Consumer Unit - access and cost

[baldkeefy]

Hi, I have had a loft conversion done to a 1950's house. The electrician put in a new consumer unit in the loft for the new wiring. I also have a quote for replacing the original and old consumer unit under the stairs on the ground floor. Two questions, then.
1 - the new consumer unit has been boxed in, needing 4 screws to be undone to get to it - this seems impractical to me and I am asking for it to be changed to a door. Are there any regulations about access to this?
2 - They quoted £450+VAT for replacing the existing unit (which seems in thye right ballpark I think) but have just invoiced me £600 for installing the new one. I would have thought that working with the new wiring would be easier than replacing the existing old stuff that feeds the whole house (should need more lines). Am I just wrong or are they messing about a bit?
Any comments or information would be helpful - I don't want to rant at them if what they are doing is reasonable.
Ta

 

[RF Lighting]

1 - the new consumer unit has been boxed in, needing 4 screws to be undone to get to it - this seems impractical to me and I am asking for it to be changed to a door. Are there any regulations about access to this?

Regulation 130-07-01:
"Every piece of equipment which requires operation or attention by a person shall be so installed that adequate and safe means of access and working space are afforded for such operation or attention."


If there were to be a problem with your electrics and you needed to switch the power off in a hurry you don't want to be searching around for a screwdriver to remove the access panel, also you may find the occasional light bulb failure will cause and MCB to trip, which is a big pain if you can't get to the CU to flip the MCB back on.

2 - They quoted £450+VAT for replacing the existing unit (which seems in thye right ballpark I think)

seems like a reasonable price

but have just invoiced me £600 for installing the new one. I would have thought that working with the new wiring would be easier than replacing the existing old stuff that feeds the whole house (should need more lines). Am I just wrong or are they messing about a bit?
Any comments or information would be helpful - I don't want to rant at them if what they are doing is reasonable.
Ta

Was the price for just fitting the new consumer unit, or did it include running the supply to it aswell. If it includes the supply then this sounds reasonable, as the electrician will have had to run the cable from the existing mains to the new consumer unit, and the cable will probably be quite thick, which is not cheap stuff to buy.

 

[baldkeefy]

Thanks for the quick response.

The CU access info seems to back me up so I'll ask them for that changing.

As for the cost, I see what you mean. I think the overall cost of the loft conversion should have included the wiring, including the necessary connection to the existing supply, which would have been needed whether there was going to be a new CU or not. My gripe is really that they are now trying to add this as an additional charge and I didn't explicitly ask for (or indeed approve) a separate CU in the loft. I think that if one is necessary then it should have been included in the cost, if it was optional then I should have been given a chance to choose or decline the option.

Anyway - many thanks for the help and information, it's been a great help.