SeanA
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A friend of mine is having some building work done by some incompetent tradespeople and the wiring in their bathroom was done by a plumber who is not a qualified electrician my friend was having problems so I agreed to have a look at it (I am not a qualified electrician I should point out).
The first thing I noticed was that the plumber had attached a shaver socket and a towel rail to the lighting circuit but not put that on the consumer unit isolator for the lighting circuit. I then found that the shaver socket was only being held in by one screw and was loose. Also the earth in the light switch on the wall outside the bathroom was not connected inside the switch.
My friend was also having problems with lights further on in the circuit and I found out that the neutral had come loose as it was attached to the circuit using a terminal block connector. I have replaced the terminal block with a junction box as I personally don't like terminal blocks especially for work intended to be permanent. The earth was also not properly connected as well.
While fitting the junction box to replace the terminal blocks I noticed that the wiring is using incorrect colours for example there is several instances of brown and red neutral wires with no sleeving, there was also a blue live wire. None of the wiring or junction boxes have been fastened to the rafters and an excessive amount of wiring has been used so its become tangled.
I have spoken to the electrician for the project who has mentioned that they put in a quote to do the bathroom electrics but the person overseeing the project declined it and choose to have it done by the plumber so the electric work in the bathroom has not been certified and signed off, my friend wasn't aware of this. The electrician has offered to certify it for a fee however given how bad it is I don't think the electrician would be able to certify it without major changes.
Given the state of the electrics and the incorrect wiring I have suggested the best cause of action is for my friend to get a new electrician in and replace it all and maybe report the plumber and the person overseeing the project to trading standards. What would you say the best course of action is?
The first thing I noticed was that the plumber had attached a shaver socket and a towel rail to the lighting circuit but not put that on the consumer unit isolator for the lighting circuit. I then found that the shaver socket was only being held in by one screw and was loose. Also the earth in the light switch on the wall outside the bathroom was not connected inside the switch.
My friend was also having problems with lights further on in the circuit and I found out that the neutral had come loose as it was attached to the circuit using a terminal block connector. I have replaced the terminal block with a junction box as I personally don't like terminal blocks especially for work intended to be permanent. The earth was also not properly connected as well.
While fitting the junction box to replace the terminal blocks I noticed that the wiring is using incorrect colours for example there is several instances of brown and red neutral wires with no sleeving, there was also a blue live wire. None of the wiring or junction boxes have been fastened to the rafters and an excessive amount of wiring has been used so its become tangled.
I have spoken to the electrician for the project who has mentioned that they put in a quote to do the bathroom electrics but the person overseeing the project declined it and choose to have it done by the plumber so the electric work in the bathroom has not been certified and signed off, my friend wasn't aware of this. The electrician has offered to certify it for a fee however given how bad it is I don't think the electrician would be able to certify it without major changes.
Given the state of the electrics and the incorrect wiring I have suggested the best cause of action is for my friend to get a new electrician in and replace it all and maybe report the plumber and the person overseeing the project to trading standards. What would you say the best course of action is?
