New kitchen, live earth fault!!

[Jeff.wd]

Hi.. We have just had a new kitchen fitted, a few sockets moved, led lights, new supply for the electric oven and a rcd board fitted.
They told us they had checked the supply before they started and everything was fine, we knew to meet regs the board needed replacing, during installation the kitchen fitter drilled through a cable, getting a large flash but no fuses had blown (still the old board at this point) he told us straightaway and said he would get the electrician to check it, when the electricians returned to finish the kitchen and fit the board they told us the cable was fine and they had crimped it, ( would that mean removing some of the plaster and conduit to access the cable, in order to crimp it.)
The next day when the gas/plumber was fitting the new gas hob, he was getting tingling shocks from the gas pipe, when we plugged the hob into the socket for the ignition, (with the socket switched off), it tripped a rcd on the new board, we spoke to the electrician and he was convinced we had a faulty hob, he told us to try another appliance in that socket, we tried a hairdryer and it worked fine with nothing tripping. We then plugged the hob in and all appeared okay, over the weekend my partner received several shocks from the metal sockets above the worktops, we informed the electrician and he said he would come after the weekend.
On arrival he thought it would be a short visit and easily sorted, after 4 hours of trying to diagnose the fault, we now have been told that there is 80 volts leaking via earth to the bonding, they said the kitchen is testing and okay and the downstairs/kitchen ring is okay through the hallway, once they test in the lounge they pick the fault up there? They left saying they would phone colleagues and technical teams for ideas.
They are coming back next week to try and solve the problem, they said the conclusion is either a pressure fault or possibly a badly wired plug on a appliance?
Now my thoughts, all cables from the main board in the garage run up to the ceiling cavity, I presume the feed and return for the downstairs/kitchen ring, will come down from the ceiling go under the floorboards and return else where, the cable that was drilled through, comes from the ceiling going directly down the wall (no sockets etc) then under the floorboards,I asked them what the cable that was, they said it is not part of the kitchen ring, I can't think that it can be anything else other than part of the downstairs ring? Would drilling into that cable possibly cause a surge, resulting in a fault some where on the downstairs ring?
They want to charge us for diagnosing and repairing,unless it was caused by the work in the kitchen!!
Many thanks for any help/advice or guidance.

Cheers Jeff.

 

[westward10]

H

They did say there was a neutral fault on the upstairs sockets, could this be the reason. Could that simply be a badly wired plug?

Definitely the reason that needs sorting out.

 

[Jeff.wd]

PS I bet he drilled through the upstairs socket circuit hence its not on a rcd

See reply below, they mentioned a neutral fault after the cable had been drilled, but the fault downstairs appeared after all the work had been completed.

 

[Octopus]

You need to get them to explain why one circuit is not rcd protected.....

 

[Leesparkykent]

A floating earth somewhere.

 

[Anthony S]

Crap workmanship by the sounds of it, the finishing touches with regards the Certificate and Labeling of the Consumer Unit say it all.

 

[Jeff.wd]

PS I bet he drilled through the upstairs socket circuit hence its not on a rcd

also to note, they haven't balanced the lighting across the rcd's so next time a lamp pops the whole house lighting is possibly effected.

All the cables from the main board, go directly up and into the ceiling cavity, so there will no wiring from the upstairs sockets passing through the kitchen.

 

[Jeff.wd]

All the cables from the main board, go directly up and into the ceiling cavity, so there will no wiring from the upstairs sockets passing through the kitchen.

 

[Darkwood]

Im sorry but a fault is a fault, if it has a neutral fault it should not be re-energised until it has been found and rectified, it may be signs of a more dangerous situation, this is not a professional approach to slap it back on and tell you, he should have hi-lighted the issue and expressed it requires correction before it can be energised, whether this was a permanent repair or a temp' to get the sockets back on while a quote was done for the full repair is 2 possible options but to energise a faulty circuit is not IMHO a responsible action from a qualified person.

 

[Octopus]

The answer could be simply that there is a N-E fault on the upstairs circuit and this is causing the RCD to trip.

You need a spark with an earth clamp meter, a MFT and the competence to use them both....

 

[The Ghost]

Yeh 80% figures max Zs, and three light ccts in box and two on cert

don't know how to fill out the Certificate correctly.

 

[Darkwood]

A N/E fault still warrants rectification before its energised, considering there has been a board change, all circuits should have been tested prior to the change and any issues included in the quote for the work, to find a fault then re-energise it after the board change is arris about face and poor work ethics from any supposed qualified competent electrician.

 

[Jeff.wd]

Thank very much for all your help and advice, these lads genuinely want to resolve the problem, although some critical and concerning comments, I will show them this thread, a friend kindly suggested posting on here for independent thoughts and advice.
Please keep posting more thoughts and comments.

 

[westward10]

I suspect the neutral/earth fault is existing and has nothing to do with the kitchen frolics.

 

[Darkwood]

Please give us any feedback, as regards my comments and to further your understanding, a N/E fault more than often won't pose an actual risk to yourself as such but there are situations where a N/E fault is definately a cause for concern, this cannot be comfirmed with just a meter reading and requires further investigation hence my concerns that it has been re-energised although I am in the party of thinking that any N/E fault should not be energised until it has been corrected regardless whether the fault was new or pre-existing.

 

[Jeff.wd]

I suspect the neutral/earth fault is existing and has nothing to do with the kitchen frolics.

Please give us any feedback, as regards my comments and to further your understanding, a N/E fault more than often won't pose an actual risk to yourself as such but there are situations where a N/E fault is definately a cause for concern, this cannot be comfirmed with just a meter reading and requires further investigation hence my concerns that it has been re-energised although I am in the party of thinking that any N/E fault should not be energised until it has been corrected regardless whether the fault was new or pre-existing.

Thanks again, and I will certainly reply to let you know the outcome.