Hello there.

Please forgive me not actually being an engineer but signing up to this forum anyway to get some real facts!

I recently had someone out to my apartment to assess it for the NICEIC cert. He went away saying the consumer unit needed to be upgraded to an RCD protected one and the 3amp fuse for the fan in the bathroom needed to put on the outside.

First thing my electrician noticed was the consumer unit IS already RCD protected (apartments are 13 years old if that helps).

My electrician believes the 3amp fuse for the fan can be on the far wall and does not need to go on the outside of the bathroom (it's in an outside zone already apparently...)

Please can anyone advise? I am lost and I have no confidence in anything the safety dude says (I had his boss on the phone earlier today apologising for his errors).

Thank you in advance.

Halp?

What is a NICEIC Cert?

A piece of paper that says the elec in my apartment is safe (needed for letting and selling the property.. or so I have been told by the agency managing my property for me).

You mean an periodic inspectrion report.

As for the rcd cant really comment without more or pictures of ther board.

The 3amp fuse is manufacture recomondations normally.

edited spelling

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Dougie
Power Plus Electrical.co.uk

My mission is to live as long as possible......so far so good!

Edited: 17 October 2009 at 11:38 PM by DOUGIE1000

The proper name for it is a Periodic Inspection Report (PIR). A Periodic Inspection Report is, as its title indicates, a report and not a certificate. It is an assessment of the condition of an electrical installation against the requirements of the current wiring regulations (BS7671:2008), irrespective of the age of the installation.

With regard to your concerns it is going to be difficult to ascertain what remedial work is required (if any), as unfortunately most PIRs are based on the electrician's interpretation of the wiring regulations, which quiet often vary from electrician to electrician.

I would ask the company that did your report to tell you which specific regulations have not been complied with that result in an unsatisfactory report. Discuss it further with them and your electrician. Also bear in mind that the company that did the report do not have to do the repairs.

I've never heard it called a RIR as all the agents I've dealt with have called it NICEIC - however it is essentially what you're saying it is!! A year inspection that I pay for to say the elecs are safe.

sparkimike - thank you. That has been my experience - though how safety regs for elecs are open to interpretation is baffling and as a total non techy person, it's concerning! Also, the guys who did the report... shock, they are affiliated to the agent I use and they wanted to do the work themselves....

Dougie... the consumer unit isn't a problem now (apparently) - over the phone (!) the safety guy's boss concluded that the board was correct after I mentioned all the apartments in the block are rented out to people and all have the same board (I checked!) ergo if mine needed to be changed, surely they all did? Still hey ho... oh plus it actually says on a sticker "RCD techy stuff" on it...

All that aside, what I needed to know was whether the 3amp fuse for the extractor fan really does have to be external to the bathroom or it needs to be in excess of 0.6m from zone 1 (?) as my electrician is saying...

Thanks for the help. Very much appreciated.

if your flat got a loft ie top floor?

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Dougie
Power Plus Electrical.co.uk

My mission is to live as long as possible......so far so good!

My apartment is on the ground floor of a 3 storey building. No idea if the top floor have a loft though.

a unswitched connection unit with 3amp next to fan should be ok

-------------------------
Dougie
Power Plus Electrical.co.uk

My mission is to live as long as possible......so far so good!