UK Earth bonding to Water

[Hemant007]

Greetings, I am homeowner and looking to confirm if I will need earth boding to water pipes.
There is already earth boding near Gas meter and the gas copper pipe enters the house.
Water main supply is via blue plastic pipe (MDPE) which then connects to plastic pipes and also some copper pipes (pipes under boiler are copper pipes, central heating pipes (flow and return pipes) are combination - somewhere copper somewhere plastic).
The consumer unit is metal box with RCD protection, the are 2x RCDs 30mAh, each with 5 MCBs.

Do I need water pipes earthen - the copper pipes under boiler and the some copper pipe sections under the kitchen sink with stopcock?

Thank you.

 

[Hemant007]

It is common practice to bond copper pipe installs even though the supply is plastic , not a requirement but often worth running the cable as plans may change etc or there may be a cable there from a previous install and hey ho if its there just smash a clamp on anyway. Newer installs with plastic supply and only isolated sections of copper with most runs in plastic are another matter and you just wouldn't consider they needed a bond . Doubt the guy is trying to stiff you probably just being a bit 'rule of thumb' about it.

Yes, it may be just following the rule of thumb, but I was wondering if its really required, I don't see a nearby earth only connection that is coming from earth block, however I do see there is nearby socket with earth connection, I think the earth from the socket shouldn't be used for bonding ?

 

[davesparks]

He wants to join the copper pipe regardless that the main supply is via plastic pipe, he says metal pipe inside property needs to be bonded regardless

That sounds like the very common problem of an electrician who hasn't kept up to date with changes to the regulations.

 

[Hemant007]

the electrician quoted £150 to do the EICR test and minor fixes as it will take around 4-5 hours,
however he finished the test in less than 1 hour (he checked CU, some sockets and switches) and now asking me to pay 150, he also quoted 200 plus material to fix the errors including earth bonding to water pipes.
I do not feel good and while I respect all professionals, I feel I am being ripped off !

 

[davesparks]

the electrician quoted £150 to do the EICR test and minor fixes as it will take around 4-5 hours,
however he finished the test in less than 1 hour (he checked CU, some sockets and switches) and now asking me to pay 150

If you received a quote for £150 and agreed to proceed based on that quote then yes of course he is asking for £150 because that is the agreed price.
If you feel the work has not been completed to your satisfaction then you need to discuss that with him and get it resolved before paying the bill, but it won't change the price.


1 hour seems very fast for doing an EICR but without actually seeing the installation we couldn't comment definitively.

, he also quoted 200 plus material to fix the errors including earth bonding to water pipes.
I do not feel good and while I respect all professionals, I feel I am being ripped off !

Have you had any other quotes for the remedial work to compare it to?

 

[Hemant007]

If you received a quote for £150 and agreed to proceed based on that quote then yes of course he is asking for £150 because that is the agreed price.
If you feel the work has not been completed to your satisfaction then you need to discuss that with him and get it resolved before paying the bill, but it won't change the price.


1 hour seems very fast for doing an EICR but without actually seeing the installation we couldn't comment definitively.


Have you had any other quotes for the remedial work to compare it to?

i agreed to pay 150 for 4-5 hours work, but he did some tests for less than 1 hour, he is expecting me to first pay 150 and then asking for another 200 to do fix some errors.
It is 3 bedroom house with 2x RCD each with 5 MCBs.
if earth bonding to water should not be required as discussed above, seems like he is just creating work to charge more.

 

[davesparks]

i agreed to pay 150 for 4-5 hours work, but he did some tests for less than 1 hour,

Earlier you said you agreed £150 to carry out an EICR but now you are saying you agreed £150 for 4-5 hours labour? Which is it?

A key question when this sort of thing comes up is to ask what you would be expecting to pay if it has taken 7 hours? Would you be expecting him to honour the original quote of £150 or would you happily pay more?

he is expecting me to first pay 150 and then asking for another 200 to do fix some errors.

It is not asking you to pay for fixing errors, it is a quote to carry out remedial work as identified by the report. You are under no obligation to accept the quote if you are not happy with it and can seek alternative quotes from other electricians.

 

[Hemant007]

I agreed to pay 150 to do the test and fix errors for labor upto 4-5 hours,
I would expect to pay more if more time is required for more work.
Total 1 hour was spent.

 

[Risteard]

the electrician quoted £150 to do the EICR test and minor fixes as it will take around 4-5 hours,
however he finished the test in less than 1 hour (he checked CU, some sockets and switches) and now asking me to pay 150, he also quoted 200 plus material to fix the errors including earth bonding to water pipes.
I do not feel good and while I respect all professionals, I feel I am being ripped off !

In my opinion the periodic inspection was around half of the price that it should have been. What this suggests about the competence of the Inspector is up to you to decide.

 

[MDJ]

I agreed to pay 150 to do the test and fix errors for labor upto 4-5 hours,
I would expect to pay more if more time is required for more work.
Total 1 hour was spent.

4-5 hours for 150? no chance, this is 2024, 150 for 2 hours maybe, that said an hour seems pretty quick, not sure he did the job right