Is this cable in a dangerous state / against regulations?

We have finished a 3 year house building project, with a brilliant builder & a very good team. The only weak link has been his electrician. We moved into the property last July, with the Electric certifications followed soon after.

Since then though, we have a dispute over some outside lights, which were due to be controlled via a timer and PIR. The electrician messed up the wiring which meant the Timer wouldn't work with the external lights (missing an extra live feed?)..... however rather then own up to it, he has blagged & bullshitted over the last 10 months as to why it wouldn't work, every excuse under the sun - and where the timer was due to be installed the cables have been left hanging out.

I sent a photo to electrician soon after we moved in (10 months ago) asking if these hanging wires were live & he messaged me they weren't. I ignored them since then, waiting for him to come out & snag them/fit the timer...assuming they weren't connected at the other end.

Over the weekend I decided to tidy them up myself, as he has not been forth coming with resolving it. With the message from him saying they weren't live I (stupidly!!) decided to cut them back (as they were c2 feet long and getting in the way of our router) to enable me to tuck them out of the way....and BANG.

Electrician is now excusing/explaining saying he left them 'safe' as they had a WAGO block on & some tape, and he will reluctantly (!) come back and tidy it up for me. I am pretty unhappy about this whole situation, that in 20+ years i've never come close to a shock before, and his casual attitude to it feels painfully (!) wrong, after he confirmed in writing they weren't live.

My only issue it.... is a WAGO block taped on sufficient for electrical sign off? Is this just down to my own stupidity? Is this an acceptable state for wires to be left in? If not (as I hope it isn't!) is there any formal literature I can use to throw back at the builder to sack him & get my own electrician (at builder's cost) to resolve this?

Welcome thoughts from the experts in the room! thanks

Tape and a wago is fine as a temporary measure whilst building works are going on, but not to leave a customer with.I would make a formal complaint to whoever he claims to be registered with, ie NICEIC ot NAPIT.

Don't see what his issue is unless you want to be able to override the lights with a manual switch, in which case another core would have been useful.

As far as I am concerned tape and Wagos on live cables is never a safe measure temporary or not, if someone was injured using this method I doubt you would have a leg to stand on in your defense. Live terminations and conductors must be enclosed whether temporary or not.

Andeh1 said:

Over the weekend I decided to tidy them up myself, as he has not been forth coming with resolving it. With the message from him saying they weren't live I (stupidly!!) decided to cut them back (as they were c2 feet long and getting in the way of our router) to enable me to tuck them out of the way....and BANG.

Electrician is now excusing/explaining saying he left them 'safe' as they had a WAGO block on & some tape, and he will reluctantly (!) come back and tidy it up for me. I am pretty unhappy about this whole situation, that in 20+ years i've never come close to a shock before, and his casual attitude to it feels painfully (!) wrong, after he confirmed in writing they weren't live.

My only issue it.... is a WAGO block taped on sufficient for electrical sign off? Is this just down to my own stupidity? Is this an acceptable state for wires to be left in? If not (as I hope it isn't!) is there any formal literature I can use to throw back at the builder to sack him & get my own electrician (at builder's cost) to resolve this?

Welcome thoughts from the experts in the room! thanks

Click to expand...

(1) If there was absolutely no-way to safely leave the cable isolated... Personally I would have used something like a choc-box type enclosure.. e.g. https://www.screwfix.com/p/vimark-30a-chocbox-connector-box-90-x-30-x-50mm-white/194vt
as wiring regulation 526.5 requires all terminations or joints in live conductors to be enclosed within a suitable accessory / junction box / equipment enclosure etc..
So as you say a Wago and tape is not an acceptable solution. But BS7671 wiring regulations are non-statutory and just guidance for good practice!

(2) However the Electricity at work regulations 1989 which are statutory require no person to work on or near live conductors unless it is unreasonable in all circumstances for it to be dead.. And that persons engaged in electrical work must be competent to prevent danger and injury..

(3) So any competent person doing work for monetary gain, who has to work on your cable, should have verified it is safe and dead before doing anything to the cable... BUT.. unfortunately due to the fact that DIY electrical work is legally permitted, even if the work had been done correctly and fully compliant to BS7671 wiring regulations.. there is nothing to stop any DIY person deciding to cut through a live cable without first verifying that it is dead and safe to cut!

(4) If the electrician was a sub-contractor to the builder, and you only paid the builder for all work done, (i.e. you did not get any invoice or make any payments direct to the electrician), then your legal contract path for any complaints is via the builder.. Not the electrician, as you have no contract with the electrician.. i.e. the Electricians obligations are to the builder. NOT you!.

(5) Also in contractual disputes the person who originally provided any goods or services must be given the first chance to put right any anomalies, errors, poor workmanship etc.. before you can select another contractor to put right any disputed workmanship and/or claim any refund payments

@SPECIAL LOCATION has already answered this in depth but I personally would've left it in a wago box (not just connector) and cable tied shut. Again, that would only be temporary - I wouldn't expect a new install to have any loose (especially live) cables lying around without a use.

I would suspect a cable with Wagos on to be live, otherwise cheapskate electrician would just have just taped up the bare end.

Even leaving the cables long enough to get in others way is inconsiderate at least, I'd ve coiled em up fairly tightly and ensured they were 'safe'.