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Is earth not normally half in size

just past my trade test didn’t realise when you passed you should all of a sudden know everything, I’ll remember this in future
With 25mm² tails you would normally have a 16mm² earth

To do EICR's it is expected that you have a few years experience post completion of training. Doing an EICR carries a lot of responsibility you are creating and signing a document that puts you in the firing line if a fault or issue you should have found causes somebody to be seriously or fatally injured
 
@willy_1990

Just think about what the earth is for, and why it is sized as it is.
perhaps you might be better to do a few inspection jobs alongside a time served spark.

i think when you have just passed your course, you have learnt the bare minimum required to go and work out in the field.

however i think some on the job training might help as suggesting an earth that is probably oversized (but not necessarily) is a cause of concern and shows a poor understanding of some of the basic principals.

there are lots of people here that will help you raise your understanding to a better level.
 
Sorry if some of the responses are a bit rough.

Can i ask if you're self employed or work with a company?

A common thing with EICR's and any testing is that you should have the knowledge, experience and understanding to do them competently.
 
Is earth not normally half in size

just past my trade test didn’t realise when you passed you should all of a sudden know everything, I’ll remember this in future
No, the earth is not half size of the line and neutral conductors. Where and by whom were you told that was the case? The reason I ask is because if you have course notes or advice in a text book stating this you should be aware that other info you have from the same source could also be tainted or false.

Having an undersized earth is a problem because the smaller the earth wire the higher its resistance/impedance. If the resistance of the earth is too high it means the touch voltage on the chassis of appliances and even bonded items can become too high in the case of a fault and people in contact with them may get a shock that could be lethal. A high resistance (too small) earth also means it takes longer for the protective devices (fuse/MCB) to trip and clear the fault by disconnecting the supply which increases the liklihood of damage, fire and injury.

An oversized earth is almost never a problem unless it's so oversized the logistics of installing/connecting it become a problem.

I'm not from the UK so I'm not a blackbelt at your EICR coding system but I'd hazard a guess a marginally undersized earth conductor would be C3 and an oversized earth wire wouldn't warrant any special mention or code.
 

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