Has my electrician done a dangerous wiring job?

[kenny james]

Well folks I have spoken to my local building officer who says the work is a shambles and does not comply with relevant regulations. I called the electrician and said I wanted the work re-done. He said he would think of a day when he can fix it and call me back which means he will ignore any future calls from me. Will need to get someone else in to fix the mess. What a nightmare

are you sure its not your handy diy neighbour who did it really and a spark picked up on it and you are asking for advice as to if it complies?, if it was a spark they must surely be registered under some scheme eg. napit,elecsa,nic especially if they have been recommended by a company who gets them to do work for them.
my point is you do not have to get somebody out and pay them to re do the job if you know what scheme they are registered under you need to contact the scheme and send them the photographs as shown on here and the registered scheme body will do the rest for you, they will send another spark out to redo the job if you dont want the original sparks out and then the registered scheme provider will charge them the original sparks for the work and not you, WHY do you want to pay out twice for somebody elses mistake if they were a proper spark in the first place?, that is why us sparks are registered as it is also a safety net for you the client when things like this happen. it puzzles me that even a half decent sparks apprentice on his first year would have at least of chiselled away enough to fit capping over the t&e.? using my sds drill wouldnt have chased it that well without tlc and time on my hands!

 

[DNS1]

The capping thing still confuses me...

Is there really any point to it in a narrow chase? The base coat just gets rammed on top and the trowel goes nowhere near the cables...

(by someone who has far more experience with plaster than electrics by the way!)

 

[Harley]

If the installtion is less than 50mm from any surface it must be either mechanically protected or have additional protection by RCD, looking at the picture that is posted some of the wiring is zoned some is not, zoning is vertical or horizontal the switch and 150mm from the ceiling and the angle of two walls

 

[Deleted member 26818]

If the installtion is less than 50mm from any surface it must be either mechanically protected or have additional protection by RCD, looking at the picture that is posted some of the wiring is zoned some is not, zoning is vertical or horizontal the switch and 150mm from the ceiling and the angle of two walls

Don't forget about the option to use an earthed sheath, or earthed conduit or trunking.

 

[telectrix]

would still require RCD protection if outside of prescribed zones.

 

[Octopus]

Do you know what scheme they are registered with? Elecsa, Napit or NICEIC.

If you do maybe you should send copies of your photo's to the appropriate one for their comments.

I'll try this question again for the OP!!

 

[Deleted member 26818]

would still require RCD protection if outside of prescribed zones.

No RCD protection is only an option, if the cables are in prescribed zones.
All that's been done, is in the 17th, they've added the RCD requirement to the 16th option to run cables in prescribed zones.

 

[Homervanderjazz]

Hi thanks for all the replies, I being honest about what happened and it wasnt some local DIY fella, I got their details through a letting agent as I had been told in the past that having someone recommended would be better than picking up the yellow pages. The only major electrical work I have had done in the past was on a garage conversion where the builder supplied the electrician who seemed to do a decent job and provided a certificate. I have contacted the letting agent again to get the electricians company address, there are quite a few companies with the same name it seems, and I am going to see what scheme if any they are registered with. It is my fault for not checking what schemes they are registered with in the first place but in all honesty I didnt even know much about these schemes until I spoke to people on this forum. If they are registered with a scheme I will contact them with pictures and see what they say. Thanks for all the advice folks, I will keep you posted on what happens.

 

[Octopus]

We're not trying to catch you out and in this case it seems you have come off the wrong side of the regs and very poor workmanship.

I guess you're not going to be recommending these guys to anyone.

If you get feedback from a scheme please update us because we pay fees, insurance, etc to keep the right side of the law and such poor workmanship needs to be high lighted.

 

[wildgoose]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not justifying non compliant work but this thread is worrying. If we are not careful our ELECTRICIANS FORUM, will be hi-jacked by 'Have A Go DIY'er' and Customers bitching about other electricains work.

We should be mindful when we only get one side of a story.

I've had a recent customer that was very determined I should not install an extraction fan in her new bathroom. I made note of this fact on the Certificate to cover myself. However, the house is soon to be sold and the new owner may think I was a cowboy when he see's no extractor fan in a newly located bathroom. He may even post a comment on this forum!!

 

[imago]

We should be mindful when we only get one side of a story.

True enough, in the same way as there should be a program on TV called "Rogue Customer" to balance out "Rouge Trader".

That said, in this case a picture speak a thousand words, and that work is terrible. There's no justification for that, if the customer insisted that it was done that way (and I'm not suggesting they did in this case) for a job I was on, I'd insist that they get stuffed.

I can't/won't compete with cowboys on price, so I rely on higher standards. It would be a false economy for me to produce work like that as it would cost me dearly further down the road. The deviation you described when not fitting a fan at the customer's insistance is fair enough, and noted in the appropriate place. To be equivalent to the work shown here you'd have had to fit the fan under the bath blowing into the room.

 

[telectrix]

fit fan under bath, yes, but then have it blowing up through a series of holes in the bottom of the bath -instant jacuzzi!

 

[Homervanderjazz]

Also to clarify as I know this has been mentioned a few times, at no point did I insist that they do not go through the ceiling or floor. In fact when they first came to give me a quote they said part of the ceiling would need to be re-plastered as well as the wall and that I should be aware of this before they started the job. So I was surprised to see the ceiling had not been touched.

 

[wildgoose]

Agreed - It is not good work, is none compliant and by rights be re-routed into the correct zones.

The more important question surely should be 'Is the cable RCD protected? If so, then where ever it is located under the plaster, it is unlikely to ever become 'a dangerous wiring job'.

 

[Des 56]

Quote
It is my fault for not checking what schemes they are registered with in the first place but in all honesty I didnt even know much about these schemes until I spoke to people on this forum.

I have always stated
When you join a scheme,it matters not who you are with and who is the most popular
There we have it,this is typical of the vast majority of the general public.They have heard of none of them or that part p fiasco

Anyone for renewal ?