Reconnecting old wiring.

hydeselec · Apr 7, 2012

Hi all,

I am looking at a potential job at the moment it is a barn conversion on a farm, All the mains boards are in the barn at the moment that supply the farm house.

Some of the wiring is the old cotton wound cables into the old MEM fuse boards with porcelain fuses. These obviously need moving ....

Do i...

A. move and reconnect in old board ?
B. Tell them they need the farm house re wiring?
C. Reconnect in a new board ?

Any other suggestions welcome ...........:santa3:

Guest111 · Apr 7, 2012

If you tell them the whole lot need rewiring at once then they could think you are just after more work,If it was me I would advise them that it needs attention and take your wiring from a new board,without touching the old stuff and noting on paperwork that you have told them what needs doing,on the other hand they may want the lot done at once,its your client so you know them better than me,hope this helps.

Guitarist · Apr 7, 2012

So you are considering taking the old rewirable boards down and putting them up elsewhere?

RISElectrical · Apr 7, 2012

Thing to remember is that you are responsible for the work you carry out and that work has to comply with current regulations.

Knobhead · Apr 7, 2012

If they won’t have a rewire, walk a very long way away.

Mind you I’d love to see the paperwork to cover the job.

hydeselec · Apr 8, 2012

guitarist I am not really considering anything at this moment in time my thread is purely based on other people opinions on the matter

But hypothetically yes it is an option to unscrew the board and move it.

The boards in question need moving as it is in the location of the new dwelling and its what supplies a farm house. As they have sold the Barn to a client its going to be hard to say " hey i know you sold your barn but now you need your house rewiring!"

Isn't there a regulation stating you can "re-connect" old wiring with no earth so long as everything is Class 2 and labelled correctly ?

It is a tough situation because no matter who does the job they are going to have to do something with these old rewireable fuse boards........

SPARTYKUS · Apr 8, 2012

With the description of the wiring (cotton!), and assuming you will be working to elec at work regs, you'll presumably be de-energizing the fuse board before moving?

So....who's responsible for the installation when you re energize it?

I hope this clears it up for you!

hydeselec · Apr 8, 2012

so you are saying that if you de-energize a supply then re energize it you are responsible for that installation passed the point of isolation ?

RISElectrical · Apr 8, 2012

If you move the supply then yes to an extent, or that's at least my belief. Just de-energising and re-energising isn't committing to responsibility, however if your moving the boards, altering the cables etc etc then you would have to issue a certificate for this, and therefore would have to state the deviations from the regulations on the cert. or this is how I see it anyway

hydeselec · Apr 8, 2012

Yes i understand where you are coming from now. Any more suggestions ....

SPARTYKUS · Apr 8, 2012

RISElectrical said:
If you move the supply then yes to an extent, or that's at least my belief. Just de-energising and re-energising isn't committing to responsibility, however if your moving the boards, altering the cables etc etc then you would have to issue a certificate for this, and therefore would have to state the deviations from the regulations on the cert. or this is how I see it anyway

If you re energize an installation & it was not safe, and something happened, it can and will be your fault. You switched it on!

RISElectrical · Apr 8, 2012

That can't always be the rule. For example, if you de-energised a whole installation for purpose of testing etc or just to install an MCCB in the main sub section board (for example to install a dedicated fire alarm supply). Then you re-energise you do not take responsibility for all the sub mains and sub circuits fed on the system.

If this is the case as you say then for me to install said fire alarm supply I have in effect taken responsibility for all circuits in a large factory? You only take responsibility for the circuits worked on or altered. If however you can clearly see something of a dangerous nature then it is your responsibility to make this safe.

SPARTYKUS · Apr 8, 2012

Yes, a good point, its more complicated than I made out but then Im good at simplifying things.....

GLENNSPARK · Apr 8, 2012

SPARTYKUS said:
If you re energize an installation & it was not safe, and something happened, it can and will be your fault. You switched it on!

yeah.exactly....just read this thread ....cant believe it.......reconnecting to old fabric covered cable/s....shifting C/Us about that sound like there from WW1 or sommat....come on!!.....