Cut cable under the flooring

[Brian.mi067]

Hi my son who is disabled has a company in renewing his flooring the joiners have cut through a cable under the floor and got an electrician to re connect it he has done this and covered it with electrical tape is this ok
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y4EGm4xyq1xca5DD8

 

[Fleeting]

No it isn't okay are you sure they were an electrician or just claimed to be?

 

[Brian.mi067]

No it isn't okay are you sure they were an electrician or just claimed to be?

It is an actual company that are doing the job but it is 2 young joiners that are doing the job they are say that this is the company's electrician who said that he done the required connection and the tape is there to only reinforce the connection thanks i need any advice and the required regulation that he should have worked to

 

[Brian.mi067]

I advised my son that when the joiners cut through the cable they should have done a risk assessment because they knew there were cables under the flooring as they had already taken up some flooring and knew it was there their answer was that all the houses round his area are the same and the cable wasn't installed properly when the house was built in the 1900

 

[Andy™]

that needs to be done properly, wrapping in tape like that is not acceptable

cables should be further down but often are like that. going by the cable damage, if they kept going it would have also been that pipe. set the blade depth the to floorboard thickness...

 

[Brian.mi067]

No it isn't okay are you sure they were an electrician or just claimed to be?

Hi from the photos I can see that he has used red crimping connectors and the crimping tools can be seen in the photo this joint will be under the flooring and they are getting new laminate flooring out down so this will be an unaccessible joint should he have used wagos and installed the joint in an non accessible box ? Would really appreciate your advice I live over a100 miles from where he is and can only communicate with the phone

 

[kerching]

That cable wasn’t installed in 1900 so that’s bollocks. Get their electrician to sign a declaration that it complies with regs, then sit back and watch the

 

[Brian.mi067]

that needs to be done properly, wrapping in tape like that is not acceptable

cables should be further down but often are like that. going by the cable damage, if they kept going it would have also been that pipe. set the blade depth the to floorboard thickness...

Thanks Andy this is an upper flat and I also agree with you it is incompetent at best and had they cut the pipes it would have been a catastrophe for the downstairs flat I wanted him to tell them to stop and get the company head involved but they are not answering the phone

 

[Brian.mi067]

That cable wasn’t installed in 1900 so that’s bollocks. Get their electrician to sign a declaration that it complies with regs, then sit back and watch the

Thanks Kerching I appreciate your advice and will pass the declaration advice onto my son is there a declaration sheet available or do you just write one up ?

 

[7029 Dave]

Why have they cut back so much, IMO you wont get an MF enclosure round that joint (one of them looks too long) , needs replacing or 2 MF joints put in per cable. Unless you can get some slack up on them cables.

 

[Brian.mi067]

Thanks Dave I don't know if they have phoned up their own guy to fix the problem , as they don't want to tell their employer that they messed up they are telling my son that this is the company's electrician I'm concerned that they are now going to hide all this with putting the new flooring over it, but he still has the photos as proof

 

[7029 Dave]

They cant close the floor up, you have 2 open joints there insulation tape is not sufficient.
I would advise your son to call up the company in person and explain the situation.

 

[Brian.mi067]

Thanks Dave he has already tried to phone them but didn't get an answer I will get in contact with him again with all your and the other members comments and advice .

 

[Fleeting]

Find a proper electrician.

 

[binky]

whilst the crimps are fine, electrical tape has no recognised insulation capabilities. There is a such a thing called Alpha tape, which does have tested insulation properties, but mostly we use 'non maintenance' junction boxes these days for such repairs, and most electricians carry a few spares. The other option would have been to use heat shrink sleeving rather than tape.

 

[Brian.mi067]

Hi Fleeting this job was given to a registered company who have offices in Scotland they are part of the check a trade and other trusted organizations the guys that cut the cable are saying they phones up the company's electrician to fix their mess up, I don't think this should be continuing in this manner leaving it up to the guys on the job, someone higher up in the company should have arrived at thier house to inspect and address how this happened in the first place and to see if all the health and safety regulations were being followed eg risk assessment before the job was started and after the botch up again a further risk assessment before continuing, I pointed out to my son that they wouldn't even have an electrical fire extinguisher on the job and had that caused a fire, were they going to throw water on it ? I will post further updates once I can get my son some answers from the company that took on this job so unfortunately while I agree that to get a proper electrician to do the job, the company are the ones that are responsible for this electrical botch up getting rectified

 

[binky]

Check a Trade is not a trusted organization. The remove all negative comments as the contractors are their customers, not the public.

 

[Brian.mi067]

Thanks for that advice Binky is there an organization that can advise on this ? any further advice would be very much appreciated

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

It is an actual company that are doing the job but it is 2 young joiners that are doing the job they are say that this is the company's electrician who said that he done the required connection and the tape is there to only reinforce the connection thanks i need any advice and the required regulation that he should have worked to

My initial thoughts would be things like the following from current BS7671 wiring regs

134.1.4 Requires joints to be of proper construction as regards to conductance, insulation, mechanical strength and protection.
also 526.1 requires connections to have adequate mechanical strength and protection.

526.3 requires connections to be accessible for inspection, testing & maintenance, unless they are designed to be inaccessible and/or maintenance free with appropriate accessory for terminations..

526.5 requires all terminations and joints to be within a suitable enclosure or accessory.

526.8 requires that cores of cables that the sheath has been removed from shall be within an enclosure as per 526.5

In my opinion PVC tape joints would not comply with any of those...
Nor the good workmanship & proper materials by skilled persons required by regulation 134.1.1

Once the cable had been cut it would have been better to add a new section on cable correctly routed through the joists, (not over the top), then two suitable maintenance free junction boxes at either end of the new section to reconnect the circuit.

(Check-a-trade earn their profits, from the annual membership fees that their contractors have to pay them...
So its not really an un-biased opinion they give...
As they don't really want to bite the hand that feeds and pays for all those expensive TV adverts!)

Is the electrician a member of one of the electrical trades bodies?

 

[binky]

Thanks for that advice Binky is there an organization that can advise on this ? any further advice would be very much appreciated

better off with Trading Standards or whoever the company is registered with, but, being Scottish, that is not a requirement north of the border. However, as the company has voluteered to fix the problem themselves, then it's not that likley that anyone would do anything, which is a sad state of affairs but the way the UK works.