Electrical Certification

[GaryMo]

Socket boxes missing rubber thingies (my description not his).

That'll be grommets though no direct regulation requiring them.

Sure there are - regulations requiring that equipment be erected or sited so as to minimise damage...

At least quote me in full!

"That'll be grommets though no direct regulation requiring them. Good practice more than anything when cables enter backboxes without sharp edges."

Twin and earth has an outer sheath for light mechanical protection. The cable would be entering a backbox with a knockout which has smooth edges. There will be no movement of the cable when in operation so where's the problem. Even the NICEIC agrees (Snags and Solutions).

We're not talking 6419X singles entering a metal enclosure via a 20mm hole drilled with a holesaw.

When I said no direct regulation requiring them, I meant for this instance. Good practice, as I said comes into play here.

 

[RF Lighting]

Grommets are not required if the cables are plastered into the wall as there will be no movement on the cables, and therefor no risk of abrasion.

They are required if there is movement on the cable such as in a studwork wall.

Of course we all know it is good practice to fit them, and I wouldn't even consider not using them

 

[Taylortwocities]

Zand108. You seem to have had the misfortune to have a kitchen fitter who appears not to be a qualified electrcian and then two apparently qualified electricians who's expertise (at best) falls short of basic understanding.

Look at www.competentperson.co.uk and type in your town to get a local list of qualified electricians who are registered to certify their own work (Building Regs Part P).

At least then you'll get someone who should know what he/she is about.

The site is run by the LABCs in association with the organisations who register sparks. Its not a perfect list, but its a much better start than the Yellow Pages (IMHO)

 

[zand108]

Hi all

As suggested by ban-all-sheds back on friday I have finally spoken with LABC who were really nice actually. They outlined the entire certification procedure to me and stated that as advised earlier in this post the kitchen work DOES need to be Part P registered with them because I am adding new appliance sockets and wiring and not just updating existing sockets.

They said that even though the kitchen fitter should not have done the work so long as his electrician or my independant electrician is willing to certify the work then all is good... hmm...

But they said to make ABSOLUTELY certain that the chosen electrician is registered as a competant person and is a current member of one of the following bodies by getting his membership details and then calling up the organisation to double check.

NICEIC
NATIT
LEECSA
BSI
BRE

They said the electrician should give me a Building Regulation Compliance Certificate a copy of which should be passed onto his organisation who will then notify the LABC and my address will be added to their records. They said to be careful not to accept a Domestic/Electrical Installation Certificate (as has been highlighted many times in this post) as it means absolutely nothing in regards to Part P certification.

It was at this point I realised that I hadn't asked the second electrician if he was registered as competant and who he was registered with. I was only asking him round to look to see if anything was out of the ordinary wasn't expecting him to offer to certify the work so I am gonna have to call him up when I get home and get all of his particulars, which fingers crossed are all in order.

They also directed me to the same website www.competentperson.co.uk as Taylortwocities suggested, which, if neither of the two electricians check out, is where I will be heading off to next.

So I move one step closer in my seemingly neverending search for Part P certification.

 

[ebee]

Good to see it`s all comming together now hopefully.
I`ll bet you`re glad you sought advice in the first instance and although it`s been a bit of a task for you it might well have prevented future problems. You shouldn`t have been put in this position in the first place but I wonder how many others have and how long it will take them to discover it.

So good for you.


One slight correction

"They said the electrician should give me a Building Regulation Compliance Certificate a copy of which should be passed onto his organisation who will then notify the LABC and my address will be added to their records"

The Electrician (Registered Domestic Installer) will only give you an Electrical Installatiuon Certificate then he will notify his scheme provider (Elecsa, Napit , Niceic, BSI or BRE) they in turn will notify LABC and send you a cert for Building Regs Compliance (within 30 days) not the installer himself. When he gives you the EIC he should also give you an (optional) warranty offer if the work totals £200 or more.
All the best , and keep us informed

 

[zand108]

Hi again,

I am back again with another question for you all

Earlier I posted that the indepedant electrician that I called didn't like the way that some wiring was run alongside some of the pipes under the sink and recommended that they be rerouted and I instructed the "fitrician" to do so.

My "fitrician" has decided to use that hard foam stuff on either side of the wire to insulate it from the pipes. I have already told him that I don't think that is gonna be satisfactory. But I would like to give him some actual reasons why it's not satisfactory. Unless it's actually ok.

Many thanks.

 

[Spark123]

Does he mean put thermal insulation onto the cables? If so this is not a good idea!

 

[jason1958]

Awwww, scream.

- Insulation may not be compatible for the cable sheath.
- Cable run thro insulation for 150-500mm needs serious derating.

Running 500mm in insulation means a 0.50 derating factor is applied.

Any ring cable must have a 20A corrected CCC - which 2.5mm will not have if run through insulation in this manner.

Insulate the PIPE - not the cable.