Re wiring a house

[Paul the chef]

Ok first and foremost I’m not a sparkie, I did all the work in my own house 30+ years ago, which a sparkie checked and approved and I know the regs have changed etc.
My son has just bought a house was told nothing wrong it’s all hunkydoory you can move straight in, went to have a nose a bit of building modernisation required 2 rooms in to one, take out fireplace, replace one or two rads. So he says have a look at garage and I said “oh you’ve got electric in here, tidy” where’s the consumer unit? Haven’t seen one was the reply. Went outside to see where the feed came in, it’s only fed from the house 60 m away by 1 MM lighting cable. So alarm bells started ringing, the consumer unit in house is the old fuse wire type there’s switches here there and everywhere and the building survey didn’t pick this up!!!!!

Now then money is tight as he’s a low wage earner and his savings have gone purchasing the house. I’m hoping to find a sparky who will do final connections and me and my son will do ground work like chasing walls, routing cables, possibly wire sockets if allowed and purchase the items.

I’ve seen this BRITISH GENERAL 16-MODULE 10-WAY POPULATED HIGH INTEGRITY DUAL RCD CONSUMER UNIT (2920G) in screwfix
Which is £68 then went on TLC website an MK (which I believe is a good make) consumer unit with same rcd’s and comes up @ £154 would it be considered cutting corners to go with screwfix version. Would a professional use the screwfix one?

I know I’m not allowed to fit the consumer unit and as for the wiring, having seen what’s there I want to re wire the whole house to be on the safe side, my plan is to get a temporary supply to have electric in the house while I rip all the wires out for a refit

Finding a spark who will do this could be a hurdle as they have to sign it off, so off I go to find a spark

 

[telectrix]

BG is the worst of the worst. And as others have said buy an RCBO board not a dual RCD board. With the amount of tech in houses now you'll end up with earth leakage issues tripping the RCD. Get the type A RCBO's to avoid the DC leakage of the tech saturating the RCBO's etc. Split load boards are on their way out. Might take another 10 years but they will go. Worth paying the extra now rather than in the future, particularly if you're saving money on the sparky costs.

what's wrong with BG boards? i've installed several with no problems, and their compact RCBOs are nice to work with and a decent price from electrical 2go.

 

[suffolkspark]

Do they still lean over?

If you hold them firmly and did them with a torque driver they actually didnt, however, I've moved on to wylex and lewden now in any case

 

[telectrix]

If you hold them firmly and did them with a torque driver they actually didnt, however, I've moved on to wylex and lewden now in any case

you can't put them in any case. it has to be a non-combustible case, (amd.3 to 17th.)).

 

[suffolkspark]

@telectrix we need facepalm emoji for you ?

 

[FatAlan]

MK have now given the rights to another company to continue production of MK boards in UK

Mentioned on the Efixx channel on YouTube. Being made by the same company in China that made them in the first place. ?

 

[Dartlec]

Mentioned on the Efixx channel on YouTube. Being made by the same company in China that made them in the first place. ?

https://www.circpro.co.uk are the people in the UK. Not sure if they are supplying to wholesalers yet...

 

[Julie.]

If you can get the supervision and certification by a suitable electrician, who is a member of a scheme, they may have access to reasonable quality kit at better prices than you are looking at anyhow.

Personally I don't rate BG - LAP is actually a bit better, but as far as the consumer unit I would look at fusebox if you want inexpensive, they are good quality and would provide a full RCBO board inc SPD for typically the cost of a dual board - and far better quality than LAP/BG

try https://www.consumerunitworld.co.uk/cp-fusebox-389-c.asp or a web search.

Unless you have an account with good trade deals (which your guys are likely to have), then Screwfix/tradepoint for cable and perhaps LAP accessories, on-line for Fusebox CU etc.

