Query wiring on house purchase.

[A5TR4L]

Hi everyone,

Just purchased a new place and have already stripped out all the rooms as plan a complete renovation.

Whilst everything is bare I wanted to ensure nothing seems amiss with the electrical side of things. Previous owner had the house re wired a few years ago and the sparky even left a floor plan of how everything is hooked up.....she didn’t have a receipt or proof of work so just want to make sure everything sounds ok.

So the CU is a metal cased 10way Crabtree unit with Iso switch and has been fitted completely with rcbo’s, so most things are on their own circuit.

So.
32a RCBO for downstairs sockets set in a radial circuit with 2.5mm T+E cable.
32a RCBO for upstairs sockets set in a radial circuit with 2.5mm T+E cable.
6a RCBO for downstairs lighting, loop in/out setup on 1.5mm T+E cable
6a RCBO for upstairs lighting, loop in/out setup on 1.5mm T+E cable.
6a RCBO for combi boiler in 1.5mm T+E cable, which goes to a 3a fuse switch in wall which then goes to boiler.
32a RCBO for cooker in 6mm T+E cable wired into a double pole iso switch before cooker. Cooker rated max at 16kw
20a RCBO for fridge on 2.5mm T+E cable


I’m no electrician just writing what I have in front of me, the house is quite small so cable runs aren’t that long and from what the previous owner told me all wiring has been fitted with plenty of air and not through any insulation etc

So at a glance does that seem to be ok, I’d rather get some opinions before i start fitting walls/floors as you may see something that should be re looked at.

Thanks for your time.

 

[KEV 1 N]

If you want full confidence in the wiring etc, employ a local electrician to carry out an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and he/she will verify the suitability and any faults on the system.
Incidentally If the up and down sockets are RADIALS on a 32a rcbo, then they should be on 20a rcbos unless they are wired as a RING.

 

[Pete999]

Hi everyone,

Just purchased a new place and have already stripped out all the rooms as plan a complete renovation.

Whilst everything is bare I wanted to ensure nothing seems amiss with the electrical side of things. Previous owner had the house re wired a few years ago and the sparky even left a floor plan of how everything is hooked up.....she didn’t have a receipt or proof of work so just want to make sure everything sounds ok.

So the CU is a metal cased 10way Crabtree unit with Iso switch and has been fitted completely with rcbo’s, so most things are on their own circuit.

So.
32a RCBO for downstairs sockets set in a radial circuit with 2.5mm T+E cable.
32a RCBO for upstairs sockets set in a radial circuit with 2.5mm T+E cable.
6a RCBO for downstairs lighting, loop in/out setup on 1.5mm T+E cable
6a RCBO for upstairs lighting, loop in/out setup on 1.5mm T+E cable.
6a RCBO for combi boiler in 1.5mm T+E cable, which goes to a 3a fuse switch in wall which then goes to boiler.
32a RCBO for cooker in 6mm T+E cable wired into a double pole iso switch before cooker. Cooker rated max at 16kw
20a RCBO for fridge on 2.5mm T+E cable


I’m no electrician just writing what I have in front of me, the house is quite small so cable runs aren’t that long and from what the previous owner told me all wiring has been fitted with plenty of air and not through any insulation etc

So at a glance does that seem to be ok, I’d rather get some opinions before i start fitting walls/floors as you may see something that should be re looked at.

Thanks for your time.

Hi Mate I'm assuming you are not an Electrician, and have know knowledge of the BS 7671 The Bible Electricians are supposed to work to.
For a socket radial to be protected by an OCPD (fuse or circuit breaker of 30 or 32 Amps) it would need to be wired in 4mm2 cable, historically the floor are covered would be limited to 75M2.
Radials wired in 2.5mm2 cable should be protected by a 20Amp OCPD and be limited to a floor area of 50M2.
All this information can be accessed in BS 7671 Appendix 15 table 15B,Regulation 433.1.204 Pages 453/454 Hope this helps.

 

[FatAlan]

Would have thought there’d be an electrical installation certificate around somewhere if it had a rewire. Was this picked up when you bought the place?

 

[Octopus]

Given what you plan to do, I would recommend that you get a local spark to take a look - and as above the sockets need looking at - but why do you think they are radials?

 

[Pete999]

Given what you plan to do, I would recommend that you get a local spark to take a look - and as above the sockets need looking at - but why do you think they are radials?

Yes forgot to ask that question, silly of me really.

 

[Des 56]

Assuming you have used the word radial instead of ring on the 2.5mm 32 amp circuits
The layout and choice of rcbos makes it to be on the upper side of quality for a distribution board
Hopefully the rest of the installation and its quality mirrors that choice

You will be disturbing the electrical installation and it would be sensible to have it tested and inspected (probably best after your work is complete)in the meantime pay a spark to have a look to see if anything is amiss

 

[buzzlightyear]

Previous owner had the house re wired a few years ago and the sparky even left a floor plan of how everything is hooked up.....she didn’t have a receipt or proof of work so just want to make sure everything sounds ok.

looks like foreigner from another country did the job ,ask the people who sold you the house were is the test certs or contact the solicitors. now for me alarm bells would start ring .

 

[A5TR4L]

Thank you all so much for the replies.
Yes as stated I’m not an electrician, she said there was a cert which she misplaced :/ I think I’ll get someone in to have a look as literally the house is completely bare.

Whether radials or rings I’m not sure as these notes are what she wrote down from what the electrician said he was going to fit.

Thanks for all the info, I’ll get someone in for peace of mind .

 

[buzzlightyear]

she said there was a cert which she misplaced :/ I think I’ll get someone in to have a look as literally the house is completely bare.

then she can ring the spark for copy's then.

 

[Midwest]

then she can ring the spark for copy's then.

Can imagine how that phone call will go, now they are no longer the owners, 'Hello, who's that, Mr/Ms A5TR4L..........................................' end click, buuuuurrrrro (my best phone going dead interpretation)

Could work though, mind.

 

[FatAlan]

Should be able to check with building control to see if the EIC was registered.

 

[NDG Elecs]

Works with me Mid. I will happily (read begrudgingly!) trawl through my paper certs to send out if required. Thankfully a lot of it is now stored in the cloud as PDFs, so dead easy to resend.

To the OP; if you are doing major works to the house I would defo get an EICR done - it's the perfect time to do so IMO. The fact that the previous electrician has fitted all RCBOs and provided cable routes says to me they are probably one of the better sparks out there, but only way to tell is via an EICR. Good on you for wanting to get it all sorted, many homeowners completely and utterly neglect the electrics.

 

[Madocks]

A) It was rewired by DIY dave, never had certs and the work not notified to building control. Lady missplaced the cert

B) Was installed correctly and she missplaced the cert, if it has a metal consumer unit then its pretty recent. Any stickers on the Unit to indicate who installed? Get in contact with them for a copy.

 

[Midwest]

Works with me Mid. I will happily (read begrudgingly!) trawl through my paper certs to send out if required. Thankfully a lot of it is now stored in the cloud as PDFs, so dead easy to resend.

Just to show I have a conscience, two recent customers were after their certs' which I had diligently sent them. But now 'cos their selling their house, and their solicitors wanted copies, the certs suddenly become important. I of course, could of just told them to contact Elecsa, and get copies at £3.50 each. But as Elecsa make enough money, I just re-sent them copies. Ain't I a tart!