Had a PIR done on my house today, Can ne 1 beat this Guy 1hr 10mins and gone?

[mattmoo1974]

Lol he came in his test sheet was half filled in, Every thing was >200 Meg Ohms.
I asked how many he did a day he said 3-4. asked how much his company charge he said "You wont get much more the 80-90 quid for a PIR these days"
i live in a 3 bed house. He did in fairness put some g@y sleeving on some bare Cpc's.
1 light SWT came off 1 Double socket.

 

[IQ Electrical]

You could't correctly fill out the paperwork in 30 minutes, never mind test AND inspect 8 circuits!

Oh god, just seen the formula for R1+R2 !!

Nice!!

 

[J.C.E]

You could't correctly fill out the paperwork in 30 minutes, never mind test AND inspect 8 circuits!

Oh god, just seen the formula for R1+R2 !!

Nice!!

Our company issues all engineers with coms, so all certs and paper is filled out on here and sent to office (bit quicker)

and could it be becuase we work on council flats/houses, so its on a budget, so we only do as much as they pay for?

 

[SimpleSimon]

And what about the inspection part Joe? Should be a through inspection with minimal inconvinence.

 

[telectrix]

I am still an apprentice, and the company I work for has different departments. One of which being the voids (so council properties empty ready for the next people to move in, so we test them)

All the above posts seem to suggest these tests should take a while, and I am just curious why engineers on the company I work for do them so quickly!?

Most tests went like this when I was with the void department:

Take off cu cover, measured ka and ze

then on all circuits get a zs reading at a few points on each circuit and record the
highest reading (for s/o use the plug test lead, so dont have to remove the actual s/o)

get a rcd reading for however many rcds there are (normally 2) - and record the reading for 1x and 5x

then for any ring circuits, take the two legs of the ring and get a reading for contuinity (live neutral and earth)

record how many points each circuit has

and for r1+r2 readings, just use the formula r1+r2 = zs-ze, as we have already got readings for zs and ze

The test usually took around 30mins, however there only use to be around 8 circuits


Is this acceaptable for a test, or should my company be doing more?

apart from the R1+R2 being guesstimated from the Zs ( totally arse about face) what about IR readings? are trhey scared of 500v d.c. tickling their pinkies?

 

[SimpleSimon]

Although I may not be as thorough as Howard. I generally give about an hour for inspection, including random sampling and disconnection of all equipment. An hour for testing, if the house is in a good condition. And an hour filling out the certificate and talking it all over to the customer. Looking at 3 hours minimum for me. Can't get thorough enough with an hour. (this is based on a standard 3 bed house with no major problems.)

 

[IQ Electrical]

Although I may not be as thorough as Howard. I generally give about an hour for inspection, including random sampling and disconnection of all equipment. An hour for testing, if the house is in a good condition. And an hour filling out the certificate and talking it all over to the customer. Looking at 3 hours minimum for me. Can't get thorough enough with an hour. (this is based on a standard 3 bed house with no major problems.)

That's about the right ball park figure in my opinion, I'd price on 2 a day including data input on-site and print off, covering letter etc. back at the office.

 

[SimpleSimon]

That's about the right ball park figure in my opinion, I'd price on 2 a day including data input on-site and print off, covering letter etc. back at the office.

Good point. Sometimes the longest part can be searching for the reg numbers to note on the certificate even for code 4's. (that could just be me though)

 

[IQ Electrical]

Good point. Sometimes the longest part can be searching for the reg numbers to note on the certificate even for code 4's. (that could just be me though)

We don't include reg numbers on commercial properties, if we do a PIR on say a high school with 2000 circuits, we would probably end up with a few hundred documented defects.

In the covering letter we write: "Should further clarification be required regarding a listed defect and the BS 7671:2008 regulation that it does not comply with then please do not hesitate to contact us"

To the best of my memory, nobody ever has!

 

[andyb]

I never put down reg numbers,
Also I try to keep my observations simple & use layman's terms as much as possible.

 

[ian.settle1]

i would ask the housing --- to arrange for a full pir to be carried out as you are not happy that one has been done as it should have been

Falsification of test results is a good one to quote to them, explaining that the IR results where already filled in before starting the PIR which is impossible without switching off the power and removing DB cover.

Wonder what their insurers would say if they found that out?

 

[MKS]

I know this is an old thread, but it amused me somewhat... I have done a few P.I.R's over the past few months on some Care Homes for the elderly. The owners were often found to be wanting when it came to repairs, usually finding the cheapest cowboy in the street that could save them a few quid (5 day course jobbies, Tilers, plumbers, my cousins cousin twice removed etc calling themselves time served sparkies, etc etc etc). Well anyways, this home was about 15 or so years old. It's last PIR was over 5 years ago. I went through the last PIR and before I did anything, I checked all the details of the circuits with what was stated on the form, suffice to say, nothing matched, nothing corrosponded and some of the old results did not add up and to my surpirse when I did the test, they did not.. ( I know it is long winded ) So anyways, one home had quite a few circuits so my charge was fair at 15 pound plus VAT a circuit. Move forward a few days cos it was a huge place and well it was not something I could do in a day having over 40 odd bedrooms, basically almost a week. I gave him my bill and quote for repairs for work to be carried out as he asked me to quote up any repairs. (Sorry if this is boring) So anyways he looked at it and half hour later he called me into his office and questioned why we were charging 400 pound more than what he was charged five years ago. Why do we need to make repairs if it is still working etc etc etc bearing in mind there was quite a few circuits with excessive Zs, off the charts, many open circuits where folks had nailed up pictures above a socket. All kinds of damage, no RCD protection anywhere, broken sockets, broken switches, you name it it had it. In the end he was happy to pay, to be honest I did not want the work cos of the hassle and grief I was getting, but some of the oldies residing there tugged my heart a little.. To cut this over boring story short... I hate those cowboys, ejits, 5 day jobbies etc etc etc who think because they have turned on a tester, meter, pulled their toilet chain a few times, they know what they are doing. It gives the real guys that know their stuff a bad reputation and honestly it makes me puke.. I should do a 5 days plumbing course and call myself the Pope!!! like WTF.... Can I write that?

 

[IQ Electrical]

The pope is by no means a competent plumber, the vatican pipework is a disgrace...

Seriously though, I read these PIRs every week, it's becoming the next PAT in terms of 'sticker up and beggar off'

The problem is, all the client wants is a 'satisfactory' assessment, does he want someone to do a much more thorough inspection, in all probability revealing more remedial works?

It's much easier to deal with larger organisations where a duty holder actually understands his/her legal compliance obligations and actually wants a document that would stand up under scrutiny, perhaps in a court.

 

[DurhamSparky]

Exactly.... the owner of the print shop i tested last week wants only essential work to pass the inspection done!! hmmm he in for a shock then!

 

[brucelee]

i live in council house and they sent a guy to do a pir about 4 week ago. I was out at time my mrs who is disabled and was very ill was in bed so she got to door thought he was here to read meter lol
he asked her does she know who he is her reply the meter is there lol
he said i am here to carry out a pir on the property no notice or anything
she said you dont need to mention PIRs to me my fella has done 2391 and i am sick of hearing about PIRs and wires etc certificates lol
he said while your ill and alone i can call back monday as they still in around for 2 weeks so she said thanks and thats fine
so i move any furniture in way of sockets etc and still waiting about 4 weeks later wonder if he hasnt come back in case i
find out he is doing drive by PIRs
he was that quick he didnt even look and if a cert comes now there is deffinatly someone having a laugh

 

[MKS]

Idiots, some of them!