/ powerpoints?

Thanks
 
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You will normally use a small 2 way fuseboard in the garage in order to split and fuse down the circuits, and to terminate the SWA.

The total cost of the work will be a three figure sum. Can't be any more accurate than this as there are too many variables.
 
We've run armoured cable underground and into the garage and the other end into where the fusebox is.
How did you work out what size to use?

How deep is it, and how did you prepare the trench?

And are you expecting an electrician to lie and say that he installed it?
 
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We've run armoured cable underground and into the garage and the other end into where the fusebox is.
How did you work out what size to use?

How deep is it, and how did you prepare the trench?

And are you expecting an electrician to lie and say that he installed it?

We had the whole house rewired a few weeks ago and told that sparky about the plans for the garage. He left the cable saying he would wire it up if we wanted to lay the cable (to save some cost).
That sparky turned out to be unreliable and left a mess so we aren't using him for the garage wiring - thats where the cable came from

The cable is buried under a hedge, under a concrete step and under 2-3ft of soil+ gravel
 
under a hedge???

presumably 2-3 feet below the hedge?

soil + gravel?
so no soft sand to lay the cable on and on top of the cable to:
1. Protect the cable from stones and such.
2. Provide a visible indication of something down there before you hit the cable..

for reason 2, you should also lay warning tape in the trench about 6 inches above the wire..
 
The Spark wont be able to self cerify the supply to the garage, as he didnt install it, You had an obligation to contact your Local Area Building Control office prior to installing it to allow them to verify compliance { Big Fee Involved}....at worse case scenario they could instruct you to dig it up and re-install it. :cry:
 
The Spark wont be able to self cerify the supply to the garage, as he didnt install it, You had an obligation to contact your Local Area Building Control office prior to installing it to allow them to verify compliance { Big Fee Involved}....at worse case scenario they could instruct you to dig it up and re-install it. :cry:

But of course, we all know that there will be those out there who will, especially of they sympathise with the situation you've been left in by the previous electrician.

In terms of cost, there's probably a couple of hundred quids worth of materials there - in addition to your list, there will also be whatever turns out to be necessary to terminate at either end of the cable. This might involve a mini CU in the garage, and perhaps henley blocks + switchfuse in the house depending on number of spare ways in existing unit. With labour, I'd be very suspicious if anyone quotes less than £500.
 
Is the other sparky aware that you have blown him out?
Its just that hes left you enough armoured to lay in a 25ft run, for your benefit to get cost down.
That probably cost him a few quid, but may not have charged you for it as he may have been expecting to return to finish off.

Have you done the honourable thing and paid him?
 
We had the whole house rewired a few weeks ago
Did he finish the job properly?

Have you got an EIC?

Have you had your Building Regulations completion certificate yet?


He left the cable saying he would wire it up if we wanted to lay the cable
But he didn't specify how you should lay it so that it would comply with the regulations?
 
But of course, we all know that there will be those out there who will, especially of they sympathise with the situation you've been left in by the previous electrician.
That might depend on whether they are fed up with trying to rescue people who have been let down by their previous electrician.
 
We had the whole house rewired a few weeks ago
Did he finish the job properly?

Have you got an EIC?

Have you had your Building Regulations completion certificate yet?


He left the cable saying he would wire it up if we wanted to lay the cable
But he didn't specify how you should lay it so that it would comply with the regulations?

There were numerous small problems after the rewire, sockets not working, switches not working, etc, the holes left in the walls were supposed to be filled in by a plasterer but he had 1 of his lads fill them with silicone instead :eek:
we left a dozen messages on his answerphone trying to get him back and after 5 weeks we finally got in touch and he said he hadn't had any messages :evil:
We have the certificate even though he didn't work on the wiring himself (his lads did) and he didn't even check their work - hence so many problems, how can he issue a certificate if he hadn't checked????

Due to the poor work this is why we didn't want him back

We've now got someone doing the garage this week for less than £300 all in (and yes he's a qualified sparky)
 
There were numerous small problems after the rewire, sockets not working, switches not working, etc,
Those aren't small problems, they are serious flaws, and with socket ring circuits the type of mistakes involved could leave sockets "working" but with potentially lethal hidden dangers.


We have the certificate even though he didn't work on the wiring himself (his lads did) and he didn't even check their work - hence so many problems, how can he issue a certificate if he hadn't checked????
He can't - and if you had sockets and switches not working then clearly his lads can't have done anything remotely approaching proper testing.

So on 2 counts any certificates you have are forgeries, and the test results faked.


Due to the poor work this is why we didn't want him back
You need to do more than that - you need to contact whichever scheme he was in (NICIEC, NAPIT etc) and tell them exactly what happened, and how you are concerned that because of the faults the circuits were obviously not tested properly.

Complain to Trading Standards too.

Basically:

Sockets & switches not working means conductors not connected. If they can do that with lives or neutrals they can do it with the earths, but you won't know. Until you need a working earth to save your life.

Conductors not properly connected means that the circuit(s) could not have passed the basic tests for continuity, so either they were not tested, and the results fabricated, or they were tested, failures ignored, and the results fabricated.

I'm not exaggerating or trying to scare you unnecessarily - your rewire could be a ticking time bomb.


We've now got someone doing the garage this week for less than £300 all in (and yes he's a qualified sparky)
While he's there, if you can do it without clocking up a lot of extra fees, tell him what happened, and see what he says about the likelihood of proper testing having been done.
 
While he's there, if you can do it without clocking up a lot of extra fees, tell him what happened, and see what he says about the likelihood of proper testing having been done.

thanks for the advice - i was going to ask him to check the wiring and see what can be done

Rob
 

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