Phantom EICR story...

Electron · Jan 17, 2020

NICEIC don't cover me for EICRs as I am just a Domestic Electrician, not a Qualified Supervisor. So, I don't do many.
However, a customer, who owns a HMO, needed one doing in a hurry for his Council Licence.
Before I visited the property, I collected the last two EICRs and was surprised to see that the consumer unit had three RCB's. More surprised that the ten year old trip results had the same trip times as the one done, by another "Registered" Electrician, five years ago. What are the chances of that?
Both these were nothing compared to my surprise to find that the supply was via and old fuse board!
Realising that I would have to start my checks from the beginning I removed fuses and took off the cover and found the neutral supply badly charred. The heat had started to melt the plastic above. Problem probably as a result of arcing due to a poor connection.
Attached is a photo.
My customer was surprised to be told that if there was a cold snap and all 6 residents switched on a 2kW fan heater, to keep warm, it could have caused a fire.
Fail to see the point of this "phantom" testing if the Council don't check the authenticity of the Report or that it relates to the installation.
New consumer unit now installed, installation tested and all is now okay.

davesparks · Jan 17, 2020

Electron said:
More surprised that the ten year old trip results had the same trip times as the one done, by another "Registered" Electrician, five years ago. What are the chances of that?

RCD tripping times should not change with age, and allowing for instrument accuracy the results should not show any variation.

telectrix · Jan 17, 2020

davesparks said:
RCD tripping times should not change with age, and allowing for instrument accuracy the results should not show any variation.

but there aren't any RCDs in the installation.

davesparks · Jan 17, 2020

telectrix said:
but there aren't any RCDs in the installation.

In this installation no, but the OP clearly thinks that RCD tripping times are normally expected to change over time.

Dave OCD · Jan 17, 2020

And there was an interesting reverse polarity bit in the last circuit of that old Wylex.

telectrix · Jan 18, 2020

davesparks said:
In this installation no, but the OP clearly thinks that RCD tripping times are normally expected to change over time.

i would expect a small variation over 5 years, esp if the test button had not beed used. when you have 3 supposed RCDs in an installation and the test times are identical for all 3, ,i'd smell a large rat.