Advice on Bathroom Extractor

[Martin Watts]

First things first, I'm not an electrician! I'd call myself an advanced DIYer which might well be a swear word on these forums!

I'm aware of the regulations around not doing major work in your house unless you're qualified but I'm not sure exactly what I can and can't do and was after a bit of advice.

The extractor in our bathroom has just broken. I've bought a new inline shower light one to fit in the loft from Screwfix (bathroom has no windows or outside light source) and have read that it is now best practice to add a 3 pole isolator outside the bathroom high up on the wall (there isn't one there at the moment). Also I know that the new regulations say you should follow manufacturers instructions so I also need to fit a 3amp fuse and again, best practise for this is to fuse down the fan and lights from the main circuit? There is no FCU in place for the current fan, its run directly from the light.

So am I allowed to do this in my house myself? Am I right in thinking that the Bathroom and kitchen are areas that I'm just not allowed to touch?

I'm perfectly capable of doing this work myself, but don't want to invalidate any home insurance should the worst happen or cause issue when i come to sell the house.

I've also replaced an immersion heater timer, element and the wire in between the two myself. Is that allowed? It's situated in the airing cupboard.

I've also taken a fused spur from a kitchen socket and run it down the garden (10m in armoured cable) to the shed to power a tumble dryer, external socket (for a mower) and another fused spur from that for a light in the shed too. Again, is that allowed? I would consider this a safer option that what I was using before which was a long extension lead! But as it's permanent I wanted to check the regulations.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[trev]

Unless it's a like for like replacement any electrical work in a special location is notifiable to LABC, this includes outside power arrangements.
Do yourself a favour, please stop what you are doing and call a qualified electrician.

 

[telectrix]

as trev says. bathrooms and external electrical installations are notifiable works and as such you have 3 options.

1. do it and keep quiet ( you say you want it all above board, so that one's out)

2. notify your local building control, pay them a huge fee to inspect your work.

3. employ a registered sparks to do the work and it will be automatically registered. peace of mind and safe.

 

[TaffyDuck]

Saw a bumper sticker once it said "Call an electrician to repair what your husband just fixed" But being serious, its not just about thinking you are competent to do the work you need to have the proper, calibrated test equipment and the knowledge to use it to ensure that what you have done is safe. There wont be a sparks on here who hasn`t had say an earth wire come out of a spured socket or a bad neutral connection that has happened during an install that has only come to light during the testing procedures. Trevs right best get a professional in, insurance be damned its your family at risk if for instance the resistance to earth on your outside power is very high or its not connected at all. You`ll only know when when your lying on the ground stuck to an electric lawnmower.

 

[Martin Watts]

Doesn't that make it a bit of a silly loop hole then? If I replaced the extrator like for like, I'm ok? Even though it isn't conforming to newer regulations?

 

[brooky25]

Do you have rcd protection for the kitchen sockets that you have spured off for the outbuilding ?

 

[TaffyDuck]

Doesn't that make it a bit of a silly loop hole then? If I replaced the extrator like for like, I'm ok? Even though it isn't conforming to newer regulations?

I didnt make the rules and yes the whole system has so many loopholes its ridiculous but I stand by my comments above mate, Your choice it makes no difference to me, only hope you never look back and wish you`d taken my advice.

 

[cook1e]

the moment you modify a circuit you change its characteristics, what will you test the Zs with ?

Martin

 

[telectrix]

when this part pee silliness was implemented, it was deemed by the bureaucrats that a householder was capable of doing simple jobs. for bigger jobs, a plumber, labourer, dog groomer, or whatever, who did a 5 week crash course and paid his scam fees was required to do the more technical jobs, but a qualified spark with 20+ years' experience who didn't join a cash generating scam can't do diddly squat in his own house. welcome to the loony bin created by blair and brown.

 

[Martin Watts]

@brooky I got an RCD outside socket that the mower and things go into, but the whole spur is just fused in the kitchen.

I take all the points you guys have raised, thanks. I think I'll get someone in to give the place a check up as I doubt it has been checked since it was built in the 70s.

I guess they can fit the new fan at the same time now I have all the bits!

@cook1e and @taffy duck - You make a good point that I hadn't considered and haven't tested the earth in the shed. It's connected, but I may well offer less resistance than the 10+ meters of cable back to the consumer unit.

Glad I asked the question now

 

[TaffyDuck]

when this part pee silliness was implemented, it was deemed by the bureaucrats that a householder was capable of doing simple jobs. for bigger jobs, a plumber, labourer, dog groomer, or whatever, who did a 5 week crash course and paid his scam fees was required to do the more technical jobs, but a qualified spark with 20+ years' experience who didn't join a cash generating scam can't do diddly squat in his own house. welcome to the loony bin created by blair and brown.

100% right, on the bright side Labour got everything else right, like Iraq, Things can only get better, no more boom and bust etc etc etc.

 

[Dave 85]

Personally, if I can get away with it, I don't tend to worry too much about abiding by rules i dont believe in.
Just saying.
And yes, labour were an absolute bunch of theiving, incompetent, spineless, corrupt, warmongering, communist, liberal retards.

 

[trev]

You can't pick and choose which laws are ok to abide by and which are not imho.

 

[Octopus]

Personally, if I can get away with it, I don't tend to worry too much about abiding by rules i dont believe in.
Just saying.
And yes, labour were an absolute bunch of theiving, incompetent, spineless, corrupt, warmongering, communist, liberal retards.

and they ignored warnings from the Treasury in 2005/2006 that tax revenues were not going to cover future expenditure and should start making cuts!