To old for RCD!!

[Lyngarth]

Hi

was asked by a friend to pop round and see his mum, she has just had a sparky come round to wire in a new shower, and thinks she has been ripped off.

He told her the fuse box was to old for a RCD so he would have to update her bonding to be able to wire in her shower.

Fuse box and bits here

The bonding he did was this...

Gas pipe to tap

This would, he told her, keep the water pipes safe in the house.

But as you can see

he didn't even clean of the paint

Not sure where he got the feed for the shower, but nothing new at box, shower is working but has told her not to use it.

Her charged her

 

[septiclecky]

Hiwas asked by a friend to pop round and see his mum, she has just had a sparky come round to wire in a new shower, and thinks she has been ripped off.

He told her the fuse box was to old for a RCD so he would have to update her bonding to be able to wire in her shower. Where's the fuse board?

Fuse box and bits here

The bonding he did was this...

Gas pipe to tap

This would, he told her, keep the water pipes safe in the house.

But as you can see

he didn't even clean of the paint Wouldn't need to it looks like plastic to me

Not sure where he got the feed for the shower, but nothing new at box, shower is working but has told her not to use it.

Her charged her

 

[spinlondon]

I'd say copper, painted Black.

 

[Lurch]

Not sure where he got the feed for the shower, but nothing new at box, shower is working but has told her not to use it.Her charged her

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Now I'm only a DI so maybe not the best to comment on other peoples work, but I was lost for words when I saw this. The sparky drives round in a new van stating he is a "NICEIC contractor " so would her best bet to be contact them, (NIC) as he's not replying to her calls, or just get legal advice.

Your thoughts on this would be very welcome.

Lyngarth

P.S He did, as a favour, label her fuse boxes up for her, bit off masking tape with the words Telly..Fridge..lights ( which I thought was nice of him)

Is his name actually on the NIC register?

check here:-

http://www.niceic.org.uk/en/findacontractor/

If yes..

Go through formal NIC complaints procedure if not satisfied..

ALL part P approved contractors have to have a complaints procedure.

If NO..

report him to the NIC,

at the recent NIC tech talk they said they are actively looking for traders falsely claiming to be members of NIC when they are not!

so give them the ammunition to fire!

But remember can only really progress these sort of complaints with the customers co-operation..

they need evidence of any alleged bad working practices..

so if no customer co-operation.. no evidence!

:|

 

[Lyngarth]

Gas pipe is copper painted black, fuse boards are in the first photo, 3 boxes with masking tape on them.

He has finished, told her all ok to use, and certs will be in post and will take 2-3 weeks.

Have not looked on the NIC web site yet, will pop round again to get all details and then look him up.

She is happy to co-operate fully and has invoice and business card and headed paper with his full name and info on it.

 

[PC Electrics]

Hiwas asked by a friend (not much of a friend if his mum is using someone else, is he?) to pop round and see his mum, she has just had a sparky come round to wire in a new shower (do you mean that this was a replacement or a new shower with a new circuit?), and thinks she has been ripped off.

He told her the fuse box was to old for a RCD (yes, you cannot add an RCD or RCBO into these but that doesn't stop one putting in an RCD in a 2 module enclosure and wiring the circuit through it) so he would have to update her bonding (we can see the main bonding below, but was he also refering to the supplementary bonding in the bathroom as well?) to be able to wire in her shower.

Fuse box and bits here Hhmm, rather old looking.

The bonding he did was this...

Gas pipe to tap Is that bonded to the water at the outside tap? Couldn't he get to the main stoptap inside?

This would, he told her, keep the water pipes safe in the house.

But as you can see

he didn't even clean of the paint As that's a gas pipe, one presumes it must be copper. Paint makes for a good insulator. Pipe should have been cleaned off IMO.

Not sure where he got the feed for the shower, but nothing new at box, shower is working but has told her not to use it. Huh? what's the point in coming to wire in a new shower and then saying "don't use it"? And why? What reasons did he give?

Her charged her

 

[Lyngarth]

It was a new shower fitted, so should have had a new circuit.

Board and boxes are from when house was built. (Old)

Bonded to outside of tap, never looked inside.

He didn't tell her not to use the shower I told her that.

I class myself as knowledgeable (ish) only been doing this for 12 months, so I know a bit but have so much more to learn.

Will get her to speak with NIC next week.

Many thanks

Lyngarth

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Where is the Shower Fuse/MCB/RCBO or whatever...

where does it get its power from?

Is that some rubber cable from the meter to the henley block?

