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| UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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What does an electrical inspection entail?
Finally approaching the end of the rather extended rewiring of my house. I'm confident in the work I've done (though the garage has never been properly rewired and one or two bits could be 'marginal' I guess) but an inspection of the installation seems prudent. what sort of things would such a report/inspection entail -- Chris French, Leeds |
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On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 22:23:34 UTC, chris French
wrote: I'm confident in the work I've done (though the garage has never been properly rewired and one or two bits could be 'marginal' I guess) but an inspection of the installation seems prudent. what sort of things would such a report/inspection entail http://www.cpc.co.uk and look at part no. PL04276... (ISBN 075062857X elsewhere) This is cheap and tells you all of the basics. -- Bob Eager begin a new life...dump Windows! |
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chris French wrote in message ...
Finally approaching the end of the rather extended rewiring of my house. I'm confident in the work I've done (though the garage has never been properly rewired and one or two bits could be 'marginal' I guess) but an inspection of the installation seems prudent. what sort of things would such a report/inspection entail Probably a visual inspection involving looking at the main intake and assesing the supply type and rating of the main fuse. Then checking the consumers unit for correct ratings of MCBs and such like. Then the inspector will do some test on each circuit in turn with special instruments testing for coninuity of CPCs,continuity off ring main conductors,Insulation resistance,Polarity and Earth Loop Impedance and finally testing any RCDs in the circuit. If all the readings comply with BS7671 the 16th edition regs the inspector will issue an electricial installation cirtificate to you the client. If you have a multimeter you can do basic electrical test such as continuity of CPCs and ring main conductors. Anouther investment would be a plug in socket tester to cheack for polarity at each socket outlet. For some of the test the inspector will need to de-energize the circuits to be tested and also disconnect all appliances and remove any lamps electronic equiptment from the circuits. Jon. |
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On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 23:23:34 +0100, chris French wrote:
Finally approaching the end of the rather extended rewiring of my house. I'm confident in the work I've done (though the garage has never been properly rewired and one or two bits could be 'marginal' I guess) but an inspection of the installation seems prudent. what sort of things would such a report/inspection entail It's detailed ion the On site guide. Basically checking the installation complies with the relevant regs. Then testing and logging the results. (RCD drop out times, loop impedances, insulation resistance, conductor conductance, ring continuity.). -- Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter. The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html |
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#5
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In message .uk, Ed
Sirett writes On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 23:23:34 +0100, chris French wrote: Finally approaching the end of the rather extended rewiring of my house. I'm confident in the work I've done (though the garage has never been properly rewired and one or two bits could be 'marginal' I guess) but an inspection of the installation seems prudent. what sort of things would such a report/inspection entail It's detailed ion the On site guide. Basically checking the installation complies with the relevant regs. Then testing and logging the results. (RCD drop out times, loop impedances, insulation resistance, conductor conductance, ring continuity.). So is this mostly about the various tests they do? Is there much of a visual inspection of what has actually been done? -- Chris French, Leeds |
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chris French wrote in message ...
