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Or cut the cores one at a time but often not very practical
Signing Off On Diy
- Thread starter Gkinghrn
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Okay, I have read through the thread, but I seem to be missing something.
Can the OP tell us WHAT he is intending to do, i.e new circuit, alteration to an existing cirsuit and where in the house it is.
And more importantly WHAT does he want "signed off" i.e what piece of paper with a signature are you expecting?
There are basically three things it could be, a minor works certificate, an Electrical installation certificate, or LABC notification for a job that comes under part P. I have not seen any mention on this thread which one(s) the OP thinks he requires.
Anyone competent can sign a MWC or EIC
So is this a part P thread? (in which case I will leave!)
P.S up here our building control won't accept an EICR, they will only accept an EIC. I have one job where the original "electrician" disappeared. I left them with a 3 signature EIC with me signing inspection and test and leaving them to chase the original electrician to get a signature for design and installation.
Can the OP tell us WHAT he is intending to do, i.e new circuit, alteration to an existing cirsuit and where in the house it is.
And more importantly WHAT does he want "signed off" i.e what piece of paper with a signature are you expecting?
There are basically three things it could be, a minor works certificate, an Electrical installation certificate, or LABC notification for a job that comes under part P. I have not seen any mention on this thread which one(s) the OP thinks he requires.
Anyone competent can sign a MWC or EIC
So is this a part P thread? (in which case I will leave!)
P.S up here our building control won't accept an EICR, they will only accept an EIC. I have one job where the original "electrician" disappeared. I left them with a 3 signature EIC with me signing inspection and test and leaving them to chase the original electrician to get a signature for design and installation.
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Thanks again to those who responded .
The intention is to take my single bedroom light and replace it with a number of recessed down lighters. So an alteration/extension to an existing circuit is how I would describe it
So take that one single lighting circuit/rose and extend it by adding more lights to it. Nothing more. I'm not adding any new discrete circuits or anything. Straight forward.
I understood , and could be wrong , that the current LA regs etc meant that work such as this needed to be signed off (which kind of sign off that is exactly I do not know).
The intention is to take my single bedroom light and replace it with a number of recessed down lighters. So an alteration/extension to an existing circuit is how I would describe it
So take that one single lighting circuit/rose and extend it by adding more lights to it. Nothing more. I'm not adding any new discrete circuits or anything. Straight forward.
I understood , and could be wrong , that the current LA regs etc meant that work such as this needed to be signed off (which kind of sign off that is exactly I do not know).
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It's a bedroom and an alteration to an existing circuit so no part P involved. In fact building control have NO input or interest in this work.
Strictly speaking you should issue a minor works certificate, but in the real world if you don't nothing is going to implode and nobody will notice.
DO be careful about loft insulation. you will have to clear the insulation around each light so they don't overheat. that's why I am not a great fan of downlights. Not only do they use a lot more energy (unless you go for LED lamps) but they force you to compromise the loft insulation and let warm air out / cold air in.
Strictly speaking you should issue a minor works certificate, but in the real world if you don't nothing is going to implode and nobody will notice.
DO be careful about loft insulation. you will have to clear the insulation around each light so they don't overheat. that's why I am not a great fan of downlights. Not only do they use a lot more energy (unless you go for LED lamps) but they force you to compromise the loft insulation and let warm air out / cold air in.
Thanks Dave - there is no loft insulation here ..its an odd design to some extent but this is the only room with no loft insulation above it - i suspect it was too cramped for the insulators to get into and they couldn't be bothered crawling in.
LED's would be the preferred choice.
LED's would be the preferred choice.
Rob_the_rich
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The downlight manufacture's instructions will give minimum distances from the fitting to the ceiling joists. use these distances to work out exactly where you want to put the new lights. you have the advantage of access to the loft space, so can measure accurately,
12 lights seems a lot for a bedroom, I assume they will be dimmed with a dimmer switch, be sure to get dimmable LED lamps, and a dimmer suitable for LEDs. If the bedroom is large you might consider putting the dimmer on a two way switch next to the bed.
Get warm light LEDs, it sounds cold in that bedroom
12 lights seems a lot for a bedroom, I assume they will be dimmed with a dimmer switch, be sure to get dimmable LED lamps, and a dimmer suitable for LEDs. If the bedroom is large you might consider putting the dimmer on a two way switch next to the bed.
Get warm light LEDs, it sounds cold in that bedroom
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As someone posted earlier , Nappitt & Stroma have opted to do 3rd party sign - offs , NICEIC / ELECSA decided not to .
BUT you will probably pay as much for the sign off as for getting a sparks to do the job. TBH .
Again the tradesman or DIYer job is raised and will never be answered . Visiting my local DIY store last week I passed two blokes holding a consumer unit . One says .." Is this the latest one "? " Yeah ! It looks modern ...now do need some of this thick wire to connect to the meter ?"
I moved on ...a sadder man .
