Rewire Advice

steve447 · Feb 21, 2011

Moved into a new house in the summer, the Board is pretty old, there are not enough sockets in the rooms so i was thinking of doing a full rewire.
Im a spark by trade, but have not worked as a spark for over 10years. I am about to do the 2382 17th edition in april.
Along with the concern that there is not enough sockets in the house and a couple of dodgy looking spurs. It appears (i havent had a chance to get the boards up and check) that the SWA from the garage for lighting and power is running off the back of a 13A switched fused spur. (thats not right surely it would need its own seperate RDC?)
At the very least i would like to change the distribution board as its a old fuse board.
I was thinking that i will chase out the walls and run all the cables i need leaving the existing circuits there and then run all the cables to cupboard where the dis board would go.

If i was to carry out the above, what are the chances of then getting a spark to connect up and test? (as i presume legally i cannot do that?)
Also i reckon i should get a PIR carried out now, so how much would i be looking at for that to be done?

any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

pushrod · Feb 21, 2011

For a decent PIR i would guess at about £20 ish per circuit with a min of £100 and more if you are in the southeast.
With regard to the rest once you get your 2382 you might be able to convince your labc that you are competent to certify and so be subject to just a charge of just £200 or so.

Adam W · Feb 21, 2011

The garage SWA would have just needed to be rcd protected, not necessarily from it's own. Depending on when it was installed the regs at the time may not have required one at all.
If you're doing a rewire there's not much point getting a pir done, you might as well just have a look around yourself.

It's doubtful that any reputable sparks would want to just test and sign off your work - you'd probably be looking at either getting someone else to do it, or doing all the testing and notification yourself.

bugsy · Feb 21, 2011

You would'nt get a registered spark to sign off your work and submit to LABC becuse he is not allowed to

Deleted member 26818 · Feb 21, 2011

There is nothing legally preventing you from connecting up and testing.
If you intend re-wiring the property, there is no point in having a PIR before doing so, as any defects found will be rectified during the re-wire.
If you intend doing the work yourself, you would need to notify your Local Authority Building Control in advance.
It migt be an idea to draw a plan or schematic of the property, and mark out where you intend to place whatever you intend installing.
May also be usefull to mark existing fixtures such as radiators, sinks, work surfaces even beds so as nothing clashes.

steve447 · Feb 23, 2011

Thanks for the advice everyone.

nick611 · Feb 23, 2011

bugsy said:
You would'nt get a registered spark to sign off your work and submit to LABC becuse he is not allowed to

you can sign off other peoples work. you simply need to check it at first fix and completion. do the relevent testing and put third person down as design and installer

Deleted member 26818 · Feb 23, 2011

nick611 said:
you can sign off other peoples work. you simply need to check it at first fix and completion. do the relevent testing and put third person down as design and installer

Very contentious subject.