EICR. Installation needs to meet 18th?

[Deleted member 112675]

Hello All

Planning on going away for a year or two and renting the house out so will need an EICR.

The consumer unit is old and has a 12 MCBs protecting each of 12 circuits. Some of the lighting radials are merged together under a single MCB. Suspect a 16 circuit cu might be better. Perhaps of more importance, there are no RCBs (and certainly no RCBOs).

From reading the forum it seems that perhaps some electricians would "pass" an EICR assuming it met the wiring regulations in force at the time of installation but some others would fail it unless it met the requirements of the 18th. The difference in cost is presumably quite large?

In any case, I'd probably quite like a new CU with RCD protection across all circuits. So I'm a bit torn: Do I spend a lot more cash and get a decent install or do I pay the minimum and get a certificate for what is already there?

The answer depends on ballpark cost. My total guess would be a new 16 way CU plus EICR would take one day whereas a cert might be done in an hour or so?

Have I got that right or am I totally wrong?

If I'm right am I looking at the difference between less than £100 and less than £1,000 ?

 

[ferg]

The less than £100 is significantly out.

The Installation will be tested with the 18th as the reference but it will not necessarily have to meet all the requirements of the 18th as the regs are not retrospective.
For example some non compliances would only warrant a C3, improvement recommended.

 

[Mark.fardon]

Hello All

Planning on going away for a year or two and renting the house out so will need an EICR.

The consumer unit is old and has a 12 MCBs protecting each of 12 circuits. Some of the lighting radials are merged together under a single MCB. Suspect a 16 circuit cu might be better. Perhaps of more importance, there are no RCBs (and certainly no RCBOs).

From reading the forum it seems that perhaps some electricians would "pass" an EICR assuming it met the wiring regulations in force at the time of installation but some others would fail it unless it met the requirements of the 18th. The difference in cost is presumably quite large?

In any case, I'd probably quite like a new CU with RCD protection across all circuits. So I'm a bit torn: Do I spend a lot more cash and get a decent install or do I pay the minimum and get a certificate for what is already there?

The answer depends on ballpark cost. My total guess would be a new 16 way CU plus EICR would take one day whereas a cert might be done in an hour or so?

Have I got that right or am I totally wrong?

If I'm right am I looking at the difference between less than £100 and less than £1,000 ?

An EICR on a 12 circuit CU should be best part of £200 or more depending on location. Why you believe a 16 way board will offer more safety or convenience I’m not sure. Nothing wrong with having more than one lighting radial terminated from a common MCB although not usually best practice, but you may have had new circuits added and the installer “tapped off” an existing circuit at the board. If you are letting and the installation does not have RCD protection to sockets and bathroom(s) then I’d advise you invest and upgrade - you will then know your CU, earthing, bonding, meter tails and all final circuits are safe and to latest regs. You will get an EIC and part P building completion certification that will cover you as part of the work. Expect to pay approx £400-500 for a dual RCD board or £600-£700 for an all RCBO board (Recommendation) assuming the installation had no faults and bonding and accessories are all wired ok

 

[catdog1121]

A proper EICR should take at minimum half a day to test all circuits and all points of the circuit.. These cheap EICR's have so many limitations they are not worth the paper they are written on. for 14 circuits your going to be looking at more like 250+ for an EICR. When you replace a consumer unit you need to do most of the tests for an EICR anyway so getting one done at the same time makes sense.

A replacement consumer unit with 14ways for a decent split load one with SPD and type A 100A RCD's to fit and install will be from around 500+ depending what extra work needs doing. Plus a bit more to do extra checks for EICR which may throw up other work that needs doing.

You don't need RCD protection necessarily (Depending on a few conditions) however as a landlord you have to think you need to be able to stand up in court and face the family when little Timmy does something stupid and is dead, if you get a cheap EICR with loads of limitations then was the installation safe, also you would need to live with yourself for the sake of 500+ is the cost you put on someones life.

Sorry to sound morbid but as a landlord you do have responsibilities.. Its entirely up to you but personally I would pony up and get a new consumer unit. With that many circuits and RCBO board will be way more expensive and although has its advantages for a board that size I dont think justifies the cost.