However if you can I would prefer better quality accessories (socket outlets etc) as these take the most day to day impact/wear and tear

 

[Baddegg]

If you do get a spark willing to do this for you, I’d ask em for two quotes, one all in and one with you doing the donkey work, depending on the property you might be surprised at what the difference actually is, baring in mind they’ll have wall chasers and proper dust extractors, well sparks will Dave down the pub will pull his t shirt up over his nose and go round with a dustpan and brush!, don’t underestimate how much mess it makes to rewire a house and it is hard work if the place is full of furniture, also remember that any spark that will 3rd party it will stipulate what brands etc you use, if signing off someone else’s work I wouldn’t want to be part of it if the cheapest stuff available was involved....
Good luck ?

edit...although I’m with stroma and I believe they allow 3rd party sign off but I’m with @happyhippydad on this and would only really even consider it for family and close friends, I think someone else mentioned in the current climate of no win no fee this situation has the potential to go a bit Yankee in the future with well meaning people being sued left right and centre ?

 

[richy3333]

what's wrong with BG boards? i've installed several with no problems, and their compact RCBOs are nice to work with and a decent price from electrical 2go.

Cheap, nasty, poorly made, thin metal, distorted CU's. Not aware they do any Type A RCD's or RCBO's - not that I would look as its not within the scope of the company USP to fit that sort of stuff. As a business we also support wholesalers not DIY sheds.

We are ripping one out this week to replace with a 20 way Hager duplex with type A RCBO's. Happy to post it to you if you want it (the BG board that is), otherwise it will go in the bin (where it belongs)

 

[Dartlec]

Cheap, nasty, poorly made, thin metal, distorted CU's. Not aware they do any Type A RCD's or RCBO's - not that I would look as its not within the scope of the company USP to fit that sort of stuff. As a business we also support wholesalers not DIY sheds.

We are ripping one out this week to replace with a 20 way Hager duplex with type A RCBO's. Happy to post it to you if you want it (the BG board that is), otherwise it will go in the bin (where it belongs)

Agree with the cheaply made. I found the cutouts too well secured so a bugger to get out, and could never get the lid to fit properly because of flex in the metal. Used to like their plastic ones, but gave up on the metal ones several years back.

However, they do appear to have Type A RCDs available at Screwfix now so I'm sure RCBOs won't be long. They also have a new design with a drop down flap rather than the previous lift up flap, so perhaps they are improving.

There are still cases where replacing with a cheap dual RCD is still the better option than doing nothing, so there is maybe a market for them.

The main problem is that it makes landlords and clients think that all boards should be that price so encourages the race to the bottom...

 

[richy3333]

@Dartlec yeah I agree. If our customers want an economical solution they get an RCBO fusebox CU. Much better quality consumer unit

 

[GBDamo]

The BG garage unit is great, its fully cast aluminium and IP65 rated. Just the job for musty cellars and garages.

https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=l&...wiGrIbj0-TsAhUsQkEAHfSbBBUQzzl6BAgZEBU&adurl=

I've used dozens of them.

I have recently had, what may well be, a faulty RCBO but still investigating that.

Other than that no real gripes with BG.

 

[ruston]

@GBDamo . I must admit the BG garage unit is a cut above the norm.

 

[pc1966]

Here is @GBDamo link without the google gibberish:
https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/british-general-5-module-3-way-populated-garage-consumer-unit/1926G

 

[MDJ]

Most electricians are ripping out dual RCD boards in preference to all RCBO's ask your sons electrician friends if they have a decent one spare, not ideal, but if cash is that short?

Why? are they jumping on the "lets start ripping people off band wagon"?

 

[GBDamo]

Why? are they jumping on the "lets start ripping people off band wagon"?

IF, if the advice is that it is an upgrade that will offer both safety and convenience benefits then it is not ripping off, its a considered purchase.

If its being sold as a requirement to conform, in the absence of any other issues, then it is unethical.

 

[richy3333]

Here is @GBDamo link without the google gibberish:
https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/british-general-5-module-3-way-populated-garage-consumer-unit/1926G

Is that price high? We were offered those for £20 incl VAT by a wholesaler.

 

[pc1966]

I have seen less than Screwfix, but £20 sounds a very good deal indeed.