 

[ProDave]

Stupid question to the OP:

If YOU are a DI, why didn't YOU install her shower?

You would have done the job properly and at "mates rates" (or relatives rates)

I was in a similar situation with my sister. She needed a new CU and a "friend" of hers said as he was a friend he would do it for "only

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Gas pipe is copper painted black, fuse boards are in the first photo, 3 boxes with masking tape on them.He has finished, told her all ok to use, and certs will be in post and will take 2-3 weeks.

Have not looked on the NIC web site yet, will pop round again to get all details and then look him up.

She is happy to co-operate fully and has invoice and business card and headed paper with his full name and info on it.

I would hang on for the certs to arrive then pursue the NIC..

But I wouldn't wait 3 weeks for them..

lets assume hes goto go back and print them out on his computer then post them back! (be generous)

give him few days.. or call it a week.

If he's not answering the phone.. I would write to him asking for the certificates to be posted back,

have the letter signed for so you know when he received it..

(give a self addressed envelope to make it really easy.)

With his certs, (assuming they do arrive)

you can compare what he said he has done..

with what was actually done..

this can help form part of any formal complaint!

An initial complaint would need to go to the contractor first allowing them to put right any items you are not happy with.

Unless he's falsely claiming NIC membership..

then just ring NIC first!

Then if still not satisfied NIC can be brought in.

:|

 

[ianmacd]

Why not just take that gas bond into the meter box? Whats the betting he cut the run too?

 

[Lyngarth]

Stupid question to the OP:If YOU are a DI, why didn't YOU install her shower?

You would have done the job properly and at "mates rates" (or relatives rates)

I have been working away and told him she would have to wait until April, but as the shower was fitted 2 weeks ago she couldn't wait.

But yes I would have done it right, even talked her into have a new c/u, which she is happy to have done when all this is sorted.

 

[Lyngarth]

Why not just take that gas bond into the meter box? Whats the betting he cut the run too?

Yes it was cut, at the tap, plus he didn't take in into the box as he told her " Its has to be outside the box for access".

 

[mikep]

Gas Pipe has not been sleeved through the wall either so any gas escape can't escape to outside. (Not to Current standards)

When you say an electric shower maybe it's 7.5kw which is 32amps so maybe he or someone pulled it off a ring which we all now is wrong but does happen in the real world, or is it a booster pump / power shower drawing it's hot water from the cylinder only needing a couple of amps to pump the water, could even be a transformer in another location feeding ELV pump.

Need more info.

Make, model & rating of shower unit, cable size and ran to where etc would help for a start

Mind you it's not good looking at the bonding !!

Mike.

 

[Lurch]

Yes it was cut, at the tap, plus he didn't take in into the box as he told her " Its has to be outside the box for access".

The guy sounds a complete numpty. If he's still NIC registered when all this is over I would be ashamed to be involved with the NIC myself.

 

[M107]

What type of shower is it, could it be one of the 3amp pumped types & he's just spured off ring via a rcd fused spur?

Not making excuses for the bloke, as he's let himself down with the main bonding anyway (at least he's done it though, more than some other john waynes have done in my area lately :red card ), no reason not to go to the meter box & bonding at the outside tap...hmmm ok at a stretch I suppose (preffer to take it to the stop cock if possible). Not good cutting the bonding conductor then carrying on the loop to the gas (should be one continious loop).

Bet he's not answering his phone because he knows that a cu change will lead to all sort of problems due to age of installation, I'll be surprised if you see a cert if you do it'll be interesting to see the results & any comparison test results you may feel like doing.

The old cu's in the photo look like they are the old china/ceramic rewirables & some of the tails look like they could be original vri.

 

[batty]

Does not look like a very good job he has used an internal clamp which will deteriorate with age although it won't work with paint on it anyway.

 

[PC Electrics]

M makes a good point: is this a power shower or electric shower we are talking about?

 

[Lyngarth]

The shower is a Dimplex Ax2 7.5kw Electric Shower. Not sure where he got his power from but more than likely taken from the upstairs ring.

I have looked on the NIC web site and his name IS on it.

He also has now been in touch with the lady, and said all his work is to the latest reg's and would be backed up by NIC. Also said he would drop the certs round next week and was happy to talk the lady through them.

He said he has put on the cert, he recommends a re-wire and new c/u, which he can price up next week if she wants him to do!!

She asked him if it was OK for her son to be there, which he said yes, so next week I'm going to get a new mum for the day.

Will let you know what happens, if he turns up??

Cheers to you all,

Lyngarth