Anyone here a registered electrician? Short(ish) version of the long story: We're selling and buyers survey said get the electrics tested. End up using the estate agent recommended electricians to replace the ancient fuse box with a new consumer unit and upgrade the earth on all the sockets, water etc. Ended up with lovely working electrics but no issued certificate! Company says it wouldn't pass as property uses conduit as earth and while it tests really well the regs say it has to use an earth wire. Second opinion says this is all rubbish and there's no way they shouldn't have issued a Part P. Says that conduit as earth is okay to have a certificate issued against it. Going back to the first electrician, says he's going to try and issue a certificate using a different governing body. Tending to believe that the electricians who did the work are slightly more cowboyish than we were lead to believe. Any electrician with advice on the way out of this mess?
I'm not an electrician. To me the simplest way out is to have someone run some ground wire and be done with it. I find it very strange that conduit was used as the primary ground for a circuit. I can't imagine that conduit is given a current handling rating for example. If the conduit is exposed its at elevated risk of becoming damaged or disconnected. It seems like a shitty way of saving a few quid on a job frankly. Electrically it will work but I wouldn't be suprised if it was difficult to get it passed any sort of regs. If the dude can't get it to pass I would have him come back and do it right. I'd probably get him to do that anyway but that's just me.
That would require a full rewire. All wiring goes through metal conduits embedded in concrete. It's not something you'd do now, but as 'the thing' in the 60s.
Ah. For some reason I was thinking of conduit which is placed on a wall surface rather than within the walls and was the work of the electrician you hired. Hence the flippant suggestion. I'm probably just stuck thinking of industrial rather than domestic. If this was original wiring its possible any new regulations may not apply retrospectively. But it would be impossible to determine without actually getting a copy of the regs.
my first question is why have the electrics done ? it isnt required anymore to produce a home buyers pack or have electrics tested yourself
I would just explain the full scenario to the buyers, sometimes it's not actually their request and the solicitors put it in their terms as standard. I have sold many a house where simply explaining all the work that has been done (and cost) to them was enough and no certificate was needed. As bagpuss said it's not a legal requirement or anything. Worst comes to worst your back where you started and have to get the work done but it's worth a try.
