EICR guru's required

[SirKit Breaker]

Sounds to me like you know what you are doing, and go about it in the right manner.

You have no obligation to repair anything. you are being paid to inspect and test, don't get sucked into working for nothing.

You have a duty of care to inform the client of any dangerous conditions that may arise. He is paying you to do this.

How you want to conduct your testing is up to you and your preference, we are all different. You seem to have done it all, and you will develop own way, skills and speed as you gain experience, then you will be able to give us the benefit of your experience.

I always did a full visual inspection (as you should) this gave me a feel for the install, and then did the Ze, then worked out what fuse etc did what. I preferred to turn them all off, then turn one at a time on to see what worked. I prefer this way, as i have come across a lot of circuits like rings, fed from 2 sources, and this way shows it up straight away, i also found it easier to mark up the fuses correctly doing it this way as well.

Then i got into dead testing circuit by circuit, live testing all together after completion of dead testing, paperwork, and home.

As for charging for remedial work, this is a bit awkkard, so i tried to offset the repairs that i knew could get time consuming, by increasing the cost of the easy quick fixes, and give a price for the whole lot. I lost on a few, but i won more than i lost.

Cheers..........Howard

 

[richardg]

That sounds like good advice cobrauk I will try and keep to 100% on installs without certificates.
I have been requested to complete all remedial work, so time for me to climb into the loft and follow the trail of evidence. Some members mentioned the age, this was from information gleaned from the house sale particulars which the previous owner recorded.
The distributors earth cable from the MET to the supply cable is undersized (10mm) with no protective sheath(TN-S). The Ze is 0.21 well within limits, Do you record to cover your self as C3?
THankyou for all your feedback - looking forward to some exploratory work in the loft:21:

 

[richardg]

Forgot to say the dog was a very excited black LAB who loves to lick you whilst your working(down boys)

 

[SirKit Breaker]

That sounds like good advice cobrauk I will try and keep to 100% on installs without certificates.
I have been requested to complete all remedial work, so time for me to climb into the loft and follow the trail of evidence. Some members mentioned the age, this was from information gleaned from the house sale particulars which the previous owner recorded.
The distributors earth cable from the MET to the supply cable is undersized (10mm) with no protective sheath(TN-S). The Ze is 0.21 well within limits, Do you record to cover your self as C3?
THankyou for all your feedback - looking forward to some exploratory work in the loft:21:

Are you sure that 10mm main earthing conductor is under size? If you have problems with anything to do with the supply, then you need to contact DNO and get it sorted. As for unsheathed earth cable, then wrap it in insulation tape, if DNO have to come and change it, they will bung a bit of 16mm single core Green/Yellow in anyway, so job sorted.

I ask about the 10mm, cos you dont want to look daft, if someone turns up, does the adiabatic, and you look like a turkey.

Cheers............Howard

 

[rattlehead85]

100% inspection on an EICR in an occupied domestic property!!!? Blimey if only!! That is living in a perfect world, and how much do you charge to perform that? You would never make an honest living attempting a 100% inspection for the price of a normal EICR for the time it would take. Normally an EICR is carried out with 20-30% dismount of accessories and inspections per circuit. This is then recorded in the extent and limitations box on the cert. Further investigation is advised if doubt exists on the soundness of a circuit or if access is restricted. A price should then be agreed with the client and arrangements made to further investigate and access the suspected departure/ deficiency.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

I can't say that I've ever had a problem being able to conduct 100% inspection and 100% testing on a domestic.
Yes it's often a problem on commercial and industrial installations.
As for cost, I allow for a day and charge a day's money.

 

[Millboy]

Yep totally agree with spin... What's the point rushing it, charging less and finding less problems, doing yourself out of more money?

 

[HandySparks]

I can't say that I've ever had a problem being able to conduct 100% inspection and 100% testing on a domestic.
Yes it's often a problem on commercial and industrial installations.
As for cost, I allow for a day and charge a day's money.

So, do you pull every accessory off the wall to inspect terminations and cabling, and drop every downlight? (Just making sure I understand what you mean by 100% inspection.)

