I've never quite got this "Visual Inspection " thing TBH .
The only credance I can give it is taking a quick look at a wooden fuseboard with broken porcelain 3036 fuses and lots of rubber cable leaving it and pronouncing that the place could do with a rewire .
The number of times I,ve gone to do additional work and thought the original work looked OK albeit a 15th -16th Ed. job. The latest work ,on the whole, seems to be better . Then you start to lift floorboards or take a switch or socket off and all is not what it seems .
There nearly always seems to something not right either poor workmanship or a DIY effort . I,m doing a kitchen extension in my own road,all new wiring to the new bit. Original looks OK , builder rips the old ceiling down and we have 5 million JBs on the lighting ,with all the earths snipped off the T/E and the switch drops wired in red 6491X . No earth and metal switch plates everywhere.
You just never know whats there. I.ve found cables twisted together without even any tape on them..... sheathing peeled back and a tee joint taped on.... doorbell wire feeding a load of 12V downlights , so hot you couldn't touch it .
A classic which I put on here yonks ago was quoting a rewire , the parents of the Chairman of a main customer of mine.
At the side of the bath, mounted so that it could be reached from within the bath, was a socket wired in twin white 0.5mm flex, plugged in was a kettle and radio , the old guy says he likes to make a cuppa while hes in the bath and sometimes has a TV in there.
They didn't go with the rewire and all my advice on the plug was disregarded as its "Been like that for years , you electricians are too fussy"
I'm sure others have found similar horrors.
The only credance I can give it is taking a quick look at a wooden fuseboard with broken porcelain 3036 fuses and lots of rubber cable leaving it and pronouncing that the place could do with a rewire .
The number of times I,ve gone to do additional work and thought the original work looked OK albeit a 15th -16th Ed. job. The latest work ,on the whole, seems to be better . Then you start to lift floorboards or take a switch or socket off and all is not what it seems .
There nearly always seems to something not right either poor workmanship or a DIY effort . I,m doing a kitchen extension in my own road,all new wiring to the new bit. Original looks OK , builder rips the old ceiling down and we have 5 million JBs on the lighting ,with all the earths snipped off the T/E and the switch drops wired in red 6491X . No earth and metal switch plates everywhere.
You just never know whats there. I.ve found cables twisted together without even any tape on them..... sheathing peeled back and a tee joint taped on.... doorbell wire feeding a load of 12V downlights , so hot you couldn't touch it .
A classic which I put on here yonks ago was quoting a rewire , the parents of the Chairman of a main customer of mine.
At the side of the bath, mounted so that it could be reached from within the bath, was a socket wired in twin white 0.5mm flex, plugged in was a kettle and radio , the old guy says he likes to make a cuppa while hes in the bath and sometimes has a TV in there.
They didn't go with the rewire and all my advice on the plug was disregarded as its "Been like that for years , you electricians are too fussy"
I'm sure others have found similar horrors.
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