Consumer unit upgraded - no earth continuity question?

[Ccx295]

hi all,

I had my consumer unit upgraded by an eletrician and the test on the main socket circuit revealed their is a break somewhere on the earth wire so no continuity.

The eletrician had a quick look around and roughly located where it could be (somewhere under the floorboards between certain plugs) but decided that it would be a better option to downgrade the mcb to a 16amp instead of a 32amp and if we have any tripping issues we can separate the kitchen circuit so that reduces the load on the main circuit.
We are also lucky in that a lot of the kitchen appliances already run on a separate circuit so we may get away with the 16amp anyway.

My only issue is leaving the break, he assures me that it is safe and no real gain in finding the break and money would better spent on adding a new circuit for the kitchen if it is required.

Is this the best way to go in this situation?

Thanks

 

[Pete999]

Yes they are a member of the NICEIC and I'am waiting on the certificates (The job was done at the end of last week so I am not worried about that)

A certificate IS partof the works, therfore payment should not be made until certificate has been issued, in my opinion.

 

[Ccx295]

A certificate IS partof the works, therfore payment should not be made until certificate has been issued, in my opinion.

Thanks, should this be the case for both the installation certificate and part p?

 

[Christopher Bernard]

The cert could be posted, the notification will be a small piece of paper saying something like:

Install a replacement consumer unit
House Dwelling

 

[Des 56]

Being on the job they have a much better understanding of the particular installation than opinions from afar

Certification, although necessary for all installation work, it actually means little with regard the standard of the work carried out

Maybe be a little positive and give a little trust,at least they seem to know what they are doing

 

[Pete999]

I am getting one (waiting on it)
Will this show all sockets are safe then?

Does the test need to be done physically on all sockets in the circuit or can it be done from the consumer unit?

If the work you employed the Electrician for, was swap the consumers unit, thats what the (EIC) Electrical Installation Certificate will show.
An (EICR) Electrical Installation Condition Report on the other hand, is advisable prior to changing a CU, to highlight any problems like the one he encountered with your sockets.
What prompted him to check the sockets, normal procedure, if an EICR is not requested would be to do a few tests to ensure the RCDs on the new CU does not trip unnecessarily.

 

[Ccx295]

Being on the job they have a much better understanding of the particular installation than opinions from afar

Certification, although necessary for all installation work, it actually means little with regard the standard of the work carried out

Maybe be a little positive and give a little trust,at least they seem to know what they are doing

Thanks for the advice.

I do trust completely trust their advice (The guy who installed the unit was brilliant) I was just interested to have a second opinion on what other people thoughts were on the best route to take going forward but now I know as long as each plug has been tested then their is no issue with leaving the break in the circuit.

 

[telectrix]

each socket needs to be tested to confirm presence of cpc.

 

[Pete999]

Thanks for the advice.

I do trust completely trust their advice (The guy who installed the unit was brilliant) I was just interested to have a second opinion on what other people thoughts were on the best route to take going forward but now I know as long as each plug has been tested then their is no issue with leaving the break in the circuit.

Not knowing how the Electrician dealt with the break in the cable, other than downgrading the MCB it's hard to tlee, but as Telectrix says each socket needs to be tested to confirm the presence of a cpc. Did he isolate the damaged cable completely?

 

[Madocks]

To be honest, if hes gone to the hassle of identifying where the break is, sorted 2 radials @16 and is part of NIC then it should be good.

Perhaps email asking if he split the ring so you have it in writing whats been done.

 

[telectrix]

could be painful, having your ring split.

 

[Ccx295]

each socket needs to be tested to confirm presence of cpc.

I am not sure if this has been done..

 

[Toneyz]

Well as Des56 has said let us look on the positive side they have had a consumer unit upgrade which with RCD protection for the sockets and the installation has been left in a safer condition than before.If there is a break in the cpc in the ring final circuit what is the Zs at the highest points this may be still under the max Zs for the protective device.Personally, I don't like sockets in a room being fed from different circuits but that's only an opinion. Has the electrician taken off the socket front plates to see if it is as simple as a cpc that has come out? If not it could be a joint somewhere.

 

[ruston]

Presumably he has already had the socket fronts off to see if all the earths were connected properly.
I would of thought that he would of checked the end to end continuity before he carried out the board change though.

 

[Octopus]

I would say that until said spark has conclusively identified the location of the fault, and corrective work has been undertaken, the job is not complete, and the bill is increasing......

This is the most common fault in houses

 

[Ccx295]

Not knowing how the Electrician dealt with the break in the cable, other than downgrading the MCB it's hard to tlee, but as Telectrix says each socket needs to be tested to confirm the presence of a cpc. Did he isolate the damaged cable completely?

I don't think he completely tracked it down, He knew at which point the socket was showing the issue but from there he mentioned having to remove floorboards.
The only other thing he mentioned was downgrading the MCB. I guess I should get on the phone to them tomorrow to find out the complete facts