Shower changes, straight forward or not ???????????

[KFORDHUNTER]

I have a querie, i have recently started my own business after working for someone for 15 years, passed my niceic domestic installer assesment and am getting very busy.

Now to my problem, what do we do if we go to a customers house as their shower is bust. NO RCD PROTECTION, NO MAIN BONDING TO GAS AND WATER.

Obviously i make sure the cable supplying is the right size, usually 6mmt+e so they are limited to 7.5kw normally.

Do we have a responsibility to make sure the circuit we connect the shower to is compliant with the 17th edition regs or as long as it was compliant to the regs when it was installed can we just change the shower unit?

At the moment i am refusing to connect new showers onto rewireable fuses in houses with no main bonding etc and am insisting that they have an rcd installed and bond upgrade, as a result 50% of the customers don't have me to do the change they get a plumber in and they just change the shower.

Your replies will be appreciated.

 

[12345aob]

I'm with you! I try to tell them the shower warranty is void if not on an RCD.

 

[Paul_Rawlinson]

If its a straight forward change (i.e 7.5kW for 7.5kW etc...) then theres no need to have RCDs of Bonding as your not puting anymore load onto the circuit. You should Reccomend it tho. Even if its a more powerful shower than the previous one, aslong as the cable size is large enough then your fine. Its only when you replace the characterists of the ciruit, i.e change cable that you must update to 17th. By refusing to do it you are only doing yourself out of work and some other sparky will go and do it. But however i do agree with you - It should defo go tho an RCD and have and MCB protecting it, with bonding in place (especially water).

 

[jeremy]

I work though not for much longer for a plumber. Last year we were doing a bathroom and because the plasterer was due in the next day and I didn't have time to wait I ripped out the 6mm and replaced it with 10mm. The plumber( my brother in law with adegree in electronic engineering, a member of the then IEE, and defined scope part Poo) ripped me a new one!! As far as i can find the highest rating MCB for a 6mm t&e, if any of it goes through insulation is 32A. I could well be wrong and would welcome being proved so. On the RCD front if the existing circuit can disconnect within prescribed times then OK but I would always strongly recommend an RCD. Standing in a bath holding on to an energised appliance isn't going to kill you , it's when you step out of the bath!!. Though I wouldn't trust my judgement!!