Board changes and appliances.... do you have a disclaimer...

[NDG Elecs]

Hello folks,

I do approx 30 board changes per year at a guess. I always suggest fully testing all circuits before hand to make sure nothing too troublesome to bother the new DB. However I rarely warn customers about the potential issue of a washing machine, fridge freezer, oven etc causing issues. I don't do PAT, and have no urge too, so do you always warn peeps.

I know it's gonna bite me on the bum sometime, I just forget to mention the possibility. I know I could argue it's not part of the installation as such and it's pointing out a faulty appliance which is a good thing. But still know this will pish a client off one day.

What say you. And you too!

Ta

 

[sparkdog]

I warn them that the new board will be sensitive to any faults,and there may be tripping problems.Had one recently where a faulty fan oven element caused tripping after it was on for 10 mins although it had been fine on the 3036 fuse.

 

[R G]

Agreed , I also warn them that existing appliances may be faulty , but then I also explain that with the new devices being installed will actually detect these leakages or faults , and that its of benefit to them in this situation , so I have found that most people are quite O/K with this and indeed I have had a few appliances , It might be a good idea now you mention it to include something on the quotation about possible faulty appliances ,,

 

[Jay Sparks]

Try to remember that you are only responsible for FIXED wiring when doing a board change! And if you tell the customer that any fault found after testing needs fixing before the board change, then you're covering your ---!!! You can mention the appliances as well but this is not your problem really.

Jay

 

[R G]

All good points really , I never offer any PAT testing , I think if you do then they may think you take responsibility , I do think that you have to be tactful dealing with the customer , otherwise they may refuse the work ,,

 

[Badged01]

Very much in the realms of customer management/expectation setting! I just advise of the possibility of appliances causing problems and if they do I will try and establish which ones are at 'fault' for the customer to rectify --- fortunately I haven't yet come across the scenario of 4 appliances all at a little 'fault' but depending on which combinations are used the problem occurs!

 

[itselectric]

Back in the 70's and 80's I worked for a company doing rewires for Carlisle council and part of the contract was to PAT test all appliances before starting the rewire to stop the tenants claiming aganst the council, which gad apparently happened on previous contracts.

 

[Badged01]

Fair point, never thought of it like that but suppose they could claim your testing did something to knacker the appliances!

 

[Badged01]

Just have to make sure you unplug everything before you zap it with 1,000V!

 

[Knobhead]

How about throwing the onus on to the customer by telling they are responsible for un-plugging all appliances as they know where they are, you don’t.
As for appliances causing RCD trips, two lines in your T&C’s should cover that.

 

[NDG Elecs]

Thanks for replies,

Always nice to hear how others do it. TBH in my case I have never had a problem thus far - touch wood - but am bound to at some stage. I could always check for any leakage on appliances before hand I suppose but as someone mentioned you may then be held incorrectly responsible.

My main concerns are two fold; do not want client to be inconvenienced, but more importantly I don't want my business name slagged off as being incompetent (due to ignorance on the clients part of electrical matters), and telling their friends etc that I am rubbish!

Best update my T&Cs and start to remember to gently warn customers in future then!

Ta.

 

[R G]

Like you say , its bound to rear its head sometime , you have obviously been doing it long enough to see the potential problems , I think the key thing is above all be tactful in dealing with the customer , and explain as much as possible and the advantages of finding faulty appliances and that they could have had for years and not know , a disclaimer is good if things get nasty , but I have never had to point a customer yet to any small print or disclaimer as yet for any reason , touch wood..

 

[Badged01]

Unfortunately everything we do in life has an element of ar$e covering about it! Just around the coner is a "no-win-no-fee" man waiting to pounce .....

 

[Hawkmoon]

Try to remember that you are only responsible for FIXED wiring when doing a board change! And if you tell the customer that any fault found after testing needs fixing before the board change, then you're covering your ---!!! You can mention the appliances as well but this is not your problem really.

Jay

I would never lead a customer to believe that I was responsible for the fixed wiring - you can carry out pretests that will expose most types of installation fault - but not all.

I always warn customers (at quotation stage) that additional work may be required if hidden faults arise

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Cooker circuit on last change was 1.29MOhms N-E.

isolator was on. Went off scale when disconnected cooker. An inadvertent PAT test of the cooker.

 

[lockhes]

I always do this before testing

saves me hunting round there house and if they leave anything in and gets zapped its there problem even though I test at 250v first just to make sure