Problem with wiring!

[Davey Cammack]

Hi, I hope this is the right spot to ask for advice.

I've been living in a home, a 1930's build for a year now. It's privately rented & I've just got around to replacing some light fittings & I've come across a problem + an existing issue that never really effected me until recently.
Anyways, My Fuse box looks ancient & I can't seem to isolate my downstairs lighting on their own. I have to turn off my downstairs sockets for the lights to be powerless. But the strange thing is, not all of my downstairs sockets turn off. 1 fuse turns off half the sockets only from what I can tell & another fuse turns off the other half + downstairs lighting. 

The other issue is. I have no gas fitting for a gas hob, it only has an electricity point. But if I have 4 hob rings on & the oven, it trips the cooker fuse. 

I told a friend that's more experienced than me with electricity standards & so forth. He said I should ask my landlord to check it out & when I called, they asked if anything wasn't working & I said everything works apart from the cooker issue which doesn't happen often as I hardly use all 4 plates & the oven at the same time. Basically I was told there's no need for them to come out unless something isn't working. 

So I thought I would come here & ask you guys because I'm not very sure I should touch anything because I don't know what's powering what & I'm having to resort to turning off the main switch to do anything which surely isn't legal.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Blue Duck]

It's not really your problem to rectify, its up to the landlord. you dont mess with the wiring .

As for the layout, It sounds old and things were done differently back then as we did not require so many electrical appliances.

 

[Sidewinder]

As Mr Duck has suggested it isn't yours, so unfortunately it is probably in your tenancy agreement that you can't touch any of the electrics, and that probably includes changing lights.

I realise that isn't what you want to hear, but, also it isn't unusual also.

Just be careful with what you do because if you meddle with the wiring, then you may find yourself intentionally homeless in the eyes of the law!

The correct method of isolation is to isolate all live conductors anyway, so officially main switch it is.

 

[kerching]

Just a thought...is your landlord happy with you replacing light fittings?

my tenants are not allowed to change fixtures and fittings without my written permission

 

[Andy™]

well if the cooker trips, then its not working, so phone the landlord and get him to come fix it

of course, if the problem is down to your cooker requiring more power than the supply can handle then its your fault and expect a bill for it. if the cooker was supplied by the landlord then its their problem if it doesnt work correctly

as for sockets, never believe what the label says. its a good indication what it should do, but never relay on it. always follow safe isolation correctly.  if it says downstairs sockets and it does control some downstairs sockets, then the description is correct, but could be clearer

 

[Davey Cammack]

Just a thought...is your landlord happy with you replacing light fittings?

my tenants are not allowed to change fixtures and fittings without my written permission

Well I've phoned up & asked for them to replace my light fittings twice. Once when this property was with Crucible & then again after it switched to a new agency & both said it's my responsibility.
I  hate my lettings agency to be honest. I was told lies after lies & when I moved into this house, which was the only one available (now I know why) It was in such a mess. Gloss on the walls. Patchy wallpapering on the ceilings & chunks out of the woodworks. But rent is fair & I'm slowly making it my home. 

I thought i'd ask if it wasn't meeting current legal standards or anything so I could use it to make my lettings agency act. 

To be honest with you. I think my landlord is fab. I had rotten garden fencing that was warped & hanging on for dear life. The agents said they are still erect & don't need changing, despite having children playing in the garden yada yada yada. But I then decided to send a letter directly to the landlord (property owner) 3 days later I got a call, he came out & without hesitation, said yeah I'll get them to replace them no problems & even thanked me for letting him know.

But thanks for the help guys :0) Will make this my first port of call in future needs.

 

[ProDave]

I do a lot of work for landlords, and it most definitely IS the landlords problem to sort out if a light fitting does not work.

Except in some exceptional situations, I would not expect lights and sockets to be on the same circuit.

This is one area where Scotland is ahead. We require all rental properties to have a satisfactory eicr, so any problems with the wiring should be sorted before a property is let. The sooner this happens in England, the better it will be for tenants (and a bit more work for the sparky's)

 

[Davey Cammack]

Yep, I was promised repairs to the property that never happened with Crucible. The Chimney was blocked & the gas fire rendered out of order due to this fact. I was told it would be cleaned so I can use the fire, Never happened. But it's in the tenancy I'm responsible for the chimney cleaning. But I thought it off with partial sockets also sharing downstairs lighting.

Anyways, hooked up the new lights & all working spot on now! 

 

[Sidewinder]

I would say that is a dodgy tenancy clause TBH.

If the landlord is providing the fire, then I can't see how they can refuse to maintain it.

If it was an open solid fuel burner then perhaps, you could burn all sorts which could block the chimney, but, with it being gas it should be down to the landlord I would expect.

Can't see how they can avoid it.

Gas regs & all that.

I'm sure that some of the other forumites will have some input to that too.