Hi all. First question on here so please go easy on me! I'm in the process of arranging jobs for my 2 assessments by NICEIC. One is going to be wiring my dad's garage. The thing is, understandably, he doesn't want to throw lots of money at it (who does when it's electrics?).
The SWA has already been laid underneath the ground but there's a list of items which I've noticed which I think will need addressed before the assessment. Can anyone tell me how much the assessor will care about these? Bearing in mind that quite a lot will not have been installed by me. Basically I'm installing from the garage consumer unit on.
1.) Consumer unit is missing the bottom faceplate. Three circuits are just run in through the whole were the faceplate is. The gap is of course easily big enough to get a whole hand in and grab the live busbar. Obviously this is dangerous but as I'm not installing it will I fail the assessment if I do work in the garage knowing about this? I would have to at least insulation resistance test the underground cable so there is no way I could claim I didn't notice this.
2.) The SWA cable to the garage is not terminated to the consumer unit correctly as there is no gland (how can there be after all, there's no bottom faceplate to terminate it to). This obviously needs fixing prior to me energising the garage installation. One of the 3 cores is being used as a CPC and is terminated correctly to the earth busbar in the consumer unit.
3.) The 100A supply to the property passes through a 63A 30mA double pole RCD before arriving at the main isolator in the CU. Am I right in presuming this needs to be a 100A RCD? Please note we're not talking about a split-load CU here, this RCD has been fitted between the meter and the CU, presumably as a cheap way to provide RCD protection to the property. My understanding is that the 63A is the maximum capacity the RCD will take, thus making this installation dangerous?
I noticed a couple of other worrying things. The CPC from the garage to the main CU was very loose in the main consumer unit (I pulled it out without unscrewing it). Most of the cables are run in the back of the house CU but the insulation has been stripped back to before they enter the CU and there is also no grommet so it's core insulation against metal CU hole.
Could anyone please advise on the minimum work I should insist on if I am going to use this as an assessment? I am thinking item 2 will need to be addressed but I'm assuming the assessor will need item 1 and 3 fixed prior to signing it off as a pass?
Advice greatly appreciated.
The SWA has already been laid underneath the ground but there's a list of items which I've noticed which I think will need addressed before the assessment. Can anyone tell me how much the assessor will care about these? Bearing in mind that quite a lot will not have been installed by me. Basically I'm installing from the garage consumer unit on.
1.) Consumer unit is missing the bottom faceplate. Three circuits are just run in through the whole were the faceplate is. The gap is of course easily big enough to get a whole hand in and grab the live busbar. Obviously this is dangerous but as I'm not installing it will I fail the assessment if I do work in the garage knowing about this? I would have to at least insulation resistance test the underground cable so there is no way I could claim I didn't notice this.
2.) The SWA cable to the garage is not terminated to the consumer unit correctly as there is no gland (how can there be after all, there's no bottom faceplate to terminate it to). This obviously needs fixing prior to me energising the garage installation. One of the 3 cores is being used as a CPC and is terminated correctly to the earth busbar in the consumer unit.
3.) The 100A supply to the property passes through a 63A 30mA double pole RCD before arriving at the main isolator in the CU. Am I right in presuming this needs to be a 100A RCD? Please note we're not talking about a split-load CU here, this RCD has been fitted between the meter and the CU, presumably as a cheap way to provide RCD protection to the property. My understanding is that the 63A is the maximum capacity the RCD will take, thus making this installation dangerous?
I noticed a couple of other worrying things. The CPC from the garage to the main CU was very loose in the main consumer unit (I pulled it out without unscrewing it). Most of the cables are run in the back of the house CU but the insulation has been stripped back to before they enter the CU and there is also no grommet so it's core insulation against metal CU hole.
Could anyone please advise on the minimum work I should insist on if I am going to use this as an assessment? I am thinking item 2 will need to be addressed but I'm assuming the assessor will need item 1 and 3 fixed prior to signing it off as a pass?
Advice greatly appreciated.
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