EICRs: observations and test results that dismay me

[Risteard]

She didn't realize it's not much good for insurance purposes if it's for one year or five. :frown2:

Exactly. She was complaining that they will insist on her getting it done every year now. I tried to point out that the Report was saying that quite a bit of remedial work was needed, after which it might be possible to say that it didn't need a formal inspection for perhaps 5 years.

The big question is whether the insurance company will push her to have remedial work done or whether they will just file the Report.

I don't know the answer and frankly don't care either!

 

[David M]

She didn't realize it's not much good for insurance purposes if it's for one year or five. :frown2:

Its amazing (well maybe not really) how folk, even after you have explained to them, that the purpose of a EICR is to "determine the condition of the electrical installation, to check that it meets the requirements of the regs and that it is safe to continue using", still expect a "pass".

I did one on a sunbed shop a few months back. I found numerous problems a couple requiring immediate action. The owner was very disgruntled and accused me of trying to rip them off. The bottom line was, it had high zs readings on quite a few circuits, no rcd's, no bonding of any kind to the gas and incoming water (lead pipe). I deemed it unsafe and offered them the EICR with a list of various codes, explained what was required and that it needed urgent repairs and improvements.
They paid my bill for the report and said they'd be in touch the following day about the works to be done.

Never heard a thing from them. A few weeks later a mate of mine told me that the owners had got a second opinion from another spark and apparently he issued them a "satisfactory" report.

So this is what you are up against, clients who don't want the hassle or the cost and unscrupulous sparks who just wanna earn a quick easy buck.

I'd rather sleep a night to be honest

 

[Andy78]

I very rarely get EICR work unless I have done work for that customer before and they know the quality of my work. The reason seems to be cost. I get a lot of enthusiasm until I state my price and then I get "riiight, well I'll call you back then"
I have seen plenty of examples of pathetic reports that are engineered towards expensive remedial work that support my "cheap report-sting em for the remedials" theory of local sparks' business ethics.

Customers can be just as bad.
One guy once rang back and said could I drop my price as he had been quoted £80 for an EICR on his 4 bed house. I warned him about fly-by jobs and said that he could either get a report to help protect the safety of his tenants and property, or a cheap worthless bit of paper to wave at his insurers.
"Yeah that's what I'm after, just a bit of paper"
"You've rung the wrong person then" I replied.

 

[Risteard]

A few weeks later a mate of mine told me that the owners had got a second opinion from another spark and apparently he issued them a "satisfactory" report.

And that is the fundamental problem. An honest report causes you to be badmouthed and blackguarded the length and breadth of the country!

 

[Dcf]

I have just had the "pleasure "of going over 3x eicr reports on flats a landlord I do a bit of work for has got.
for a landlord he plays it straight as a die and is Sharp as a tack tbf
they are 2 bed flats with 4 circuits max ,3-4 hours each.
i notice c1 for lack of bonding to gas(it's a c2 according to best practice guide)
c2 for a bathroom light not ip rated( not in zone 1 or 2 btw and not mentioned in best practice guide)
20% visual and 30% actual testing!
so each flat has actually had the cooker circuit tested..... Wtf about the rest of it then?
in Scotland a condition report for rental properties needs to be backed up with a pat test of appliances ,smoke detector tests, cookers and the like being tested in addition to a standard eicr no mention of any of that also.
i was of the impression a sample of tests was for a rolling eicr on a large installation where every circuit got tested over a five year period.
Not for 2 bed flats
last year I got called out to a flat where the tenant got a shock off a light switch.
it was a total shambles ....but had been marked up as satisfactory 2 years previous.
what if that tenant died due to an electric shock?
whos Arse will be in a sling when the "electrical expert" is being ground into the court floor by a bulldog of a QC?
jokers like mr niceic cooker circuit man that's who.

 

[Risteard]

it was a total shambles ....but had been marked up as satisfactory 2 years previous.

In fairness a lot could have happened over that two year period. Or it may be the case that the previous report was nonsense.

 

[Dcf]

In fairness a lot could have happened over that two year period. Or it may be the case that the previous report was nonsense.

it was nonsense alright .
it had been like that for years.
it might seem easy money to the less scrupulous members of our trade but its all part of the blame game.
meaning that it is our name on the certificate.
so lets be thorough about these things instead of trying to do 4 in a day eh?
mr cooker circuit is going to get handed his arse on plate tomorrow from this landlord and no amount of waffle and bluster will save him.
just do it to the best of your abilities the first time.