In message .uk, Ed Sirett writes On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 23:23:34 +0100, chris French wrote: Finally approaching the end of the rather extended rewiring of my house. I'm confident in the work I've done (though the garage has never been properly rewired and one or two bits could be 'marginal' I guess) but an inspection of the installation seems prudent. what sort of things would such a report/inspection entail It's detailed ion the On site guide. Basically checking the installation complies with the relevant regs. Then testing and logging the results. (RCD drop out times, loop impedances, insulation resistance, conductor conductance, ring continuity.). So is this mostly about the various tests they do? Is there much of a visual inspection of what has actually been done? Usually 10% of wiring accessories opended up and the wiring inside them checked for things like too much exposed copper and sleeving on CPCs. Jon. |
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unless theres a fault in the accessory inspected ,then it inspect every one wiring concealed in walls or concealed under floors wont be visually inspected Usually 10% of wiring accessories opended up and the wiring inside them checked for things like too much exposed copper and sleeving on CPCs. Jon. |
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Phil Nettleton wrote:
unless theres a fault in the accessory inspected ,then it inspect every one wiring concealed in walls or concealed under floors wont be visually inspected Hmmm, yes! -- Chris Green |
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wrote in message ... Phil Nettleton wrote: unless theres a fault in the accessory inspected ,then it inspect every one wiring concealed in walls or concealed under floors wont be visually inspected Hmmm, yes! what do you mean by this ? the sample percentage is 10% so if there`s 10 or less lights you would only inspect 1 unless you found a fault in which case you would then inspect every fitting As for the concealed wiring , on the periodic inspection report (which is the form being filled in as the test is not being carried out by the installer)the section marked "extent and limitation of the inspection " has a paragraph at the bottom stating that .The wiring has been carried out in accordance with BS7671 Cables concealed within trunking and conduits,or cables and conduits concealed under floors,in roof spaces and generally within the fabric of the building or underground have not been inspected so that basically means the test inspects the connected accessories and the electrical integraty of the wiring and not weather it`s been fitted correctly, having said that in checking the accessories you would probably see any anomalies ,also that still won`t stop you lifting the odd board or checking the roof space if you suspect something because when the test is complete the customer is going to get a report with the inspectors signiture on it hope this clears things up a bit phil n |
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#10
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In message ,
"Phil Nettleton" wrote: [...] the test inspects the connected accessories and the electrical integraty of the wiring and not weather it`s been fitted correctly, having said that in checking the accessories you would probably see any anomalies ,also that still won`t stop you lifting the odd board or checking the roof space if you suspect something because when the test is complete the customer is going to get a report with the inspectors signiture on it hope this clears things up a bit The thing I find difficult about inspections is the client. Of course, that's obvious, but you have several issues he 1: He's paying you to do the job, possibly by the hour. 2: What he really wants is an "ok". 3: When he gets the report, the blasted section which lists items of concern is very confusing to the layman. I mean, "1 requires urgent attention" is obvious, but I have seen 2, 3, 4 used quite inconsistently, especially the one which says "needs further investigation". To a layman this means "it's ok at the moment, but you should take a look". To the inspector it probably means "I think there's something dodgy going on here but if I spend three hours tracing it out you're going to complain." 4: When you tick the "not satisfactory" box it is hard not to feel as though some clients think you are trying it on. I recently had an interesting discussion with one client about the necessity or otherwise of main and supplementary bonding (lack of which usually merits a "1" in the concerns box), and the wisdom of ditching the overall 30mA RCD in favour of the newly available PME. Crumbs, he even moaned when I spent an unscheduled half day rewiring a birds nest of a junction box which was the main downstairs lighting switching centre (all earths twisted together outside the box). I'm probably just being naive, but I usually try my best to explain the test certificate to the client, which explains why I charge an extra hour for paperwork :-) Hwyl! M. -- Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/ Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology .... CONgress (n) - Opposite of PROgress |
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On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 21:03:22 +0100, Martin Angove
wrote: [snip] I'm probably just being naive, but I usually try my best to explain the test certificate to the client, which explains why I charge an extra hour for paperwork :-) Hwyl! M. Just out of interest, what do you charge for the test and certificate? Rob Replace 'spam' with 'org' to reply |
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#12
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In message ,
