**CU Changes And YOU**

[STONEZZZ]

Good luck....

 

[KeenaStewart89]

exceptionally helpful post as this is the thing that i am going to do as my first employment my sibling has two Ccus one part stack one wylex fuseboard and it was carried out by a purported electrical technician. the new ccu is part stack half secured half not.

 

[jonny705]

Just seen this interesting thread, and have in the past put and rcd board in and found out their is a nicked neutral in up/down lighting circuit!
Also have had faults on some bodged in ringmain that trips rcd out, and other than taking it out and putting it on its own non-rcd breaker, because if the house is nicely decorated/laminate floors the client dont want to know!
I have always come to the conclusion, if i have upgraded the earthing ,fitted a new board with rcd protection, normally replacing an old rewirable, even if their is one circuit that isnt rcd protected , its still safer/ better than when i started.
But have always worried, a little, as always assumed that when you fitted a new board, any circuit that you connect to said board is your problem , but have never been sure legality wise, plus if the client dont want the upheavel potentiallly , or normally to pay you extra for fault finding, what ultimatly can you do?

 

[davesparks]

That's why you test the installation before removing the old board, so that you can get the faults sorted before replacing it.

 

[Pete999]

What Davesparks said

 

[Deleted member 72666]

What pete says about dave's post.

 

[Leesparkykent]

What pete says about dave's post.

What Stan says about pete's post lol

 

[Rebmltd]

Thanks, very useful information

 

[Breeze]

Chaps,

After reading several posts, threads etc about CU changes and what you are responsible for, i thought i would clear a few things up for those that are unsure.

Now, this affects anyone changing a CU to bring an installation up the current standard, which of course is BS7671 2008.

Now, the following are RECOMMENDATIONS and not set it stone, but its what i normally try and do, which can save a lot of time and trouble.

If you have been asked to price and change a CU, for whatever reason, you should ALWAYS carry out a site survey before any costs are discussed.

Now, once onsite consider carrying out the following:

1- Main Earth Bonding.

i) Is main earthing present?
ii) If so, is it adequate?
iii) IF not include this in your quote as this MUST be up to current standards.

2 - Visual Inspection

i) How old does the installation look?
ii) Are there broken accessories?
iii) Is there evidence of any additions or alterations, good or bad?
iv) Ask the client of any known issues or problems in the past.

3 - Quick Basic Check & Tests

i) If convenient, isolate supply and take off the CU cover
ii) Evidence of additions or alterations?
iii) Carry out IR test between Earthing bar & Neutral bar at 250V


If everything looks ok then you are good to go, BUT, whatever happens, make sure you draw up some form of basic contract that highlights the fact that the quote does not include putting anything un-forseen right, and that if there are problems found during or after, then they may need to be rectified at additional cost.

Now, if there are issues with an installation that are not considered unsafe, although not to current BS, (unearthed lighting circuits excluded), you ARE NOT generally required to put these right, although they should be noted on the cert in the correct box.

4 - Certification.

There is a little confusion about what cert should be issued, of course, after a PIR is carried out.

The way i do it is, if i do a CU Change a full installation cert is issued, noting any deviations.

On the same cert any circuit additions or alterations can also be noted, so there is no need to write out multiples.

If you are just altering circuits with no CU change, then a separate minor works must be issued for each circuit altered.



Also, once you have changed a CU, carried out all the tests, you DO NOT become responsible for the entire installation - just the CU change.

This must be noted on the cert & periodic inspection label that MUST be fitted after the change with the words - "CU CHANGE ONLY".

Hope that helps, and if there any E&O's then let me know.

Good luck - As most CU changes need it

Thanks jason brilliant post. My only problem is you would hope everyone on here trading would already do this as to be deemed competent at there job

 

[shanky887614]

Thanks jason brilliant post. My only problem is you would hope everyone on here trading would already do this as to be deemed competent at there job

just my two cents but i would use an electrical installation condition report rather than installation cert or it looks like you installed it

 

[Breeze]

just my two cents but i would use an electrical installation condition report rather than installation cert or it looks like you installed it

I don't get how your post is relevant to what I put, forgive my ignorance and please elaborate

 

[davesparks]

just my two cents but i would use an electrical installation condition report rather than installation cert or it looks like you installed it

An EICR is not suitable for certifying any work, it is not a certificate, it is purely a report on an existing installation.
To certify any work carried out you use either an EIC or MWC as appropriate.

 

[Breeze]

just my two cents but i would use an electrical installation condition report rather than installation cert or it looks like you installed it

When the self righteous get it wrong, yes I'm with Dave sparks, an EICR is definitely for a periodic only, ou change a consumer unit you've altered every sing,e circuit you should do an EIC

 

[shanky887614]

eic for board and eicr for circuits or are you putting yourself down as the installer of the circuits on the paperwork?

 

[Breeze]

eic for board and eicr for circuits or are you putting yourself down as the installer of the circuits on the paperwork?

Well the EICR possibly may have come first, the the consumer unit may have come from the findings off it, or the consumer unit has been changed and you have stated that you are connecting existing circuits which and the stated .... And tested them and deemed satisfactory.


sorry for all the ands

 

[Leesparkykent]

The alteration or addition itself (the installation of the replacement consumer unit) should be verified fully in accordance with the requirements of BS 7671 and an Electrical Installation Certificate , detailing the work, should be given to the customer. If a full Electrical Installation Condition Report on the installation has not been provided as part of the work, consideration should be given by the installer to stating this on the certificate with a recommendation this should be done.

 

[Octopus]

eic for board and eicr for circuits or are you putting yourself down as the installer of the circuits on the paperwork?

Tosh.

Description of works.

"Replacement fuseboard."

How does that say you've installed the circuits? It doesn't - it sums up the scope of the EIC.

 

[davesparks]

eic for board and eicr for circuits or are you putting yourself down as the installer of the circuits on the paperwork?

You would normally carry out the EICR as a seperate job before carrying out any other works.
You certainly wouldn't give the customer a free EICR as part of a CU change!

 

[matthodge]

Have a quick look around the installation first, if it looks a bit rough and you don't want to put your name against it then walk. Always tell your customer that you will only proceed with the CU change once you have completed an EICR, if there are any faults you can then quote to repair or rewire and change the CU at the same time, or if there are no faults, you can go ahead with the swap and know there will be no issues later on. Explain this to your customer and if they don't agree to your terms then get out of there. They're either time wasters, want you to do it at foreigner prices or they've something to hide. I've had this rule since I qualified, never fails.

 

[Darkwood]

Have a quick look around the installation first, if it looks a bit rough and you don't want to put your name against it then walk. Always tell your customer that you will only proceed with the CU change once you have completed an EICR, if there are any faults you can then quote to repair or rewire and change the CU at the same time, or if there are no faults, you can go ahead with the swap and know there will be no issues later on. Explain this to your customer and if they don't agree to your terms then get out of there. They're either time wasters, want you to do it at foreigner prices or they've something to hide. I've had this rule since I qualified, never fails.

Welcome to the forum matthodge, your input is welcome but check the posting dates when adding comments, this thread hasn't been active since May and was originally started 5yrs ago.

Ill close the thread now, anyone wishing to add advice can always start a new thread up on the subject, new threads will allow for the various regulations that have since been added or ammended since this thread was started.

 

[Dan]

Just bumping some threads in the Electrical Wiring Theories and Regulations forum category here on our Electricians Forums. If this specific topic isn't current, just ignore it, it'll drop off the list in no time. However, if it's something you'd like to contribute to, feel free to reply and bring it back into current discussion.