Consumer Unit Faults

[rob121]

Evening all,
Had to do a consumer unit change today. Advised customer to have a pir done before hand to see what condition the system was in but he didnt want to pay the extra money. Anyway changed the unit today, replaced with dual rcd board. One rcd wouldnt stay on so tracked it down to being the downstairs ring. Disconnected for now so will have to look into it further. The problem is there is so many faults with the system and the customer doesnt want to spend too much money sorting them out before christmas. The faults ive found so far are:
1)Alarm system wired directly into socket (0.5mm into 32A ring!)
2)Garage wired directly into socket (1mm 3 core)
3)All cpc's cut off at every lighting point, with at 6 lights which are class 1
4)Downlights not IP rated in bathrooms
5)Connector strips used in ceiling to connect downlights (in far enough that cant access blocks to replace)
6)Conservatory sockets wired in 0.75mm flex connected to ring main, not even at a socket so I cant disconnect.

I appreciate some of the work is not too much agro to sort, I most likely will just go mad with some FCUs on the overloaded cable, but its other bits such as replacing lights and the other faults which im yet to discover that im wondering about.
Feel bad for them as theyre an elderly couple and have just recently had a lot of the work done, including paying £150 each for the class 1 lights!
Lots of minor faults which I sorted as I went. Still only inspected half the house. Still got the gararge, sheds, kitchen etc to do. So my question is, seen as the customer doesnt want to pay me to sort these issues out, is writing a certificate and just listing these problems acceptable, perhaps along with a danger notification, or do I need to keep it isolated to until its sorted?

Thanks for you help


Rob

 

[rob121]

cheers guys, on page 8 (i think) of best practise guide, for replacing unit when lights have no cpc, on the action table in "class 1 in other areas", it mentions putting label on unit. Metallic lights are in bedrooms and hallway. Point taken on the disclaimer though, just read the bpg again and noticed the disclaimer not being valid.

Will have a good chat with him tomorrow, explaining this. Pain in the arse but there we go.

Any thoughts on the lights not being IP rated?


Thanks again lads,
Rob

 

[Robinson]

I mean i know they not got much dosh but you can get IP rated bath spots for £10 each these days . TLC have some stock clearance stuff on at mo. also Ebay for odd sale of some cheaper bits. plenty of places doing em.

Mind you you got the old eyeball spots in there? that can be a pain if the old huge ones....means new holes maybe.

I recent had same issue, managed to convince client to change all fittings to plastic inc switches and then tested put sticker on board.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Any thoughts on the lights not being IP rated?

How high is the ceiling, if it's more than 2.25m, then it's outside of the zones, and unless there's a shower, and there's a light over it, then the normal IP ratings apply.

 

[rob121]

Will have to check tomorrow what size the holes are. Will ring NIC tomorrow and see what they suggest. End of the day hes said he will pay for any work that needs to be done to rectify faults at the beginning of the job so as long as I dont go mad he should be okay (he will have to be).
Another pain ive got is there was a 2.5mm radial connected to a 15A fuse in his unit. Could I find where it went, could I b******s lol. Ive put the mcb in the unit for it but not connected it yet. Hopefully he will notice if its something still in use. He did tell me the bloke who owned the house before him was a builder and had plastered live cables into the wall.....now he tells me lol.

 

[rob121]

How high is the ceiling, if it's more than 2.25m, then it's outside of the zones, and unless there's a shower, and there's a light over it, then the normal IP ratings apply.

No its not high enough, checked that earlier. Also hes got a bath with a flexible shower head on it. Should of become a plumber .......

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Got to be a code 2 then.

 

[Des 56]

Hi Mate,



As far as Iam aware that won't do, the client is not a competant person and cannot make this decision, you are, and if the worst should happen it will be you in the brown stuff!

I don't think you can issue an EIC with faults on either (non compliances yes), these must be made safe/compliant, (or disconnected, and missed off the EIC until rectified and re-connected) as others have said "between a rock and a hard place".

Would it not be better to defer issuing the paper work until it is all sorted ? or even maybe classed as an unplanned/emergency replacement CU ? as the ESC make provision for this eventuality

Spark 68 s advise is sound, my opinion
The job is not complete,the remainder of the work is to follow
The supplier will install an rcd as a temporary measure,you have installed the same

Notification and certification when the job is complete and to stanadard
A contract signed by the customer with this in mind

 

[rob121]

Yes i think thats good advice. The job isnt complete till its been rectified so wont certify. The installation is much safer now as its now got rcd protection and bonding has been fitted etc. Will just wait and see what he says. I can understand if he wants to leave it till after christmas but I will just hold back on issueing certificate. Will still phone NIC though and see what they say about bathroom lights.

Thanks again,

Rob

 

[rob121]

Just to give an update. Spoke to NIC today, they basically reinforced what has already been said on here. Told the customer today about having to change lights to meet regs, refused to go ahead with it. So what im thinking is to disconnect the feed to the non compliant lights, make a note of this on the cert, also fill in a danger notification form and get customer to sign it. Or other option is to fit cheap class 2 lights at my own expense and leave him with the existing lights. Hes already said to me either way he will just re connect the original lights anyway.
I suppose this is down to him at the end of the day and as long its safe and upto regs when I leave then theres not really a lot more I can do is there? I cant stop him at the end of the day. Ill just make sure I note exactly what ive done and take some pics on my phone of the work that I do. Hes more than happy for me to walk away and not leave any cert etc but ive explained its not quite as easy as that.

 

[Octopus]

Re the class 1 lights - I had a similar experience and Elecsa said I could note it on the EIC and write a letter to the client outlining the dangers. The homeowner had lived there for 30+ years and was happy to live with the "danger"!

As far as I'm concerned I told them, noted on the cert and moved on to the next job.

 

[JamesBrownLive]

Obviously hindsight is 20-20, but you could have adopted a different approach initially.

Whilst I'm not suggesting that you should have done a PIR for nothing, you could have taken this approach...

Tell the customer that before you can do the CU change you need to do some tests, put a value on this of say £50, and say that if everything works out fine, the £50 will be taken off the final bill. However, if the tests raise serious issues re remedial works that need doing before a CU change can be made, and the customer does not agree to have them done, then the £50 will become your fee for appraising the job. If the customer is not even prepared to do this, then I'd just walk away.