pricing job

tanglewood · Jul 24, 2011

priced a job last friday 22nd, kitchen refit in old cottage, 4 circuits, sockets up, sockets down, lights, cooker 3036 board no RCD. Usual stuff for old 2up 2down. Price included following :- strip out existing wiring to kitchen including sockets, cooker and light with switching. Replace consumer unit (which is in the kitchen) with split load 17th edition unit. Rewire kitchen ring, new lighting circuit (including LED downlights and under cabinet lights) new cooker supply, provision for new electric shower in room next to kitchen which is being converted into downstairs bathroom, with light/extractor unit in shower and 100m extraction. Upgrade of equipotential bonding, test and certification. Total price for £1000.00. Reasonable i think. Heres the problem, main services into property water and oil. Water bond is fine (10mm) Checked bonding on oil to exterior oil fired combi boiler, not present. Customer had 2 previous estimates by NICEIC registered electricians neither checked bonding to oil, or need for extraction in bathroom (new downstairs bathroom in room without exterior wall) Prices quoted £650.00 and £1100.00 AM I MISSING SOMETHING? !! By the way experienced spark here 10 years self employed NAPIT registered (used to be NICEIC) not NICEIC bashing, but come on.. didnt even check the bonding!

Geoffsd · Jul 25, 2011

Not exactly sure what your point is.

Are you relying on what the customer has told you about the other two?
Perhaps something was forgotten on the cheaper estimate.

MarkieSparkie · Jul 25, 2011

If the oil fired boiler is truly external to the property there is no requirement to bond the oil service pipe as it will not introduce a potential into the property.

malcolmsanford · Jul 25, 2011

As Markie said but just on a different tack.

There must be some sort of pipework coming from outside to in the house on that oil system, but is it introducing a potential ?. It may be metal coming into the house but at the oil tank/boiler outside the connections may insulated, they often are on oil tanks.

Test any pipe entering the house to see if it is an extraneous conductive part. It's quite straight forward, clip onto your MET and depending the distance use a wander lead clip onto pipe and do an IR test. If it is over 22Kohm then it is not a ECP and therefore no need to bond.

Also check to see if the tank filling needs earthed?