UK Tenant Having Electrical Safety Test Carried Out - What to Look For?

[Ray Pooley]

That’s a bit more than £50.

If I had any idea how many ways he needs I could be more specific. But it's not going to break the bank from a kit perspective.

Axiom Metal Consumer Unit + 80A Type A RCD + 6 MCBs

• 6 outgoing ways• 1 x 80A DP RCD Type A• 6 x SP MCBs: 2x6A, 1x16A, 2x32A, 1x40A• Dimensions (HxWxD): 237 x 199 x 110mm• BS EN 61439-3

www.toolstation.com

 

[Dartlec]

Hi all, I'd be very grateful for any advice you can give me.

I currently live in a rented property which was built in 1972 - it still has the original fusebox and wiring, and some really ropey DIY electrics that the landlord did himself when he lived in the house in the 80's/90's (there's a stereo speaker wired into the bathroom ceiling, for example - it's not connected to anything or live, but it gives you an idea of what kind of DIY he was getting up to).

We're due an electrical safety test next week, which is something that's been kicked down the road since the first lockdown.

My question is, how bad is this report likely to be? He won't spend any money on the house, and if it's going to cost him a lot of money there's a very good chance I'm going to be looking for a new home in the very near future. I just want to be prepared, so any information you can give me would be really appreciated.

Already some good advice been given, but a couple of extra thoughts:

If the house was built in 1972 then the original wiring is probably still OK and clear of some of the worst issues that might have cropped up (Rubber cabling, no earth on lighting, etc).

The fusebox is unlikely to comply on several grounds, though a replacement is not necessarily extortionate.

A lot may come down to how much the landlord tampered with the actual wiring. If it is original then it is probably fine, albeit somewhat limited now in terms of socket placement etc. The issue may be if DIY extra sockets have been added, etc, although there are also (normally) ways of resolving those without needing a full rewire

If the landlord plans to continue to rent the property, then he will need to get a satisfactory EICR either way, so although he may do only the bare minimum, it should be an improvement on what you have.

Definitely keep records of how long the report took, and photos of anything you think are dodgy - and give the electrician a short list of any issues you have had when he arrives as that will be helpful to him.

Once you have the report, we can advise on whether anything dodgy is afoot.

 

[Dartlec]

Here's a few more. There are many options.

Axiom Metal Consumer Unit + 80A Type A RCD + 6 MCBs

• 6 outgoing ways• 1 x 80A DP RCD Type A• 6 x SP MCBs: 2x6A, 1x16A, 2x32A, 1x40A• Dimensions (HxWxD): 237 x 199 x 110mm• BS EN 61439-3

www.toolstation.com

Edit:

Nice that it's a Type A RCD, but that wouldn't comply with even current regulations, let alone AMD 2 IMO - with one RCD up front.

No SPD either of course.

It would be an upgrade on what is there, but that's not a good reason not to at least meet the minimum requirements.

I fit RCBO boards by choice now, but do sometimes give the option of a Dual RCD board and they do have a place, but a more reasonable lower estimate would be £100 IMO, especially with the glands etc needed.

That doesn't include the cost of inspection and certifying it of course.

However, I agree with your other main point that there is no reason why cabling from 1972 needs to be replaced, unless it has been overloaded or fiddled with since it was installed. It was likely installed with a great more pride than most new builds, if truth be told.

 

[timhoward]

Axiom Metal Consumer Unit + 80A Type A RCD + 6 MCBs

• 6 outgoing ways• 1 x 80A DP RCD Type A• 6 x SP MCBs: 2x6A, 1x16A, 2x32A, 1x40A• Dimensions (HxWxD): 237 x 199 x 110mm• BS EN 61439-3

www.toolstation.com

I accept that is cheap but most things that cheap have at least one flaw.
For example after amendment 2 it's going to need an SPD. We are also required by regs to divide up the installation to avoid nuscience tripping and an RCD main switch doesn't achieve that.

(I'll save you some time - this is the lowest to which I'll sink:

https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/briti...tegrity-dual-rcd-consumer-unit-with-spd/972kr

and only then in exceptional circumstances, such as an impoverished pensioner still running a Wylex rewireable)

99% of the time most of us fit surge protected double pole RCBO boards, and they provide excellent fault tolerance and easy fault finding.

 

[Ray Pooley]

All I'm trying to do here is give the OP, the tenant, a little insight into the costs involved in bringing the premise up to code.
I get the impression that if it's mega bugs the landlord might take the eviction option instead and he doesn't want that.
If the cabling is solid the consumer unit upgrade is not a major expense I think we can agree.

 

[Dartlec]

I accept that is cheap but most things that cheap have at least one flaw.
For example after amendment 2 it's going to need an SPD. We are also required by regs to divide up the installation to avoid nuscience tripping and an RCD main switch doesn't achieve that.

(I'll save you some time - this is the lowest to which I'll sink:

https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/briti...tegrity-dual-rcd-consumer-unit-with-spd/972kr

and only then in exceptional circumstances, such as an impoverished pensioner still running a Wylex rewireable)

99% of the time most of us fit surge protected double pole RCBO boards, and they provide excellent fault tolerance and easy fault finding.

