"Owain" wrote in message ...
"Lobster" wrote
| ... I've found two old green 6mm(?) earth lead which emerge from the
| plaster adjacent to the (ancient) fusebox and connect to a terminal
| block,

Those might disappear off to water and gas pipes somewhere.

or they might be disconnected, who knows. Have seen that one before.


It is also possible that there's an earth (ie bonding) from a socket in the
kitchen to the cold water main, and that, brought back through the circuit
protective conductor to the fusebox, was considered sufficient to earth the
whole installation.


You say the house has been rewired recently, but to be honest thats
hard to believe from the pics of the fusebox. Partial rewiring might
have been done, but the idea that someone managed to gain enough
access to that old fusebox is stretching it. And again, if they didnt
replace an old and inaccessible 4-way wire fuse only box, or even
upgrade it to mcbs, youve got to wonder what they were thinking.

Does the bathroom have equipotential bonding? Is there an electric
shower? Electric cooker? Is there an earth wire running down the side
of the house exterior?

Clearly youve got to start again, at least in the CU area, but before
doing that youve got to get access. I dont know whats going on with
the cupboard but you'll have to make at the minimum another access
door so you can actually get to things, both to do the work, and for
future householder access.

If I knew who'd done the gas job I'd be calling them back to refit it
sensibly at no further cost. On second thoughts..... maybe not!

If it were mine I might start by checking resistance from house wiring
earth to real earth, as it would at least give a very quick idea of
how unsatisfactory things are. If R is high you would have a high risk
install there. If R is nice and low that would at least be reassuring
on that fairly major point.

I also would check and test all existing circuits, with a setup like
that I wouldnt want to make assumptions.


NT