A spark rewiring his own house

[Guest112]

Hi as title says just interested in what you other sparks would do in this situation. Im a spark on the books with a contracting company so bar my JIB card I am not registered with any scheme and never have been so am a bit unaware of what you self employed sparks would do in my situation. I know a lot of sparks who have wired their own houses and just kept it to themselves without notifying the LABC or being on any scheme at all. Can you sprks tell me the pros and cons of either stuation notifying the LABC or just doing it without. Im not looking for a loophole or to do anything wrong but as i mentioned this is my house and im not wiring it and renovating it to sell straight away Thanks in advance

 

[stuart569]

If you're redoing all of the boiler wiring then 1.5mm will be a bit big for the stat. If you're just redoing the supply side then that s/b fine.

What about smokes (min upstairs landing and downstairs hall)/heat alarm for kitchen

I'd suggest running separate cables for cooker and hob, just for a bit of flexibility.

What about loft/garage and outside lighting supplies?

Why is 1.5 too big for stat?I use it all the time

 

[topquark]

Why is 1.5 too big for stat?I use it all the time

So did I, wired in one of the new programmable stats last week and it needed a link and getting two 1.5mm's in hard, needed to deform the conductors to get them in (not a good idea generally).

 

[topquark]

the boiler is brand new so only will be doing the supply. but the stat is in the kitchen i think ill move it to the hall.
No garage mate wont need a supply out of the house and as far as outside lighting i might install a light in the garden good shout.
Completely skipped my mind about the smokeys whoops lol like i said im tired alternating night and day shifts lol
Ye so two smokeys and a heat which i can incorperate into the lighting as they are a regularly used circuits i think (books are in the van)
The loft i will just install a light off the upstairs lighting wont need power up there so happy days.

Ye the oven aswell might incorporate that into the hob circuit somehow, read a thread on here about that will re read it.
Will be a change for me doing a bit of domestic for once lol

The smokes circuit is supposed to be separately isolatable from the regularly used lighting circuit (according to the onsite guide), I've yet to find out any reg or building reg that is derived from.

 

[WayneL]

You might want to get some 2.5mm for your sockets, Peter.

Anyway, back to the OP.

I fail to see what everyones problem is with Part P.

Electrical work is now a part of the building regulations and most of it (in a dwelling) requires notification to the LABC.

Why do 'qualified' electricians think they are exempt from this??

If a bricklayer, with 30 years experience, decides he wants to extend his home, do you think he goes on a 'Bricklayer Forum' and says: "I want to build my own extension, I'll be doing the work myself, do I still have to notify, (and pay), LABC?"

I don't think so - It's either 'full plans' or a 'building notice' and he pays the fee - end of - so why do sparks think they are so different??

If anything, sparks are better off than the 'brickie' because, if they register, they can 'self-certify' their work........I bet there are loads of 'brickies' who wish they could.

 

[Engineer54]

I think there is just a little bit of a difference between structural work and electrical work!!!

The argument stems from the point of the crazy fee's the LABC want, are basically the same as Joe Public and can easily be the price of a the work being notified. That and the reasoning behind, if your a fully qualified, and competent electrician, why would you need having another electrician that may not be as qualified, or as competent to inspect and test your work. I'm sure others here can come up with far better reasoning than I !!! lol!!

 

[Guest112]

The smokes circuit is supposed to be separately isolatable from the regularly used lighting circuit (according to the onsite guide), I've yet to find out any reg or building reg that is derived from.

ye your right ive decided im going to run them on their own circuit ive managed to get a free drum of three core anyway so saves the hassle of putting a spur off the lighting

 

[Guest112]

i know im not exempt mate simply asking what everyones opinion is and asked about the process as i said im not a self employed spark i work for a contracting firm on the books and have never had to deal with this before as the office deal with schemes etc

And as ive said in one of my posts im either going to get my EIC signed off by an engineer at work or pay the LABC for certification as i do want to do it legally to avoid repercussions in the future and before you go on about an engineer signing off my work just save it please ive worked with the guy for 6 years

 

[Guest112]

UPDATE

all sorted spoke to an engineer at my firm whos happy to issue the cert for me after i inspect and test my work, he also informed me that hes heard of instances with the council where they have sent out a mechanical engineers to inspect electrical work (mustve been the only guy in the office), so hes saved me money and the hassle of contacting LABC so all in all happy days. also ill be sorted out with a few drums of free cable. thanks for the advice though people

 

[arturas]

If there's no electrics certificate issued for this house when you bought it, when selling you can simply state that all your electrics is as it was before and there was no certificate when you bought it, unless you are building something like extension or loft conversion and you will have to notify building control, then it means that you will have to install new electric circuits for new builded aeries, then you will need a certificate, but even then you can state that new circuits are just in ect. extension and everything else is old.

 

[telectrix]

so how would he explain brown/blue cable in a house he bought in 1996?????

 

[topquark]

His wife was redecorating?

 

[arturas]

telectrix in that case yep it would be hard, unless those colours was in other countries, then import is possibility it is very hard to prove something when there's no history of any jobs had been done. I'm all ways saying it's not a good idea to obviate the lows but it is possible. My friend is renting a house from an agency and there's no earthing at all, no earthing coming to cu except cpc, no earthing to water or gas either, an agency found a way to rent it legally with signing all the documents etc etc...

 

[Sid]

How much does your LABC charge? Calderdale (HX) charges £220 per install

 

[telectrix]

telectrix in that case yep it would be hard, unless those colours was in other countries, then import is possibility it is very hard to prove something when there's no history of any jobs had been done. I'm all ways saying it's not a good idea to obviate the lows but it is possible. My friend is renting a house from an agency and there's no earthing at all, no earthing coming to cu except cpc, no earthing to water or gas either, an agency found a way to rent it legally with signing all the documents etc etc...

issue your friend with a danger notice and get him to show it to trading standards. that should make the brown stuff hit the fan for the robbing shark agent,

 

[arturas]

I keep telling that at least he could tell to an agency to fix it because it's really no safe. And especially all the sockets and switches are metal plated...but when everything is all right for some time people think: what could go wrong,everything is fine..