Do I need to rewire?

[MCDONALD]

Hello all, I’ve recently moved house and I’d like a little advice on the safety of some of the wiring found.

In general the wiring looks clean/tidy and reasonably new but my electrical experience is in factories, not in the home.

There two things I’m not so sure about though, please advise:

1. Our en suite is upstairs, the shower extractor fan looks new and in the loft, the twin cable isn’t routed along any joists, it’s running loose over the top of insulation and there’s a junction box also sitting on the insulation (not fixed down). Isn’t this a fire hazard? My plan is to route it round joists as it’s also stopping me from flooring the loft.

2. There has been a BS546 socket installed in one of the bedrooms. To keep it tidy, the socket has been installed flush into the wall next to a cupboard and the twin cable travels up the cupboard wall and into the loft. This cupboard is a built-in wardrobe, so my daughter’s hanging up clothes will be touching the twin cable. It doesn’t feel safe (her junk leaning against it (cupboard is empty at the moment).

I’m not sure whether to rip this out completely and fit a blanking plate or rewire it with some protection in the cupboard. I would be replacing the BS546 socket with a standard house plug socket BS1363,

Any ideas / advice?

Ewan

 

[Strima]

Without seeing the installation first hand no one could say if you need a rewire or not.

The fan cable sounds like a typical after thought and ideally should be routed correctly. As long as the connections within the junction box are sound then I doubt it would be a fire risk. We often run cables under insulation with no adverse effects.

It sounds like the 546 socket is powered from the lighting circuit so it would not be advisable to replace with a 1363 socket-outlet as this could overload the lighting circuit. One option is to try and fit some plastic trunking around the cables another is to completely remove the socket and cables and terminate them in the loft.

 

[davesparks]

2. There has been a BS546 socket installed in one of the bedrooms. To keep it tidy, the socket has been installed flush into the wall next to a cupboard and the twin cable travels up the cupboard wall and into the loft. This cupboard is a built-in wardrobe, so my daughter’s hanging up clothes will be touching the twin cable. It doesn’t feel safe (her junk leaning against it (cupboard is empty at the moment).

A BS546 socket will almost certainly be connected to the lighting circuit, and probably via the lightswitch. To install a normal 13A socket in its place the electrician you employ will remove the lighting circuit connection and connect the new socket to a power circuit.

T&E cable is mechanically strong enough to withstand most bumps and knocks it will suffer in a domestic enviroment, it is designed for surface installation using only cable clips.

 

[Deleted account]

Running cable loose over insulation is normal. Agree with above^^

junction boxes not fixed also normal if they are maintenance free junction boxes.

Cables clipped on surface up wall are safer than cables buried, so no problem there.

No alarm bells are ringing from what you’ve described.

I cannot really say you need a rewire or comment on your installation in too much detail unless an EICR has been carried out.


Even if I felt your installation needed I rewire I wouldn’t say you need a rewire. It’s your decision As the customer and bill payer.

I would only give you the facts and possible solutions.

Sometimes a rewire is a good idea even if the installation is OK if there is a lot of additions or alterations going on. But if it’s just minor works and the install is safe for continued use no need.

 

[telectrix]

Running cable loose over insulation is normal. Agree with above^^

junction boxes not fixed also normal if they are maintenance free junction boxes.

Cables clipped on surface up wall are safer than cables buried, so no problem there.

No alarm bells are ringing from what you’ve described.

I cannot really say you need a rewire or comment on your installation in too much detail unless an EICR has been carried out.


Even if I felt your installation needed I rewire I wouldn’t say you need a rewire. It’s your decision As the customer and bill payer.

I would only give you the facts and possible solutions.

Sometimes a rewire is a good idea even if the installation is OK if there is a lot of additions or alterations going on. But if it’s just minor works and the install is safe for continued use no need.

could not ave put it better if i tried. nice post.

 

[marconi]

You might want to carefully open some some switch plates and sockets to see if the wiring is of a vintage that would suffer from green goo which was a problem in the 60s.

What is the green goo coming out of my twin and earth cable? - https://www.whyprysmian.co.uk/news-green-goo.html

 

[MCDONALD]

Thanks all, very helpful. After further inspection, the 546 socket is on the lighting ring, I will remove completely and add a blanking plate.

The extractor does need a rewire to accommodate loft flooring but it’s not a necessity if it’s not dangerous, can certainly wait.

The house was built in the late 80’s so wiring quite robust...