Sparkies....

[St Landrew]

Is it legal for me to replace my own electric hob?

 

Sadly Pancake, you really will have to get a certificated electrician to do the work. However, do make sure they really do know what they are up to. My brother had his kitchen rewired shortly after the new regs came in, and the recommended electricians were terrible in their excecution of the work. I saw the aftermath, and a cowboy electrician with his eyes shut could have done better. In the end, my brother asked me to make good all the balls ups.

 

In short, get someone in you can trust.

[badgerx16]

If the new regs really do mean that you have to use 'qualified' tradesmen for even comparatively simple tasks like the original post. why can I walk into B&Q, FOCUS, HOMEBASE, and even the local hardware shop in my village, and buy 15amp t&e cable, switched and unswitched outlets, and replacement 13amp outlets ? Surely they should only be available to people with 'proof of qualification' to handle and install them, or at least come with a 'health warning' about meeting these regulations ?

[Saint In Exile]

On another note... We've just had our consumer unit and wiring to the garage replaced and an RCD unit fitted in the garage as part of an extension build. Should the builders/electricians have supplied us with a certificate for the work or does the completion certificate from Building Control cover it?

[Dog]

On another note... We've just had our consumer unit and wiring to the garage replaced and an RCD unit fitted in the garage as part of an extension build. Should the builders/electricians have supplied us with a certificate for the work or does the completion certificate from Building Control cover it?

 

No, as it's not a new installation, just an upgrade.

[Saint In Exile]

No, as it's not a new installation, just an upgrade.

 

Not even for the lighting and power sockets in the extension?

[scally]

On another note... We've just had our consumer unit and wiring to the garage replaced and an RCD unit fitted in the garage as part of an extension build. Should the builders/electricians have supplied us with a certificate for the work or does the completion certificate from Building Control cover it?

 

You should be given a certificate, all electrical work should be tested and certified.

[Dog]

Not even for the lighting and power sockets in the extension?

 

If you have NEW lighting & sockets fitted in your garage then yes, however you said the fuseboard was upgraded from a main switch to a rcd unit.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

I sat the 17th Edition in November last year (and passed, much to my surprise). We talked about the very point that anybody can get hold of almost any piece of electrical kit and install it in their home. The Regs do not prohibit that.

 

IEE Regs Chapter 63 lays out the Certification & Reporting procedure. There are grey areas which Electricians can debate forever and each will have their own interpretation but,TO BE SAFE, it is best to get all electrical work inspected and tested by a COMPETENT PERSON.

 

Which is the point I have made all along.

 

DOG, with reference to Saint In Exile's garage etc. I would have thought that as the Electrician was replacing the Consumer unit he should have tested the circuits he was connecting? If any of the existing circuits were then failed he would not issue a certificate but instead advised of work needed? Or is this covered under the caveat that the regs are not retrospective? As I'm not in construction and don't experience this I would tread very carefully and go by the letter of the Regs. Which, really, is partly why I don't do home jobs as I C.B.A. with customers constantly changing their minds etc!

[Whitey Grandad]

Volts thrill, Amps kill

Less than that. 80mA through the skin, 40mA through the body. If you're going to get a shock, make sure it's not across the chest. I used to design and work on 8kV avionic power supplies and to this day I still work with one arm held behind my back. I've had four 240V shocks and I don't want another one.

[Smirking_Saint]

You are talking absolute b*llocks, before the electrician can issue the certificate he has to do a raft of tests on the fuse board as I found out last year when I had an electrical fault repaired by a proper electrician, and I would always call one in, I worked in the Electrical Generation Industry for 17 years and I can tell you 240 volts is a killer.

 

I fitted my new cooker and wired my new kitchen, i got a mate of mine to come in and certify the kitchen wiring but replacing one cooker with another is so easy (electric)

 

Literally 3 wires in the wall. What is so hard about that FFS ?

 

Yes the sparky will come in and do his insulation and earth leakage and what not but there are so many sparkies out there that i wouldn't trust nor allow to do my home.

 

I agree with the other posters (can't remember who) get a spark that you can trust if you need substantial work done.

 

But imo replacing the 3 wires needed for a new cooker is nothing.

[PhilB]

Hello Phil B, what line of work are you in? Agree with what you are saying, but do tell me something which makes my balls itch, how the hell can B&Q sell consumer units, showers & other electrical supplies which are fatal in the wrong hands? And it is totally acceptable for Joe Bloggs to carry out electrical installation in his own home. Don't say it isn't because it is?

 

I run my own electrical contracting company

 

I've often thought that myself Dog maybe B&Q think if they sell it the average Mr Punter will employ a qualified tradesman to do the work. When people buy their own gear they often think they're getting it cheaper when they're probably not in the long run. At the end of the day it's not illegal to sell electrical equipment to any Tom, Dickhead or Harry.

