do you ever get a feeling customer is not telling you everything

[crow11]

been to look at a job today,customer just bought house a few month ago and they say they have just had a inspection done on the electrics and everything passed ok, as soon as i walked in 3 light switch drops just hanging in mid air with switches and back boxes connected where a wall had been removed, cables entering through back of boxes no grommets and outer insulation stripped to far back so just the insulation on the cables rubbing against metal back box, asked if when they had the inspection had they seen this and answer was yes but nothing said about it, 2.5 ring main running in a open channel in the concrete floor with a connector block joining one of the legs no attempt to put the connector block in an enclosure even though he said it was only temp, apparently his mate is an electrician and as been doing bits on it but hasn't got time now lol, so looks at c/u no periodic inspection and testing label on there even though he said it was a big company what had done the inspection, earthing arrangement is TT single rcd main switch 30mA protecting all circuits, so go to look outside where earth cable seems to run no earth rod or pit in site just decking what looks like it has been down for years so looks like its underneath and not accessible, same again says nothing was mentioned on inspection, so get to the job in hand he says i want 12 down lighters and my cooker connecting up in cellar, cellar just been re-boarded and plastered and painted concrete floor above lol, looks like new 6 mm been put in for cooker no sign of an isolator anywhere for it just a cable straight from c/u to about 6 inch from floor where the cooker is going all newly plastered in, first thought was i was on youv'e been framed just don't understand some people some times, asked to look at the inspection report and said he would have to get it me as it wasn't there lol

 

[Richard Burns]

Yeah right, Run Far, Run Fast!

 

[stranded]

Just judging by the size of your post do as stated above me thinks! ^^^^^^^

 

[ackbarthestar]

'A Big Company' ? Its unfinished work so there's a story there.
Name and shame and then run.........

 

[Farmelectrics]

wait until he shows you the report

 

[thomas-1981]

Sounds to me like a DIYer who has got in over their head. No way any Electrician is going to run a 6mm straight to the cooker outlet or leave a joint exposed. Wouldn't be surprised if the installation was tested for the sale of the house, as the customer said by some large company with guys doing 5 EICRs a day.

 

[crow11]

he is supposed to be getting the report so i can have a look, will make an interesting read, if it as had one it must of been a drive by and then just make it up at the office, don't think they knew what a cooker outlet was just 6mm cable sticking out of wall lol

 

[Guitarist]

Would put money on them having DIY'd the electrics. I get told all the time that a "qualified electrician" has carried out work, but when you start discussing various issues, things don't add up and the true story normally comes out. I bet the report never materialises.

 

[crow11]

this is going to make you laugh, and it might be long to explain it all lol, customer produced report last week, first thing that jumped out was report was on the old pir forms, been put down as a tncs when it is clear it is a tt, he had just put a line through box for ze reading, so i thought i would pop up and take a reading for them Ra reading 1240 ohms, 2 RFC on non rcd side nothing mentioned about these on the report, so i ring the so called electrician who did the report and he says yes earth reading was very high but didn't know what type it was so just put it down as tncs lol, now this report was done for a mortgage for the halifax and this guy was recommended from ryder & dutton, so he admitted he had made a cock up and offered to sort it out free of charge fair enough i thought, so been today to check as he finished doing it yesterday, see attached picks 1 c/u is about 6ft form floor at the bottom of the cellar stairs new earth rod fitted about 4 ft under c/u just placed between wall and a piece of 3x4, got hold of it and just pulls out easy, takes another Ra reading and its now at 734 ohms so it must be in contact to ground somewhere, then he as replaced 4 mcb's with rcbo's for the circuits on the non rcd side, now to me he as needs to do a cert for this but he told customer they dont need 1 and left them no paper work at all for this lot, on his letter head it states he is a gas and heating maintenance engineer then as the benchmark electrical contractor logo on his letter head , now done a check on benchmark website and he only comes up for gas and not for electrical, so first thing monday will be ringing them up, people like this need to be stopped, he charged them about £300 for doing some little recommendations on his report which basically was a few broken backboxes and a bathroom light

 

[tony mc]

Interesting !! Whats the point of the RCBOs as you mentioned a 30mA RCD covering the tails has this been replaced with a 100 mA S type ? IMO the customer needs to do something about this as it is quite apparent that this person is leaving premises is a extremely dangerous state. What would of happened if you had not been called ?

 

[crow11]

the only rcd is in the c/u which is a standard 30mA protecting 4 circuits, the the rcbo's he as put in for the remaining circuits, the thing that is worrying is the estate agent that is recommending him to people is in a place called mossley and alot of houses up there are on tt, and apparently he gets alot of work through them, i just hope he is a member of this forum so he can justify himself to how he can be leaving things like this and not being able to tell the difference between tncs and tt systems, will also be contacting ryder & dutton to explain what he is doing

 

[Richard Burns]

That is terrible, makes you weep really.
I went to a house that was TT to fit a light and they told me six years ago an electrician had said their up front RCD was old and he would fit a new CU. He had fitted a split load single RCD unit and taken out the upfront RCD, leaving it much worse than before!
However the lights no longer tripped the RCD! so the customer was happy!

 

[delr]

ha ha - it just goes on and on - started a rewire last week- TT system no earth rods, RDC's in sight, Consumer unit the original old Wylex but plenty of recent works carried out by 'sparkies' including a boiler changed by our friends at British Gas :90:

 

[Rampantchilli]

I'd suggest to the customer that he should contact the estate agent and ask them for a refund for the cost of the electrical check, as they recommended him, it would seem that they were confident in his ability, so could be held culpable in his failings. Also make sure they say, if they don't get compensation they will go to the papers, its not like estate agents are held in high regard, they don't need anymore bad publicity

 

[crow11]

just a bit of an update, the original so called electrician as given them a full refund, even refunded them for the original work done, iv'e been up now and put an earth pit in and driven 3 x 5/8 earth rods in got the ra down to 76 ohms now still a bit to high for me, going to drive another 1 in as i only had 3 with me at the time, don't think its going to get much lower though readings didn't change much adding the 3rd rod and the house is on top of a steep hill, will sleep better now knowing its alot safer than when i started, he refunded them by cheque, which as now cleared so its now time to make a few phone calls i think

 

[Guitarist]

Thanks for the update. I wonder how many guys like him are actually about, charging money for putting people in danger? I bet the powers-that-be would move heaven and earth to prosecute someone pretending to be a Doctor, yet there is an "oh well, what can we do?" attitude to electrics.

 

[telectrix]

just a bit of an update, the original so called electrician as given them a full refund, even refunded them for the original work done, iv'e been up now and put an earth pit in and driven 3 x 5/8 earth rods in got the ra down to 76 ohms now still a bit to high for me, going to drive another 1 in as i only had 3 with me at the time, don't think its going to get much lower though readings didn't change much adding the 3rd rod and the house is on top of a steep hill, will sleep better now knowing its alot safer than when i started, he refunded them by cheque, which as now cleared so its now time to make a few phone calls i think

you might get a better reading if you go deeper by using coupled rods, rather than adding a separate rod.

 

[Guitarist]

you might get a better reading if you go deeper by using coupled rods, rather than adding a separate rod.

I think that's what he means tel.

 

[telectrix]

i read his post as 3 separate rods. it's not clear from how he's worded it.

 

[crow11]

sorry tell my wording, yes they are coupled