Assessmemt

[uksparks]

Hi,

Just had a draining day with the bloke from the NIC,

I am pleased to say my cheque cleared and I am now subject to the office processing the paperwork on the NICEIC Approved Contractor scheme.

He was very happy with me and couldn't really find much to pick me up on.

I incorrectly identified a CPC as 1.5mm and not 1.0mm but recalculated it all in front of him and told him the length of it etc and he was pleased.

Also, somehow identified or clicked the wrong box and said an earth type was TNC-S and not TNS, not sure how that happened, blonde moment maybe.

Anyway, a long day, he has just gone having approved at 08:30, but a good outcome!

 

[Richard Burns]

Well done!:hurray:

 

[Flanders]

arty:well done now the cheque cleared you will be fine

 

[brucelee]

Congratulations mate your in, especially when the cheque clears only kidding good on you

 

[uksparks]

I was asked a lot of questions, only a couple I was unsure of.

One thing he did pick me up on was the max zs obtained on a circuit after I did a board change, it was just over the max permissible, I have to say I didn't notice for whatever reason, felt like a bit of a plonker!

actually one thing that did come up, who uses junction boxes with wagos in?

scenario, move a light switch from one wall to another, you need to extend the wires, he was telling me I cannot use wago connectors in a junction box under the floor. He said I have to put a faceplate on the wall with an accessible junction in it.... Really?

 

[brucelee]

You can if the Junction box is of the MF variety with it clearly marked and the connections do not require adjustment in future for inspection and testing ie like old style JB

 

[uksparks]

MF? What do you mean?

 

[uksparks]

I said I was under the impression that wagos were classed as non maintainable but he said the only non maintainable connection was a crimp from hydraulic calibrated crimpers

 

[davesparks]

You can use any maintenance free connection in that situation. A wago box with wago connectors can be used, along with mf joint boxes or line enclosures.

NIC assessors are very good at presenting their, and their bosses, opinions as fact. Just like anyone else you simply challenge them to prove their point in the regulations.
A copy of the regs and the MIs for the wago box or whatever will prove him wrong.


And for the record the best solution is to run a complete new switch cable and not have any joints in it.

 

[brucelee]

you do not have to maintain as the connections are permanent like LINE enclosures and using there connectors which you also get a cable tie with that has MF on it and BS number so the enclosure then cant be accessed without the use of a tool

 

[SJD]

actually one thing that did come up, who uses junction boxes with wagos in?

scenario, move a light switch from one wall to another, you need to extend the wires, he was telling me I cannot use wago connectors in a junction box under the floor. He said I have to put a faceplate on the wall with an accessible junction in it.... Really?

Actually it is possible he was confusing maintenance-free connections vs. Part P building regulations. For example, to avoid leaving cables in zones outside of safe zones, you might still want to leave a blanking plate, to indicate a cable dropping down to the old switch, which then goes perhaps horizontally to the new switch location.

 

[uksparks]

I think ill just accept it was probably best to lick his --- and keep him happy instead of disagree with him as this was the first time I had met him and it was my first AC assessment.

Personally I think he was wrong.

And yes, for the record, the correct was is to re-wire the leg etc with no junction.

He picked up on a bit of cable that was not capped and has plaster on it, but to be fair, its never going to cause a problem in a million years, but from now on ill learn to hide my bad ways better!

 

[ipf]

I think ill just accept it was probably best to lick his --- and keep him happy instead of disagree with him as this was the first time I had met him and it was my first AC assessment.

Personally I think he was wrong.

And yes, for the record, the correct was is to re-wire the leg etc with no junction.

He picked up on a bit of cable that was not capped and has plaster on it, but to be fair, its never going to cause a problem in a million years, but from now on ill learn to hide my bad ways better!

Arse licking wimps............all over the place.

Mine gets a brew, full stop.

Oh, and a free taxi ride.

 

[edexlab]

I'm guessing I won't be the first to say this, but challenging a CPS assessor is a waste of time,
I got pulled for only one thing by the guy 3yrs ago and he was talking rubbish , I was annoyed and challenged it via email, he kept up an unviable argument to save losing face so I rang the Nic helpline on several occasions and they agreed with me and I even asked and got an email from 3 of them (they didn't know who was disputing the subject) quoting their opinion and with their names and positions within the organisation, of course there was a disclaimer on each.
So I forwarded them on to the guy and didn't hear anything further on
It still makes me angry especially as I'd taken him to some difficult installs with various issues deliberately to show I'd thought and carefully planned the jobs and that I was worthy of the approved status.