Ironically, after AMD 2 it will actually be "easier" to leave out the SPD - if you get them to sign something they don't want it.

In which case the lowest option I might consider is

https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/mk-se...d-high-integrity-dual-rcd-consumer-unit/679vf

- though I would still have gone for the SPD version which was only £20 more, but doesn't seem to be on SF's site at the moment...

 

[Deleted account]

If I had any idea how many ways he needs I could be more specific. But it's not going to break the bank from a kit perspective.

Axiom Metal Consumer Unit + 80A Type A RCD + 6 MCBs

• 6 outgoing ways• 1 x 80A DP RCD Type A• 6 x SP MCBs: 2x6A, 1x16A, 2x32A, 1x40A• Dimensions (HxWxD): 237 x 199 x 110mm• BS EN 61439-3

www.toolstation.com

I stated Upfront RCD in earlier post may be £50 mark, but I also said this does not comply with current regs.
scraping the barrel there I’m afraid.

 

[timhoward]

All I'm trying to do here is give the OP, the tenant, a little insight into the costs involved in bringing the premise up to code.

I appreciate the sentiment and agree the CU upgrade is not a major expense. In the wider scheme of things landlords are getting money for rent whatever condition the electrics are in, and the cost over the lifetime of a consumer unit is nothing.
Failing to take the chance to fit something decent isn't really in anyone's long term interests.

If it's true that the landlord would rather sell up than improve the place, then I empathise with the OP. I'd have thought most landlords would want the ongoing rental income though. Any potential buyer will be asking for money off after seeing an EICR anyway, so he'll pay one way or another.

 

[KevinH]

New consumer unit needed is almost certain as it's more likely to currently be rewirable fuses or at best 3871 plug in MCB's.
What about the 2.5mm T&E cable for that era...didn't it have 1mm CPC? Could that tip the max required Zs readings of some circuits over the edge?
Also tails, main earth and bonding sizes probably not up to today's recommendations. And not to mention that sticky "green goo" from the untinned conductors inside the accessories.
Possibly no CPC on the lighting.
At best it's gonna be a new CU, upgrading earthing, rewire lighting circuits and replacing accessories.

 

[pc1966]

I think the whole discussion of raw CU cost is missing the point, it is the labour that usually dominates any replacement work. But even that is getting the priority wrong, as the real risks are not going to be the use of use wire and no RCD, but all of the other sort of faults or incorrect modifications that might have taken place since to the original installation in the 70s.

The free download of Best Practice Guide #4 has the sort of thing that an EICR inspection should be looking for, and the related guidance on coding it for severity of risk:

Best Practice Guides | Electrical Safety First

Electrical Safety First produces, in association with other industry bodies, a range of Best Practice Guides which provide definitive information and guidance on a range of technical subjects.

www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk

 

[LukeD]

True, maybe he has found a way of installing CU,s without fitting breakers.

Referring only to the board .As once a board is fitted there any many options to populate it depending on budget etc .At the end of the day they are still cheap .

 

[nicebutdim]

Referring only to the board .As once a board is fitted there any many options to populate it depending on budget etc .At the end of the day they are still cheap .

Once fitted there are indeed many options for populating a board, but I'd be inclined to put a little more thought into the process before simply buying 'a board' as the end result could be far more expensive than initially hoped.

Someone throwing in a cheap board might find themselves needing to replace dual busbars with a single bar that no one stocks. Maybe required breakers are expensive or not readily available. I'd be concerned by any spark who fitted an unpopulated board with no real plan about the finished job or no consideration given to the installation being protected.



As for other posts in this thread? OP asked some basic questions and (understandably) provided little in the way of detail. While it's very likely a fairly cheap board would do the job, making such an assertion without being in possession of a lot more information is, quite frankly, daft.

 

[GBDamo]

Go on then,I will bite.
please post a link to this £50 consumer unit.

I see them all over the place in wholesalers and screwstation at Al. Maybe not quite £50 but seen a splitty 12way for £59+, can't remember where but there was a pallet load of them in at the trade counter.....

Everyone I do see though is type AC RCDs no SPD.

 

[EricMark]

I have tried to find out what is required with the EICR, English law I can find, Welsh law coming in 1st December, but the law does not seem to detail what is required, it talks about fit for human habitation, and smoke detectors are required, but wading thought the law I find nothing, only find anything with guide to law.

The English law does not follow the standard practice, normally the only current using equipment covered in an EICR is the lights, anything else is inspected with the inspection and testing of in service electrical equipment loosely called PAT testing. And it does not cover the DNO equipment, where normally there is a visual inspection.

Welsh law it seems refers to a PIT (periodic inspection and testing) but not actually found the bit in the actual law. It seems more about notice which must be given, right of access etc. Here in rural Wales we are seeing a mass exodus of landlords before the deadline, social media is full of people looking for new rental accommodation, seems the labour government is full of good intentions, but they have not thought it through, and the work from home revival has resulted in a good market to sell homes in the country.

