E
electromonkey
Just after some advice/opinions really gents,
I completed a rewire last week of a small bungalow. When I went to quote for the job, the customer said that the kitchen had been re wired when a new kitchen had been installed and that it was on its own circuit so I didn't need to include it on the quote.
On starting the job, I found that all was not well and informed the customer. On my last day of the job, the electrician who wired the kitchen turned up with his invoice and cert for the work he his firm had carried out. A heated debate then started over the following points....
1 No earth bonding to the gas or water supplies and the mains earth was also insufficient.
2 The kitchen had been wired as a radial circuit.
3 The origin of the new radial circuit cam via a 30a JB that was already connected to the original ring, with a spur already running from it.
4 There were sockets installed in cupboards below the work tops with no isolator switches.
5 The work was carried out on a MWC
When the customer asked me to take the electrician from the other firm through the list, he believed he had done nothing wrong as he had told the customer that the bonding was required as he was working on the job but they didn't want to pay for the work and that the work he carried out only required a MWC. He also claimed that the radial circuit (which has an oven, washing machine, microwave, kettle, toaster and deep fat fryer plus others) was acceptable and ok run via a spur hence his MWC!
My interpretation of it is that points 2 and 3 are definite no nos.
With point one, I don't know if this is because of years of standard working practice for me but I was under the impression that when you carry out any work that requires any certification, all earthing to the gas, water and mains must be brought to standard. If when you quote for a job and the customer asks for the bonding not to be done then you don't carry out any work, if you forget to quote for this when pricing a job then tell the customer, if the customer refuses to pay, you still have to carry out the work and take the hit. Am I correct with this or not?
Finally, with point 4, I see this quite regularly and the argument always seems to come down to interpretation over what is and isn't accessible. For me personally, If I install any socket or outlet in to a kitchen cupboard, I always install an isolator switch for it.
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. At present, my customer is refusing to pay for the work carried out in their kitchen based on what I have told them. Obviously if I'm wrong on any of these points, I need to let my customer know.
Cheers.
I completed a rewire last week of a small bungalow. When I went to quote for the job, the customer said that the kitchen had been re wired when a new kitchen had been installed and that it was on its own circuit so I didn't need to include it on the quote.
On starting the job, I found that all was not well and informed the customer. On my last day of the job, the electrician who wired the kitchen turned up with his invoice and cert for the work he his firm had carried out. A heated debate then started over the following points....
1 No earth bonding to the gas or water supplies and the mains earth was also insufficient.
2 The kitchen had been wired as a radial circuit.
3 The origin of the new radial circuit cam via a 30a JB that was already connected to the original ring, with a spur already running from it.
4 There were sockets installed in cupboards below the work tops with no isolator switches.
5 The work was carried out on a MWC
When the customer asked me to take the electrician from the other firm through the list, he believed he had done nothing wrong as he had told the customer that the bonding was required as he was working on the job but they didn't want to pay for the work and that the work he carried out only required a MWC. He also claimed that the radial circuit (which has an oven, washing machine, microwave, kettle, toaster and deep fat fryer plus others) was acceptable and ok run via a spur hence his MWC!
My interpretation of it is that points 2 and 3 are definite no nos.
With point one, I don't know if this is because of years of standard working practice for me but I was under the impression that when you carry out any work that requires any certification, all earthing to the gas, water and mains must be brought to standard. If when you quote for a job and the customer asks for the bonding not to be done then you don't carry out any work, if you forget to quote for this when pricing a job then tell the customer, if the customer refuses to pay, you still have to carry out the work and take the hit. Am I correct with this or not?
Finally, with point 4, I see this quite regularly and the argument always seems to come down to interpretation over what is and isn't accessible. For me personally, If I install any socket or outlet in to a kitchen cupboard, I always install an isolator switch for it.
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. At present, my customer is refusing to pay for the work carried out in their kitchen based on what I have told them. Obviously if I'm wrong on any of these points, I need to let my customer know.
Cheers.