[PhilB]

On another note... We've just had our consumer unit and wiring to the garage replaced and an RCD unit fitted in the garage as part of an extension build. Should the builders/electricians have supplied us with a certificate for the work or does the completion certificate from Building Control cover it?

 

If you've had a new consumer unit and wiring to a new extension installed that will require a Domestic Electrical Installation Certificate to be issued by the electrician after he has tested every circuit and will have to have a Part P certificate also.

 

As an NIC EIC member we issue NIC EIC certificates on completion and Part P certificates through the NIC EIC website via the relevent building control depending where the installation happens to be.

[Andy_Porter]

 

BTW I once cut a cable powering my shower thinking it wasn't live, shocking

 

I cut through the mains power cable on the outside of a house once, cut off power to the house and blew the blade on the end of my recipricating saw.

 

Was pretty scary when I realised what I'd done.

[tony13579]

Kitchens, gardens, bathrooms. Too many people have been killed by faulty installations. The IEE (now IET) is my professional institution, I'm a Chartered Engineer, but even I would get it professionally installed and checked. It's not worth the risk. This is your life, and your family's.

 

Really? How many people have been killed by faulty wiring? I can't remember the last story in the echo...

I remember the man crushed by his van, I know two cases of OAP's running their spouses over with an automatic, 20+ suicides in the woods. Motorbikes hitting telegraph poles, man knocked off ladder whilst using a chain saw, 2 fell in a slurry pit... Not one electrocution death.

[Pancake]

Holy thread resurrection batman!

[Baldbarbarian]

Holy thread resurrection batman!

 

question is did you fit it yourself?

[Pancake]

question is did you fit it yourself?

 

Yes.

[Whitey Grandad]

Really? How many people have been killed by faulty wiring? I can't remember the last story in the echo...

I remember the man crushed by his van, I know two cases of OAP's running their spouses over with an automatic, 20+ suicides in the woods. Motorbikes hitting telegraph poles, man knocked off ladder whilst using a chain saw, 2 fell in a slurry pit... Not one electrocution death.

 

Teenage girl killed helping her dad get some decorations down from the loft:

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/georgia-marshall-death-teenage-girl-2896373

 

It's not worth it.

[Clapham Saint]

Teenage girl killed helping her dad get some decorations down from the loft:

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/georgia-marshall-death-teenage-girl-2896373

 

It's not worth it.

 

Without wanting to take away from the tragedy of the story - "Electrocuted to death"

Really?!

FFS

[Baldbarbarian]

Without wanting to take away from the tragedy of the story - "Electrocuted to death"

Really?!

FFS

 

typical tabloid sensationalism

[tony13579]

Sorry, new tapatalk app put this thread at the top?..!

I didn't go thread mining.

[SW5 SAINT]

Surely if it was true that you had to have certificates for any work done by sparkies or gas fitters for insurance purposes, which I certainly haven't, these certificates would be required during any sale or purchase of property!

[bridge too far]

Surely if it was true that you had to have certificates for any work done by sparkies or gas fitters for insurance purposes, which I certainly haven't, these certificates would be required during any sale or purchase of property!

 

You do! When we sold our house this time last year, we had to produce all the gas and electrical certificates pertaining to the new kitchen we'd

put in 2 years earlier.

[Smirking_Saint]

Less than that. 80mA through the skin, 40mA through the body. If you're going to get a shock, make sure it's not across the chest. I used to design and work on 8kV avionic power supplies and to this day I still work with one arm held behind my back. I've had four 240V shocks and I don't want another one.

 

If you had 8kV across you and the power supply had enough power to push the amps you would be dead. Its the amps that kill yes but its basic electrical knowledge that will tell you that the higher the voltage the higher the current that will be passed through you. A rough resistance of the human body is about 100-400 ohms I thinkish.

[Whitey Grandad]

If you had 8kV across you and the power supply had enough power to push the amps you would be dead. Its the amps that kill yes but its basic electrical knowledge that will tell you that the higher the voltage the higher the current that will be passed through you. A rough resistance of the human body is about 100-400 ohms I thinkish.

 

It depends how wet and sweaty you are.

[Smirking_Saint]

It depends how wet and sweaty you are.

 

True, the wetter you are the less resistant and the fatter the more !!

 

That said 8kV is enough to corterize your arteries which is effectively death even if you have not stopped your heart. There was a guy a few years ago that backed into some 11kV spills which is effectively 6.7kV P to E and although he left concious he died due to the damage it had done.

 

My point being that its a common misconception that the Volts dont matter but considering Volts will drive the amps then it is any high voltage equipment, and not Low Voltage high current equipment that kills.