The PIR (periodic inspection report) had 4 main codes, but the IET felt code 4 was unhelpful, it was does not comply with current regulations, and now we have three, with C in front so showing new code system. C1 is dangerous and there is very little debate as to what falls into that category. But the C2 potential dangerous and C3 improvement recommended are rather fluid.

We have code busters and best practice guides which help, but in real terms it is down to the inspector to decide C2 or C3 or of course not worth raising, and the limit or further investigation options.

It does not really matter if a non compliant £50 consumer unit is fitted or a fully compliant £300 model, the main cost is the electrician who fits it, seems false economy to fit a non compliant unit, and the electrician is laying himself open for future claims.

One in not forced to follow BS 7671, the rules allow one to follow an equivalent, however not if self certifying, but the real question is does the lack of RCD protection or SPD mean the installation fails? If not potentially dangerous in 1970, why is it potentially dangerous now, what has changed?

Well some things have changed, practise of using semi-conductor devices before the isolation transformer, and the adoption of TN-C-S earthing, the use of non conducting pipe work, which also means removal of the main earth, technically we bonded the pipe work to the earth, but in real terms often the pipe work was the earth.

I know as a young lad I made a mistake and accidentally connected line to earth, and it ruptured the 13 amp fuse in my dad's house, but some 30 years latter found there was no earth, at least not good enough to blow a 13 amp fuse, also since wired before 1966 no earth on lights, and rubber insulated cables, so needed a full re-wire, but the question remains what happened to the earth?

Because we can now stop bonding all in the bathroom if protected with an RCD, we have a potential danger that a plumber will remove and not replace bonding even when no RCD, so we have that phrase, potential danger, so hard to justify not having RCD protection.

We also have "Every installation shall be divided into circuits, as necessary, to:
(iii) take account of danger that may arise from the failure of a single circuit such as a lighting circuit
(iv) reduce the possibility of unwanted tripping of RCDs due to excessive protective conductor currents produced by equipment in normal operation." since 2008, so not new, we can of course measure the back ground leakage and if under 9 mA consider it as being OK. But if a freezer full of food is lost, or worse, it is damaged without the house holder realising the food has defrosted, we have both expense and a potential danger, there's that phrase again.

But there are no hard and fast rules, code 4 has gone, so not complying with current regulations has gone, so up to the inspector what codes he awards.

 

[Dodgy Landlord]

I had no idea I'd stimulated so much discussion - I haven't been getting notifications for this thread!

By way of an update for you all (I really do appreciate your responses, it was really good of you all), the work is complete. It was a total, total nightmare, but it's complete. I think I saw someone mention how bad it would be depended on how much DIY the landlord had done? Yes, well...quite a bit as it turns out.

I honestly think I saw the Sparky's soul depart his body at one point. There was a fault on one of the circuits that he couldn't pin down to any of the sockets, and that's when we started finding the hidden mystery sockets that had been blanked off all over the house (one half way up a bathroom wall which hadn't been blanked off just plastered over, one behind a wall unit in the kitchen, one in the middle of what we think used to be an archway - that's not even all of them). At one point it looked like he was going to have to be there for a third day, but thankfully for him he managed to locate and repair the fault because I think he was starting to reconsider his career choices by that point. Poor bloke. Excellent sparky though, I'll definitely be going to him if I need any cosmetic things done like fitting lights.

Once again, thank you all - I'm sorry I didn't get back to you all sooner.

And yes - the landlord did put the rent up.

 

[DPG]

I had no idea I'd stimulated so much discussion - I haven't been getting notifications for this thread!

By way of an update for you all (I really do appreciate your responses, it was really good of you all), the work is complete. It was a total, total nightmare, but it's complete. I think I saw someone mention how bad it would be depended on how much DIY the landlord had done? Yes, well...quite a bit as it turns out.

I honestly think I saw the Sparky's soul depart his body at one point. There was a fault on one of the circuits that he couldn't pin down to any of the sockets, and that's when we started finding the hidden mystery sockets that had been blanked off all over the house (one half way up a bathroom wall which hadn't been blanked off just plastered over, one behind a wall unit in the kitchen, one in the middle of what we think used to be an archway - that's not even all of them). At one point it looked like he was going to have to be there for a third day, but thankfully for him he managed to locate and repair the fault because I think he was starting to reconsider his career choices by that point. Poor bloke. Excellent sparky though, I'll definitely be going to him if I need any cosmetic things done like fitting lights.

Once again, thank you all - I'm sorry I didn't get back to you all sooner.

And yes - the landlord did put the rent up.

Many thanks for letting us know.

 

[Markyd]

I suspect the distribution board will require replacement. You can buy a CU for about £50. Light switches and sockets are cheap as chips. Perhaps sockets and switches. The CU will need to be replaced by a registered electrician. Buiklding Regs Part P. But as far as the cabling is concerned, the big job, there's no particular reason why it should need replacing. If it passes the EICR insulation tests then it should be ok. Age isn't the deciding factor.

Yeh Ones that dont meet regs anymore

 

[Markyd]

I don't know where you shopping dude.
Heres one. Dual RCD plus MCBs. Probably way more than you need. £67.
View attachment 99527

Nope Doesnt meet regs.....Do you know what you are actully talking about