Kalico wrote: On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 21:03:22 +0100, Martin Angove wrote: [snip] I'm probably just being naive, but I usually try my best to explain the test certificate to the client, which explains why I charge an extra hour for paperwork :-) Hwyl! M. Just out of interest, what do you charge for the test and certificate? By the hour. A normal-sized house without anything too complicated to trace should be about an hour for the inspection and an hour for the paperwork. Some installations which have been messed-about with may take longer due to the need to identify, as far as possible, which fuses/MCBs feed which circuits. Was in a house the other day where as far as I could tell there were four radial circuits feeding sockets, all fed from the same 20A fuse. The report pulled up a few more issues which I suppose didn't please the householder very much as he'd gone to great lengths to make the installation look good on the surface with new lights, switches, sockets and so on. Hwyl! M. -- Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/ Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology .... Blessed are the young; they will inherit our national debt. |
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#13
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Martin Angove wrote:
Was in a house the other day where as far as I could tell there were four radial circuits feeding sockets, all fed from the same 20A fuse. Which is perfectly normal and correct if I understand you correctly. A 20 amp protected radial wired with 2.5sq mm supplying sockets can be branched as much as you want. The branches can be at the consumer unit as well as elsewhere in the circuit. The main limiting factor on this type of circuit is that it should serve a maximum floor area of 50 square metres. Also, of course, it should be capable of supplying the devices connected to it (subject to diversity). -- Chris Green |
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In article ,
Martin Angove writes: Was in a house the other day where as far as I could tell there were four radial circuits feeding sockets, all fed from the same 20A fuse. Um, that's just one radial circuit. Shouldn't be a problem unless the loading is silly, like if it's doing a large kitchen and utility room. -- Andrew Gabriel |
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In uk.d-i-y, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article , Martin Angove writes: Was in a house the other day where as far as I could tell there were four radial circuits feeding sockets, all fed from the same 20A fuse. Um, that's just one radial circuit. Shouldn't be a problem unless the loading is silly, like if it's doing a large kitchen and utility room. But since this is the normally thoroughly sensible Martin A speaking, he probably meant precisely that the four main branches of the single radial were indeed supplying loads/floor-areas considerably in excess of the reasonable burden on a single 20A circuit (not to mention the controllability/incovenience factors), and expected us as intelligent readers to infer this from context... |
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Stefek Zaba wrote
| Andrew Gabriel wrote: | Martin Angove writes: | Was in a house the other day where as far as I could tell there | were four radial circuits feeding sockets, all fed from the | same 20A fuse. My mother's got one of them :-) Only it feeds two house sockets, the bathroom radiant heater, and the garage socket. thinks4 way Wylex board. Cooker, ring, lights, immersion, none spare. ... Actually, it might do the immersion as well. | Um, that's just one radial circuit. | Shouldn't be a problem unless the loading is silly, | like if it's doing a large kitchen and utility room. | But since this is the normally thoroughly sensible Martin A | speaking, he probably meant precisely that the four main | branches of the single radial were indeed supplying loads/ | floor-areas considerably in excess of the reasonable burden | on a single 20A circuit (not to mention the controllability/ | incovenience factors), and expected us as intelligent | readers to infer this from context... And the fact that taking 4 connections from one MCB/fuse terminal might not be Good Practice, depending on the terminal design. Owain |
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#18
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On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 19:24:37 +0100, "Owain"
strung together this: thinks4 way Wylex board. Cooker, ring, lights, immersion, none spare. ... Actually, it might do the immersion as well. Reminds me of my 'temporary' setup before I expanded the CU arrangements. One 20A circuit feeding the immersion, the CH, the pretty lights on the fire, two 16A sockets outside and all of the outside lighting (about 1kw fully loded)! Glad to say its been spread out a bit now though. -- SJW A.C.S. Ltd |
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#20
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snip
Have been following this thread with some interest as I waa about to have my rewiring checked by a sparks (first time I've done anything as extensive as this, so I was slightly apprehensive - bit like going to the dentist for a check-up!). Interestingly, the only thing I got pulled up on (apart from one apparently faulty cooker socket) was the fact that having followed the pro and con arguments in this ng, I hadn't installed any supplementary bonding in the kitchen! Oh well... David |
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#21
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"Lobster" wrote in message