BUT you will probably pay as much for the sign off as for getting a sparks to do the job. TBH .
Again the tradesman or DIYer job is raised and will never be answered . Visiting my local DIY store last week I passed two blokes holding a consumer unit . One says .." Is this the latest one "? " Yeah ! It looks modern ...now do need some of this thick wire to connect to the meter ?"
I moved on ...a sadder man .
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And today I saw a solar PV install.
No grommet in the metal knock out from the original consumer unit.
2.5 t&e into the input side of the main switch to feed the new CU (done live as amelie had not been to visit)
No rcd and no labelling whatsoever on the new CU put there for the solar pv.
And I'm not allowed to do solar PV installs as I'm not mcs qualified.
Having a bit of paper does NOT make you a good electrician.
Shame this "electrician" didn't come here to ask how to do things.
No grommet in the metal knock out from the original consumer unit.
2.5 t&e into the input side of the main switch to feed the new CU (done live as amelie had not been to visit)
No rcd and no labelling whatsoever on the new CU put there for the solar pv.
And I'm not allowed to do solar PV installs as I'm not mcs qualified.
Having a bit of paper does NOT make you a good electrician.
Shame this "electrician" didn't come here to ask how to do things.
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There are some DIYers that have years of experience. They then hang about on forums pretending to be electricians.
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Anyone that needs a step by step guide to do basic domestic stuff is not in anyway competent.
I've seen some quite appalling Solar electrics, so bad you have to wonder if it wasn't the roofer what did it!
My favourite was a place on Dartmoor, famous for being dry and sunny! Inverter and isolators mounted externally on the side of a former farm building. Copex down side from roof to DC isolator and connected using indoor fitting, thereby guiding water into isolator. Connections rusted out and failed after 6 months. Only thing preventing total puddle was copex out of bottom of isolator....
My favourite was a place on Dartmoor, famous for being dry and sunny! Inverter and isolators mounted externally on the side of a former farm building. Copex down side from roof to DC isolator and connected using indoor fitting, thereby guiding water into isolator. Connections rusted out and failed after 6 months. Only thing preventing total puddle was copex out of bottom of isolator....
Well, I suspect that this could be shown as fraud, and fraud is a criminal offence, prosecutable by the Crown, and quite possibly imprisonable for the perpetrators.
Was anything done about it.
I doubt it.
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Do you need a 'good electrician' to fit a few downlights?
Get over yourselves. Should I have to ring a builder to put up a shelf? Ring a plumber to install a new dishwasher? Get a gardener in to mow my lawn?
Changing a light fitting or socket faceplate is easy. As is adding a few downlights etc.
I wouldn't set on to wire in some industrial machinery - but 95% of domestic electrics is recipe book stuff that is in the scope of any decent DIYer.
Yes electricity can kill - so you have to take care. Statistically my car is much more likely to kill me. Statistically very many other things are more likely to kill me than DIY electrics. Does anyone have any real stats of how many people killed and how many houses burnt down per year through DIY electrics. I would bet a donation to Children in Need it's in single digits per year (on both counts).
Given the number of people buying stuff from the DIY sheds, online (SF/TS etc) then it would seem there is a LOT of DIY electrical work going on with little harm. You are at a greater risk driving to the job than at work.
Or am I way off the mark?
It's not so much about it not being difficult, if it is so easy and no attempt needs to be made to do any testing on the job then why do we bother? If anyone was in a position to skip the testing stage it would be us professional, qualified experienced electricians, not DIYers. If ignoring BS7671 is fine then why is it there?
I have not said ban DIY, but if you do not have a decent grasp of most aspects of it (i.e. a general understanding of what you are doing and why and more importantly what you are not doing) then you should not be doing electrical work. Some DIYers seem capable of doing things without killing yourselves, like yourself and John (although a little knowledge is a dangerous thing at times). Some, like the OP, haven't got the foggiest.
I have not said ban DIY, but if you do not have a decent grasp of most aspects of it (i.e. a general understanding of what you are doing and why and more importantly what you are not doing) then you should not be doing electrical work. Some DIYers seem capable of doing things without killing yourselves, like yourself and John (although a little knowledge is a dangerous thing at times). Some, like the OP, haven't got the foggiest.
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Apache..... If it's so easy and straight forward then,,,, why do many DIYers make such a balls of it???
I have some knowledge and understand some basics and can grasp the complexity of work. I would never do anything I wasn't sure about and I came to the forum to ask for people's views and advice in a subject I was unsure of , that of signing off some basic electrical work. I am aware of my limitations in this space and take safety seriously. Some of the responses here have been less than welcoming which has disappointed me whilst others have been helpful.
In the grand scheme of things, you don't really have any. Yes I gather you can wield a screwdriver but as I said above, you have no idea of anything outside of which way to turn the screws to tighten the terminals up. If you really did know your limitations you I find it highly unlikely that you would do any electrical work at all.
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