Evening all i had a call from a customer today saying her ex partner got his mate to change there fuseboard. she said he cannot provide a certificate as the house now needs rewiring and wants £1,400. And hes pressuring her. mmmm i wonder if hes registered.

Can't be thinking of doing much of a re-wire for 1400 quid can he!

Dave.

how long ago was the consumer unit changed?
has the ex's mate been back to test the wiring since he changed the fuse board? If not that means HE KNEW THE PLACE NEEDED A REWIRE WHEN HE CHANGED THE consumer unit and therefore he should of told them at the time

is the mate a real electrician or just the odd job man ( I can do it for you) from down the local pub?

im going to look at the job on thursday, he said he was registered but she was unsure, if he knew what he was doing he wouldnt have gone ahead with the board change, it was changed 2 weeks ago. house is 3 bed semi built in 80s

Why wouldn't he have swapped out the DB if that's what the client wanted ?

A 1980's 3 bed semi is hardly likley to need rewiring - it'll be PVC cable and probably standard white accessories.

It may have a bit of DIY damage but that's not usually grounds for a rewire.

All your customer needs to do is a simple check on registration and ask for the certificate for the DB change alone - the state of the outgoing circuits will be noted on that certificate. The guys surely not anonymous to the customer

Regards

OMS

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Failure is always an option

Agree on all points OMS, plus the installation is almost certainly safer than it was before the c/unit change!

Dave.

Unless you know something we don't, how can you possibly know that?
The 1980s were not the Stone Age and installations at that time differed very little from today if installed correctly.

On balance, I'd say it probably is actually, Dave - if only for those additional RCD's and the fact someone has at least "looked" at it, if not tested it.

Regards

OMS

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Failure is always an option

Unless you know something we don't, how can you possibly know that?
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Doesn't take much working out Potential, OMS has given you a clue!
Probably had 3036 fuses and no rcd if it's an 80's install, no doubt now has rcd's and mcb's, plus as OMS said at least it has been looked at, these facts alone will make it a safer installation i'd say,

Dave.

While I'd agree on the RCDs, I don't see why MCBs are necessarily better than fuses though - if Zs is slightly exceeded (circuit extended by DIY or fault of not quite negligible impedance), then MCBs risk not tripping "instantly" (using the magnetic mechanism) but would have to wait for the thermal trip (e.g. could be >10s for a B type) - which is likely to be a lot longer than the fuse under the same conditions. OK, with BS 3036s you have the risk of the wrong size fusewire being used, but that's up to the householder, rather than a choice we impose. BS 1361s (not unknown in 1980s domestics) wouldn't have that disadvantage of course.

- Andy.

evening all,
just been to look at job, the electrician has fitted a proteus fuseboard no rcd protection at all.
used a couple of old mcbs and cut board cover to make it fit, and the element on the immersion has blown so the electrician told them it needs rewiring because of that.

In that case it does sound like a rubbish job then wylexman!

Dave.

Thank you.
I think the point I made earlier in this thread is vindicated by what you say.


In our trade there are a great number of cowboys who see changing a CU as an easy quick way to make money.
Unfortunately they are responsible for making many good installations more dangerous when, in their haste, they confuse rings with radials.
I've seen it much too many times.
The excuse for the change is usually that 3036 fuse carriers are intrinsically dangerous even when no actual fault exists within the installation.
Fuses if properly maintained are perfectly adequate to protect a circuit.

Edited: 18 January 2013 at 10:36 AM by potential