om... Interestingly, the only thing I got pulled up on (apart from one apparently faulty cooker socket) was the fact that having followed the pro and con arguments in this ng, I hadn't installed any supplementary bonding in the kitchen! Oh well... Just had a go at doing my bonding, but I'm slightly stumped over how to attach it to the sink. I always thought they had special earthing tag points, but this one certainly doesn't. All there is are the rather flimsy-looking screw clips which hold down the sink to the worktop and I'm not sure how I can interface a length of earth cable with this. Anybody been there, done that? Please don't tell me it's unnecessary - I'm not arguing, but the sparks who inspected it wants it doing and it's not worth the argument (which I'd end up paying for at his hourly rate anyway!) Thanks David |
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On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 15:04:07 UTC, "Lobster"
wrote: Just had a go at doing my bonding, but I'm slightly stumped over how to attach it to the sink. I always thought they had special earthing tag points, but this one certainly doesn't. All there is are the rather flimsy-looking screw clips which hold down the sink to the worktop and I'm not sure how I can interface a length of earth cable with this. Anybody been there, done that? Years ago, I did this on a stainless steel sink by drilling a hole in teh side (the vertical part) in an inconspicuous corner. I then crimped a tag to the earth cable and bolted it on, using said hole. This was done inside, so only the bolt head was visible outside. -- Bob Eager begin a new life...dump Windows! |
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Bob Eager wrote:
Years ago, I did this on a stainless steel sink by drilling a hole in teh side (the vertical part) in an inconspicuous corner. I then crimped a tag to the earth cable and bolted it on, using said hole. This was done inside, so only the bolt head was visible outside. Another way is to use the type of earth clamps made for connecting to thin metal sections, such as Eze-earth - shown here as type TZB100: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Earthing_Index/Earth_Clamps/index.html or a Screwfix equivalent: http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=18129&ts=12208. -- Andy |
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"Andy Wade" wrote in message
... Bob Eager wrote: Years ago, I did this on a stainless steel sink by drilling a hole in teh side (the vertical part) in an inconspicuous corner. I then crimped a tag to the earth cable and bolted it on, using said hole. This was done inside, so only the bolt head was visible outside. Another way is to use the type of earth clamps made for connecting to thin metal sections, such as Eze-earth - shown here as type TZB100: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...lamps/index.ht ml or a Screwfix equivalent: http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=18129&ts=12208. Thanks - in fact I already have some of the Screwfix ones; however there's no suitable rib or edge that I can see where I could fit one of these. Even so, I was looking at one and couldn't work out how I would attach the cable even to these! The screw terminal is tiny - certainly compared with the h/d screw on a conventional pipe earth clamp. Is the answer that you have to crimp on a tag, as suggested by Bob above? If so I guess I need a crimping tool, then... David |
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Lobster wrote:
Thanks - in fact I already have some of the Screwfix ones; however there's no suitable rib or edge that I can see where I could fit one of these. Even so, I was looking at one and couldn't work out how I would attach the cable even to these! The screw terminal is tiny - certainly compared with the h/d screw on a conventional pipe earth clamp. Is the answer that you have to crimp on a tag, as suggested by Bob above? If so I guess I need a crimping tool, then... Yes, _everybody_ needs a crimp tool. Get a decent one and you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. -- Andy |
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#26
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In article ,
Lobster wrote: Is the answer that you have to crimp on a tag, as suggested by Bob above? If so I guess I need a crimping tool, then... If you get a red blue and yellow terminal crimp tool, avoid the very cheap non cantilever types. Ratchet ones can be bought for under 15 quid and do the job properly. -- *Why don't sheep shrink when it rains? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#27
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I am under the impression that supplementary bonding in the kitchen is
now out! Just the earth bonding to main gas/water pipes and the works in the bathroom! On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 22:51:25 GMT, "Lobster" wrote: "Andy Wade" wrote in message .. . Bob Eager wrote: Years ago, I did this on a stainless steel sink by drilling a hole in teh side (the vertical part) in an inconspicuous corner. I then crimped a tag to the earth cable and bolted it on, using said hole. This was done inside, so only the bolt head was visible outside. Another way is to use the type of earth clamps made for connecting to thin metal sections, such as Eze-earth - shown here as type TZB100: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...lamps/index.ht ml or a Screwfix equivalent: http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=18129&ts=12208. Thanks - in fact I already have some of the Screwfix ones; however there's no suitable rib or edge that I can see where I could fit one of these. Even so, I was looking at one and couldn't work out how I would attach the cable even to these! The screw terminal is tiny - certainly compared with the h/d screw on a conventional pipe earth clamp. Is the answer that you have to crimp on a tag, as suggested by Bob above? If so I guess I need a crimping tool, then... David |
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