Need some advice please

[NotGettingAnyZsFaction]

Hello,

I'm retired from the game but decided to drop in and ask the good folks here a few questions regarding issues a family member is having. Hope someone can help.

My wife's cousin has just signed a lease for a property.
They haven't occupied the property as it needs cosmetic work doing.

The decorator comes and plugs in his wallpaper stripper and the power trips, and keeps tripping on all the sockets he tries.
He thinks the paper stripper is faulty so buys a new one, same thing happens and happens again with his kettle and other equipment.

The electrical certificate shows test results as 'passed' with a few Zs and R1+R2 tests but shows the installation is 'unsatisfactory' One snag with that, there is nothing on the cert that explains why the installation is unsatisfactory.

I take a nosey at the sockets and there are old red and black cables mixed with new colours. At first glance it looks like a ring main. Then I remove another few sockets and there are old coloured single 2.5mm cables one the one supposed ring main.

Without testing this suggests there are two radials in one RCBO with new coloured cables added on with JB's. Both 2.5 cables at the consumer unit are red and black. The lighting circuit has three old coloured 1mm cables in one 6A RCBO. The consumer is new-ish but has been opened up that many times the fixing screws for the board face have been turned to mince meat leaving it almost impossible to gain access (took a while to remove)
This along with the new 10mm earth bond to the incoming polythene water mains pipe made me think the local handyman had been in.

It needs a rewire but the landlord insists the Electrician who issued the 'unsatisfactory' certificate give a quote along with other Electricians they've asked to quote for the job.
Is this guy incompetent or just plain lazy when it comes to filling out certificates, and would you ask him to quote for a job?

Thanks.

 

[JK-Electrical]

There is a market for cut-price EICR. There are websites out there devoted only to offering bargain-priced reports. Sadly there are plenty of landlords who see the requirement as only an annoyance to the collection of rent, and one to be expunged at the lowest possible cost.

I've come across EICR not worth the paper they are printed out on. I can only guess that those doing these reports can't realize that they would be personally liable in court.

Landlords seem to like it.

Alas, this is my experience too. I'm aware of "landlord safety certificates" and "landlord electrical certificates" being offered at £40. I'm also aware of a supposed electrician who claims that he can carry-out four EICRs a day. Seriously. I must be slowing-down badly in my old age as it takes me on average around four hours to do an EICR. It just isn't possible to carry-out four EICRs a day on domestic properties unless, of course, much of the testing is being omitted.

One rogue landlord offered me £50 to change a C2 code to a C3 so he could have the report signed-off as satisfactory! I told him where to go. Most landlords that I deal with take their responsibilities seriously and won't compromise the safety of their tenants to save themselves some money. But there are certainly rogues out there who are concerned only with making as much rental income as possible with minimum outlay.

 

[elsparko]

Alas, this is my experience too. I'm aware of "landlord safety certificates" and "landlord electrical certificates" being offered at £40. I'm also aware of a supposed electrician who claims that he can carry-out four EICRs a day. Seriously. I must be slowing-down badly in my old age as it takes me on average around four hours to do an EICR. It just isn't possible to carry-out four EICRs a day on domestic properties unless, of course, much of the testing is being omitted.

One rogue landlord offered me £50 to change a C2 code to a C3 so he could have the report signed-off as satisfactory! I told him where to go. Most landlords that I deal with take their responsibilities seriously and won't compromise the safety of their tenants to save themselves some money. But there are certainly rogues out there who are concerned only with making as much rental income as possible with minimum outlay.

not impossible if you ignore paperwork, i usually write down all my results on rough paper then type it all up at night in the comfort of my own home, hes forgetting that added hours at home typing it all up

 

[1Justin]

I quote a whole day for an EICR, and that's invariably full-on. I'm likely to still be doing the report at 11PM. It's a tough day.