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TheCodboy

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Hi all, I imagine that this has been asked a few times, but here goes. A customer who is selling their house has been on looking to change the consumer unit. Getting to the gas isnt a problem but the water is impossible without desctruction of some sort. Concrete floors, and the stopcock is on the other side of the house to the CU, and its also on the adjoining side of next door. Now as i would class this as alteration, i think that reg 132.16 covers me not to touch it, if there are no signs of deteriation and i have a continuity reading. What do you guys say?
 
if there's no sign of thermal damage, you can leave as is, but add a comment on cert. you may find that the water is bonded to the gas at the boiler anyway.
 
So how would you go about making a note in the cert? I see where your coming from,as you say there’s a reg to cover it so technically it’s not a departure.

I would record the size of the main bonding in the box on the details of the supply page where it asks for the size of the main bonding.
 
If the water main is PVC, it doesnt need bonding!

PS It always amazes me this, why do people who are selling a property think that they have to change the consumer unit?
 
If the water main is PVC, it doesnt need bonding!

And if the water pipe does not become extraneous on the consumers side by making contact with the ground at any point.

Plus of course water mains arent normally PVC at all, they are made from MDPE these days.
 
If the water main is PVC, it doesnt need bonding!

PS It always amazes me this, why do people who are selling a property think that they have to change the consumer unit?
And if the water pipe does not become extraneous on the consumers side by making contact with the ground at any point.

Plus of course water mains arent normally PVC at all, they are made from MDPE these days.
So is this where I would IR test it to see if it’s extraneous?
 
It is where you would carry out a test to establish whether or not it is extraneous, but it is not strictly speaking a test of insulation though it can be carried out using the same settings on the tester.
I’ve never seen anyone ever carry this out. The only reason I know of it is from this forum!
 
I’ve never seen anyone ever carry this out. The only reason I know of it is from this forum!

I've never seen someone carry it out either, but that doesn't really have any bearing on it.

You'd probably have to shadow a domestic electrician every day for months on end watching them before you saw them test something to see if it is extraneous.
 
if there's no sign of thermal damage, you can leave as is, but add a comment on cert. you may find that the water is bonded to the gas at the boiler anyway.
Tin hat on here, but just before I finished, I recall some guidance coming out from my then Scheme, that the ole sign of thermal damage, could not be used anymore. It was either the correct size or it’s not.
 
Tin hat on here, but just before I finished, I recall some guidance coming out from my then Scheme, that the ole sign of thermal damage, could not be used anymore. It was either the correct size or it’s not.
That guidance is still issued by the electrical Safety First BPG’s Currently updated to incorporate the 18th edition, so I’d say it’s still relevant.
Much like a plastic CU doesn’t mean the installation is dangerous, an undersized bonding conductor doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s dangerous either.
 
Tin hat on here, but just before I finished, I recall some guidance coming out from my then Scheme, that the ole sign of thermal damage, could not be used anymore. It was either the correct size or it’s not.
Correct. Guidance from the NICEIC to it's members now is undersized main bonding cannot be left if alterations and additions are taking place.
To the OP. I had a similar problem recently, I got a plumber to install a short plastic section just beyond the stopcock. Was a lot cheaper and less disruptive than getting a 10mm to it on that job. Might be an option for yours as well and covers your ---.
 
My house is a very similar build and layout to the OPs. Luckily I had extensive kitchen works done a couple of years ago so I managed to pull in a 10mm bond but it still took me a couple of hours of lifting carpets and cutting chipboard flooring to get the cable in. Annoyingly a few months later I would not have needed a bond as the incomer is plastic and there's no earth potential... :rolleyes:

For a simple board swap this scenario would add a lot to the price of a job and most customers would refuse to have the work done purely for the disruption and mess.

Potentially one method would be to convert the earthing arrangement to TT but then this has it's own inherent issues.

What's to stop some unscrupulous individuals from splicing 10mm onto the 6mm just out of sight to appear to comply with 544????
 

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