 

[radiohead]

As above, an absolute minimum of half a day for 12 circuits, possibly a full day. Omission of RCD protection for ground floor socket outlets and possibly bathroom circuits will probably result in an unsatisfactory.
Combine an EICR with a CU replacement (with an EIC), RCD protection can then be installed to all circuits. As CU replacement requires full testing and inspection the cost of both as a combined job will probably be less than getting a properly carried out EICR and then needing a CU change anyway because of an unsatisfactory report. However it's quite possible that an EICR will identify other issues requiring rectification. An hour for a certificate? You have no idea how much work is required to do it properly.

 

[Wilko]

Hi - for my 20p worth I’d also advise an RCD upgrade of some sort. And don’t forget to review the smoke/heat/CO alarms .

 

[James]

Worth remembering, if you spend 1k on upgrading the board to a shiny new one with certificates to back it up, it is going to make any future house sale much easier and is probably worth the investment for that reason alone.

Not to mention improved safety as mentioned above.

 

[richy3333]

12 circuits is a days work if done properly and I’d say those suggested prices are very light generally and specifically for London

 

[Deleted member 112675]

Thanks for the replies. Quite useful and interesting.

It has influenced my decision which is to go for a CU change so glad I asked here.

Also interesting to read that some are making over a grand for a day's work in London.

 

[David Prosser]

Thanks for the replies. Quite useful and interesting.

It has influenced my decision which is to go for a CU change so glad I asked here.

Also interesting to read that some are making over a grand for a day's work in London.

A decent electrician is not "making over a grand a day". They're charging up to/about £1000. This includes materials, expenses and labour (which doesn't stop when they leave the job, there can be hours of paperwork to complete that is not seen). The ones pushing £1K plus in their sky rocket are most likely doing the reports and certificates from a quick visit, some photos, and the van.

 

[pc1966]

Also interesting to read that some are making over a grand for a day's work in London.

LOL! Do you think the mechanic who services your car gets the £75/hour you pay the garage?

 

[Vortigern]

If you are going to rent out I believe you may have to meet some standards that require a lot more than just safe electrics. Assuming you are going to use an agent to let your place, they will ask for various certificates (Electric and Gas safety) and other items. Such as fire doors and smoke detectors and PAT testing etc. I don't know what your budget is but I would just enquire of a letting agency what is required first. Having found that out you will be in a better position to decide how you will budget for it all. In any event an EICR will be required. I charge £25 per circuit. If you count your fuses/switches it will tell you how much it should cost. However there are organisation cropping up with the latest change in law who offer EICR for £100. One trend I have noticed now is that LL are getting an EICR and getting another electrician to fix the problems found to avoid conflicts of interest. These changes require mandatory EICR on change of tenant and annually (I think?) Taking the long view, you may wish to look ahead and budget accordingly. For instance it seems to be settled stats that in any one year you can expect ten months rent. It is not as straightforward as it may seem. Make sure the agency is a good one and offer rent protection and ensure the property is kept up to a high standard. Look at the small print. A friend recently had a tenant on benefits and the benefits were mishandled as the council paid them direct to the tenant. The tenant payed no rent and broke the central heating costing £3k plus the arrears (£3k) basically a financial disaster. Sorry to sound so pessimistic but it is not all plain sailing is what I am saying.

 

[davesparks]

I charge £25 per circuit. If you count your fuses/switches it will tell you how much it should cost. However there are organisation cropping up with the latest change in law who offer EICR for £100.
One trend I have noticed now is that LL are getting an EICR and getting another electrician to fix the problems found to avoid conflicts of interest.

Do you have a minimum charge too? I'm just thinking of some of the small places around here which have one socket circuit, one lighting circuit, one immersion heater, gas cooker.
I have always advised customers that they should make it clear to the person carrying out an EICR that they won't be doing any remedial works for this exact reason, it stops any 'work creation' .

 

[Vortigern]

Do you have a minimum charge too?

The instance you quoted would be £75, No minimum charge.

 

[davesparks]

The instance you quoted would be £75, No minimum charge.

That's admirable, but surely you would be working at a loss?

 

[Vortigern]

I know what you are saying @davesparks it is the kind of level where it would become less profitable, but usually with those kinds of CU there would be a few of them in flats and quite likely you would do them all in a day. It is borderline agreed.