Domestic fuse boards

[trigger1973]

Hi, I'd like some advice on the fuse board in my house please?

It's quite an old house and the fuses are sited on a wooden board. We have been recently discussing renting the house but a friend of mine said we would have to upgrade the fuse panel in order to rent the property so that the tenants are fully protected against any electrical fault. So my question is, is that true, will we need to upgrade? And secondly, if we decide not to rent the house, are we obligated to upgrade the panel for ourselves? Is this expensive, i realise that all things are relative but how much would someone expect to charge for upgrading a fuse panel to adhere to current regs?

Finally, I'd be interested to know where I can read about such regulations, can anyone tell me where to look please?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Des 56]

General Public : Electrical Safety Council

and here

Electrical Safety in Rental Property - England & Wales

 

[GLENNSPARK]

It may be an old bs3036 type board which dont have rcd protection (which is a requirement on rentable properties) so in that case a new board would be the best option methinks.....

 

[cjp1]

I agree with glennspark, safety first!

 

[trigger1973]

Great, thanks. Just so I prepare myself for the bad news, how much would i be looking at for such an upgrade don you think?

 

[telectrix]

if you are not renting the property, nobody can force you to upgrade, but wooden based fuseboards are a fire risk, also for your own safety, it is recommended that the board be replaced, with a unit complying to current regulations.

a qualified electrician doing this job would inspect and test the wiring to ensure that it was safe with no faults before undertaking the fuseboard upgrade , and would then be able to advise you of the cost involved in fitting a new Consumer Unit + any other essential works to make the installation safe, finally completing an Electrical Installation Certificate.

 

[truckster]

Difficult question to answer as it will depend on where you live and what else may need to be done to bring the installation upto the required standard, for example main bonding, tails and any problems that may exist on the installation, the most obvius being neutral to earth faults which will be picked up by the RCD's

My area basic CU change with tails £350ish but your best course of action is to get in some local sparks to give you a quote. Put up your area and there are probably guys on here that will be close.

 

[Engineer54]

You'll need to give a bit more information than already given to get any realistic answers as to costings.

Like ....how many fuses are there in your CU, Your location area, etc ....

 

[white armour]

Hi trigger, as above basically. I am based in the Midlands so £350.00 not a bad starting point for a board upgrade.

Thing is how big is the property? If you intend to let it out to multiple occupants (HMO) you may need to install smoke detection systems.

A little more info please, as as a (prospective) landlord you will have a duty of care to your tenants. For instance in-laws have a guest hose of 10+ rooms which must have a suitable fire alarm system.

Regards wa

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Old boards....tinned/copper stranded = borrowed neutral.........

 

[claire_r]

Glennspark - where is the info regarding rcds are a must for rented properties? Be interesting to know thanks

 

[telectrix]

they are not obligatory on an older installation, but duty of care suggests highly recommended, if only on socket outlets.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

In all honesty i picked that up from my mother who rents and buys/sells property and i know the info she gives is usually reliable. I would guess its the building regs claire.......

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Thanks for clearing that up tel.

 

[claire_r]

Thanks! I just checked the links supplied earlier and yeh it's a suggestion of importance in rentals.

 

[LlandrilloSpark]

I rent out a house locally, when I approached the estate agents i was told the situation is this:-If you are managing the property yourself then then you require Absolutly nothing but your normal legal obligation as a landlord to keep the property electrically safe and maintained in a good condition.However if you are letting the estate agents manage the property then you will require a Periodic Inspection Report or the new Electrical Installation Condition ReportYou do not need to change the fuse board just because it is old, it could be as safe as the day it was installed.My advice is a EICR or PIR from a competent and reputable electrician, then he will use his experience and skill to give you a judgment on your overall installation

 

[Engineer54]

Old boards....tinned/copper stranded = borrowed neutral.........

Of course it Doesn't!!!..........

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Just a scenario we come across quite often 54.....didn`t mean always the case though...

 

[Engineer54]

if you are not renting the property, nobody can force you to upgrade, but wooden based fuseboards are a fire risk, also for your own safety, it is recommended that the board be replaced, with a unit complying to current regulations.

Keep seeing this in the threads on the Forum!! And was thinking, ....how many of those wooden framed fuse boards have been installed?? It must have been in the multi millions, from back in the middle 50's, and how many have actually caught fire over all these years, i bet not even 1% of them!! There must be countless millions of them still in use across the UK to this day too... I know that i personally, have never seen or heard of a single one of them catching fire, and certainly not as the source of a larger fire...

Funny really, as i know of quite a few, let's say modern plastic CU, melting down to a blob of liquid plastic on the floor, taking the plastic MCBs etc with it...lol!!!

 

[mickys86]

Funny really, as i know of quite a few, let's say modern plastic CU, melting down to a blob of liquid plastic on the floor, taking the plastic MCBs etc with it...lol!!!

I think I'd like to see a picture of that lol

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Like the melting robots out of A I (artificial intelligence)

 

[cbw]

I have pics of both!!!! Now looking for them!

Bum...cant find either....will keep looking

 

[mickys86]

I have pics of both!!!! Now looking for them!

Bum...cant find either....will keep looking

The hunt is on!!