 

[Graeme Harrold]

I normally do about 50% of the sockets in a room, but all in the kitchen. 50% of. light switches. Any probs then I check more. All of terminations in a shower circuit and all downlighters checked. It all depends on the feel I get on the overall quality and age of what I find. It all comes with time and as the others have said, I usually bok out a day per property....nothing worse than a backlog of paperwork

 

[richardg]

I normally do about 50% of the sockets in a room, but all in the kitchen. 50% of. light switches. Any probs then I check more. All of terminations in a shower circuit and all downlighters checked. It all depends on the feel I get on the overall quality and age of what I find. It all comes with time and as the others have said, I usually bok out a day per property....nothing worse than a backlog of paperwork

That's sounds like a plan of action. Whilst conduting the inspection I found one serious fault with a lighting circuit and a broken ringcircuit downstaires. I advised the client further investigation is required at £25 an hour. Before quoting for any remedial work. Is this what others on the forum would charge for investigative work?

 

[SYKRAPS]

Seems a fair price to me at £25 an hour, you may get a little more if you try as you have the certificate to write up and also building regs notification to do at home aswell, don't undersell yourself rich.

 

[buzzlightyear]

sorry to jump in lads i did eicr on a job split load rcd on side with one side non rcd cu about 5 years old
what code would you put in the test sheet

 

[cobrauk]

100% inspection on an EICR in an occupied domestic property!!!? Blimey if only!! That is living in a perfect world, and how much do you charge to perform that? You would never make an honest living attempting a 100% inspection for the price of a normal EICR for the time it would take. Normally an EICR is carried out with 20-30% dismount of accessories and inspections per circuit. This is then recorded in the extent and limitations box on the cert. Further investigation is advised if doubt exists on the soundness of a circuit or if access is restricted. A price should then be agreed with the client and arrangements made to further investigate and access the suspected departure/ deficiency.

Costs Depends on the size of the property but in our area a 3 bed house would normally take about 4 hours + writing up the cert, I think thats about £140 +vat appox.

Where is it written that you only have to do part of the testing ? I have heard this "you only need to do 20% etc" but I have never seen it written down, we carry 100% electrical tests on the circuits and visual checking might not be 100% depending on what we find when we check those few sockets switches etc we will look more into installation, how else will you know if g/y sleeving has been fitted or the metal boxes have been earthed ?
But everyone to their own, me I sleep well knowing I signed a cert/report that I can hand on my heart say is as safe as it can be other then rewiring the property myself

 

[rattlehead85]

sorry to jump in lads i did eicr on a job split load rcd on side with one side non rcd cu about 5 years old
what code would you put in the test sheet

Take this as a guide.
The regulations aren't retrospective and it sounds like you have an installation to previous 16th regs.
Lighting circuit with no RCD to bathroom with no bonding with class 2 fittings present = C3.
Class 1 fittings = C2
Sup bonding present but no RCD protection to bathroom circuitry = C3
Wiring buried within walls outside zones not mechanically protected should warrant a C3 departure however, as it is more than likely you will not be able to assess this you must assume that this is employed and therefore no departure to be recorded.
Sockets above ground floor useable by unskilled persons rated at less than 20A not RCD protected = C3
Observation of the installation should state that wiring is to previous 16th edition regulations and also mention existing characteristics of the earthing and bonding as this also may not be to current requirements.
Hope this helps.

 

[rattlehead85]

Costs Depends on the size of the property but in our area a 3 bed house would normally take about 4 hours + writing up the cert, I think thats about £140 +vat appox.

Where is it written that you only have to do part of the testing ? I have heard this "you only need to do 20% etc" but I have never seen it written down, we carry 100% electrical tests on the circuits and visual checking might not be 100% depending on what we find when we check those few sockets switches etc we will look more into installation, how else will you know if g/y sleeving has been fitted or the metal boxes have been earthed ?
But everyone to their own, me I sleep well knowing I signed a cert/report that I can hand on my heart say is as safe as it can be other then rewiring the property myself

There isn't a written fixed percentage. However, on my last NIC inspection i presented a comprehensive/ detailed EICR of a 3 bed house with 50% dismount of accessories and equipment to the area engineer. I was praised for doing this but was reminded that the idea of the EICR was not a fault finding exercise or a tool to make money, solely a guide on the condition of an existing installation by means of sampling with minimal disturbance to property. He instructed me that 30% was more than sufficient and if unsatisfactory conditions were found then the sampling could be increased if possible or an observation towards further investigation as long as c1 departures were made safe during the inspection.
He noted this on his inspection sheet as 'excessive information provided on EICR reporting'!!