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I'm a homeowner with no electrical skills. BG electrician came to repair something & said my fuse board is not to standard as it only has one RCD. The property was built in 1874 and most of the current systems were put in place in the 1980s. Lived here 24 years & the tripping mechanism works brilliantly. In my basic understanding you can't have two RCDs on one circuit & he was using modern regulations and applying them to my old property, which can't be done retrospectively, am I right? I am trying to sell, will this be an issue on survey & if so, what will it cost to correct. Thanks
 
Hi Claire,

BG engineers, in my experience, put the frightners on people to try and get them to have more work done.

In simple terms, if the RCD covers all the circuits, it's not ideal but unless there is a real need to change it (for other works, new kitchen for example which requires additional circuits say), if someone asked me to replace a consumer unit in such a setup I'd be asking them why and not necessarily writing them a quote.

Yes, we inspect to today's regulations, but that doesn't mean just because it doesn't 100% comply with them that it's not safe for continued use.

Maybe post a picture of your consumer unit and supply intake.
 
The regulations are not retrospective so as long as your installation is in good safe condition for the date it was installed then you do not have to do anything.

The usual reason for having multiple RCDs is so if you have a fault, say, on a socket you don't get plunged in to darkness because the lights share the same RCD. For that reason many houses would now get a dual RCD board.

Also recent regulation changes were to increase the safety by extending RCD protection to most circuits to reduce the impact of accidents such as nailing a buried cable when putting up shelves, etc.

BG do not have a good reputation in these parts, so if you do consider getting a new "consumer unit" (CU, as the fusebox is typically referred to here) then some of the electricians on this board might be able to point you in a better direction.
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When you sell the property is sold has seen
On the electric front if nowt been done recaintly. So I would not be worried if I was you.

Depending on the cost to upgrade and the effect on selling price (or delay in finding a buyer) then it might make sense to upgrade.

But still don't get BG involved!
 
Hi - I would not worry about it. If it’s raised you may rightly ignore the suggestion (as it’s not a compliance requirement) or perhaps magnanimously offer £50 contribution to an upgrade. Hope you are able to progress your sale at this terrible time ...
 
Thanks to everyone above for the replies, I feel more reassured about it now. I asked him, hypothetically, if the house needed rewiring (always looking for the worst scenario) how much would it cost and he said ÂŁ5-ÂŁ7k ?. I don't know how realistic that is. I like the idea of magnanimously offering ÂŁ50 Wilko. I was worried it would be a big issue on survey - assuming I ever get to that point given that this scourge is not only delaying everything but knocking house prices down too. ?
 
As mentioned before, if you could post a couple of pictures of your board, meter and main supply fuse we could make more informed comments.
 
The regulations are not retrospective so as long as your installation is in good safe condition for the date it was installed
This isn't strictly true. Regardless of when the installation was erected it will be inspected against current Regulations. Safety issues will be coded as such regardless of whether it was compliant at the time of installation or not. (My usual example is fused neutrals.)
 
This isn't strictly true. Regardless of when the installation was erected it will be inspected against current Regulations. Safety issues will be coded as such regardless of whether it was compliant at the time of installation or not. (My usual example is fused neutrals.)

That is true, but in my limited experience I have only once seen a fused neutral and it was on the incoming supply on what looked like the 1930's era cut-out. That for sure was one cut-out that nobody in their right mind would have tried to pull the fuse! Why the DNO had not replaced it was beyond me, but sadly the lady who's house it was had other problems beyond the dodgy state of the electrics so seemed unable to sort anything out. As far as I know it is still there :(

I think most of a 1980s era installation that was in good condition would be OK, only a few aspects would even make a C2 (potentially dangerous) rating I would expect, such as lack of RCD protection for sockets likely to be used with equipment outdoors, etc.
 
Your best bet would be to get an EICR done by an independent sparky if you’re worried at all. That will give you a view to the age and safety of the installation; and will let you know about any potential problems prior to selling the property.
 
Your best bet would be to get an EICR done by an independent sparky if you’re worried at all. That will give you a view to the age and safety of the installation; and will let you know about any potential problems prior to selling the property.

That is a good suggestion, the paperwork might be need for the sale anyway, and if you do decide to change the CU a lot of the work in doing it properly is in checking the existing wiring (which is why it is considered best practice to start with an EICR).

But as for the work itself, you should find a good electrician to do it. Some companies offer really low prices and do damn-all work for that low money! A proper inspection can take several hours and means unplugging all equipment and removing light bulbs, etc, so the circuits can be fully tested.
 
A proper inspection … means unplugging all equipment and removing light bulbs, etc, so the circuits can be fully tested.
I wouldn't agree with this. Insulation testing between live conductors is something I always agree as a limitation for periodic inspection and testing. I wouldn't entertain carrying it out. And I would certainly claim that I carry out proper inspections - and pick up on an enormous number of issues. Inspection is the primary part of the process. Testing merely supplements inspection, and whilst some issues may be discovered this way inspection is likely to uncover the overwhelming majority.
 

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