Earth Queries (+ others!)

[woodbutcher32]

Morning all, I'm in the process of selling my house and an inspection by a local electrician has thrown up several queries, any help & advice would be greatly appreciated...

"No existing main earth to incoming water"- Is it possible for me to simply install another Earth rod or MUST I go back to the CU (Which would be complicated)

"Existing earth to earth rod has no mechanical protection" - Is this just a case of enclosing the earth from the CU to existing front earth rod in plastic conduit?

"Existing lighting circuits are not looped in and a continuity of earth cannot be verified" he is advising re-wiring 8 no. lights (3 of which are 2 way) Is this really necessary or is there an alternative? The wiring in the house was re-wired around 10 years ago and is all in good condition, the cost he is quoting is money that I don't realy have!

"consumer unit has exposed parts" he is advising replacing with a new 17th. edition CU but is this really necessary by law?

thanks again

Woody

 

[woodbutcher32]

Cheers Derek will do mate.

 

[Engineer54]

This is the earth to the spike, would some conduit be acceptable? what would I do with the cable as it runs over the ground? could I bury it slightly?

View attachment 8012

This is typical of a bad earth electrode placement, ...Next to the building wall where all of the original building rubble will be located, and hence a potential substantive lack of soil contact with the rod. Always far better to try and place the electrode at least a metre from any building walls, and better still 1.5 to 2 metres distant...

You Always protect the earth electrode connection with a purpose made ground pit, that will also often serve as a future visual location means... Manufactured by Furse and others!!

Edit.... Have you tested the Ra of this earth electrode, if so what sort of value is it giving the installation??

 

[Engineer54]

Hi Engineer54 - just wondered why (to above bold bit). Not spoiling for a joust, just wondered on your thoughts on why its advisable to run separates. I usually do because it's usually more convenient but also note the pretty picture of an unbroken one in GN8 (but that doesn't happen very often for me) :45:

Very basically, ...for bonding integrity and future testing purposes.

 

[ackbarthestar]

Cheers Glenn that's just what the inspector said needed doing (he was of course touting for work) fair play we all need to make a living but when he's after £1,600 on a 30k house I'm selling fo my disabled mother then obviously I want the cheapest (but still safe) method of doing this...

as mentioned earlier I'm a Joiner by trade so I'm a little lost with all you sparkys Jargon!

£1.6k for a rewire is cheap. If the wiring is going to be buried into the fabric of the building and you can do some of the labouring and making good for him , you'll most likely be increasing the asset.
Being a tradesman yourself, you'll know the value of quality work and how much it can enhance the price. If you do the work yourself, it will need to be signed off by someone who is competent and then be ripped out by the new owners. I think you are generating a false economy for yourself.

My advice for you is either sell it as is and save yourself the time, money and effort or make sure that the job is done properly and make a small profit for you mother.