Electrical Installation Condition Report - Help!

[Sharpend]

Claire please don't take this as a criticism of yourself, it's merely advise based on our experiences of others in your shoes. 

Whilst a £100 may be expensive to you, in the realms of a job that should take all day by a professional then you can see that from our perspective £100 is cheap, you wouldn't expect to pay a plumber £100 for a day, unfortunately the toe rag that you have been recommended seeks out  people in your position as it's easy money for them and the fear of the report results usually gets a knee jerk reaction and people will pay for at least some off, if they can't afford all the remedials. 

I wouldn't mind asking this chap which he thought were the most urgent remedials and at what price as you can't afford all of it, he'll probably come back with a quote at a fraction of the original price. Again easy money for him as you think you're getting a good deal, when reality it should never cost that in the first place. 

All we we are saying are that all things considered this chap doesn't portray as an honest or decent guy? 

 

[Murdoch]

How big is the property?

For me the first hour is spent at the fuseboard and tracking what all the circuits actually do, because unless you do this first, you can't really do any meaningful tests, except, perhaps, the cooker circuit.

What was the purpose of the test? i.e. why did you have it done?

 

[ClairePO12]

It's a good size three bedroom detached  house, around 2200 sqft.  When I asked him he said we MUST have a new consumer unit at the bare minimum......

 

[Sharpend]

Bingo! I'll call that, the guys having you up the garden path. Ask him for a proper report before he asks for a new unit. Take him for a walk down the TEF path then see what he's got to say for himself. 

 

[Murdoch]

It's a good size three bedroom detached  house, around 2200 sqft.  When I asked him he said we MUST have a new consumer unit at the bare minimum......

On what basis did he state that?

Its got RCD protection......

Just saying.

 

[Sharpend]

Claire did you actually see him with any test instruments carrying out any testing either at lights or sockets or board for that matter? 

 

[Manator]

Claire see Here for more information and guidance. I would get quotes from at least three electrical contractors.

 

[ClairePO12]

At the board yes with some type of instrument, checked number of sockets and lights per room.

 

[Andy™]

 When I asked him he said we MUST have a new consumer unit at the bare minimum......

nope. it does not comply with current regulations but that does not mean anything previous must be upgraded to current regulations

 

[Sharpend]

He counted the sockets and lights purely because that's a requirement on an Nic report/cert, don't believe he did any testing at these points? 

 

[ClairePO12]

OK so is anyone on here in my area?  PO12.

 

[ProDave]

£100 is cheap fir an EICR if done properly. BUT if he was only there for 1 hour it was NOT done properly and £100 is a rip off for an hours labour.

Think of it like an MOT. Your car can fail on relatively trivial things and the garage might quote you lots to fix it. You are free to take it somewhere else for another MOT where they might not be so picky on trivial items or may be more reasonable to fix them.
 

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

For your information, we charge a min of £180 + vat for a eicr for up to an average 3 to 4 bed house. This is in London and going into the city or congestion charge can add another £50-75

A eicr normally takes 3-5 hours

 

[binky]

  So what you're saying is I paid less for lies when should have paid far more for truth?????

that is one of the best sum-ups of what's happened to you I've ever seen.

My local rogue electrically incompetent moron works on the same basis, charge cheap for the test and always finds at least £600 of remedial works.

To remedy the actual faults, you need to remove the immersion circuit from the board and change the garage MCB to 20A. If you have traced the bonds to gas and water, which I am assuming are under the floorboards, you need only show an electrician they are present, you may get comments about not being close enough to the incoming point, but testing of the earth path is what is actually needed as pointed out above. A simple test would also resolve if supplementary bonding is needed. Now at worse if the main bonds have to be installed you are looking at a days work, say £300 max, as it happens I think you could remedy the actual faults for about £75. However, if you have had the report for selling or letting, I think it would be worth paying an electrician to re-test / confirm test results, again should be achievable within a days work along with the other works.

A picture of the board would be useful