Elictrical work in 1900's house.

[blackranger]

Elictrical work in 1900's house.

We have a house that is a mixture of dated wiring.
i have had a quick look at the wiring. ITS A 3 STORY BUILDING IN SCOTLAND.(important as i think the rules are different in scotland)

There is a small extension room with 80's/late 70's wiring (ground floor)
The kitchen is the same.(cooker switch/isolation directly above cooker.)

living room and second floor is rubber sheethed cable to the sockets with NO EARTH (has 3 pin round sockets mounted on metal plates at skirting level...nice uh lol )

3rd floor 70s/80's wiring

i think the lighting curcuit looks like it could be lead.
There are 3 consumer units 1 looks late 70's/80's not hooked up. other 2 are live and old.

Now my question lol

What can a diyer legaly replace?
All The consumer units can be isolated from the main supply
And are located in the kitchen.

 

[OwainDIYer]

A Building Warrant is required in a house of 3 storeys or above, or in a flat, for:

- rewiring (but a building warrant is NOT required for rewiring where it is a repair or replacement works to a level equal to the installation (or part thereof) being repaired or replaced.)

- Electrical work adversely affecting a separating
wall, eg recessed sockets

- New power socket outlets

- Mains fire alarm system

- Wiring to artificial lighting

http://www.pkc.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8D82AC8F-832B-4DE1-A8D4-ED17BF54FDFE/0/...

Regardless of whether the work requires a Building Warrant, it has to be done to comply with Building Standards. If you are subject to a Building Warrant and want to do the work yourself you should check with Building Control whether they will accept your own installation certificate or whether they will inspect and test for the purpose of the Warrant.

 

[blackranger]

A Building Warrant is required in a house of 3 storeys or above, or in a flat, for:

- rewiring (but a building warrant is NOT required for rewiring where it is a repair or replacement works to a level equal to the installation (or part thereof) being repaired or replaced.)

.

So does that mean i can replace the rubber sheathed wire with T&E without building controll's ok

OR am i breaking building regs because i am leaving sockets on the skirting boards? therfore they need moved?

 

[OwainDIYer]

A Building Warrant is required in a house of 3 storeys or above, or in a flat, for:

- rewiring (but a building warrant is NOT required for rewiring where it is a repair or replacement works to a level equal to the installation (or part thereof) being repaired or replaced.)

.

So does that mean i can replace the rubber sheathed wire with T&E without building controll's ok

OR am i breaking building regs because i am leaving sockets on the skirting boards? therfore they need moved?

I think it does mean you can rewire existing, but as soon as you add new work you become subject to a Warrant. Personally I wouldn't regard moving a socket (and thus extending the cable) a few inches as being new work, but it's up to you.

 

[blackranger]

ok lol

say i only needed to replace the consumer unit.

Is this a building controll matter?

 

[OwainDIYer]

ok lol

say i only needed to replace the consumer unit.

Is this a building controll matter?

"repair or replacement"

 

[ban-all-sheds]

All The consumer units can be isolated from the main supply

Not legally, they can't.

And as for all the "it's only a replacement" warrant-avoidance wriggling, are you really going to go to all the effort of rewiring and not add a single new socket or touch the lighting circuits?

Stop looking for ways to pretend that you don't need a warrant that only an idiot would believe in the first place.

 

[blackranger]

i would prefer not to move sockets they are on mint condition skirting boards from the 1900's.

There will be no need for extra sockets.

Even the kitchen has enough.

Are you saying the lighting circuit cannot be legally "replaced/repaired" without warrant. (please be helpfully, rather than negative)

 

[EFLImpudence]

This will help you.

 

[blackranger]

This will help you.

What you want me too commision/test it as well

lol

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There will be no need for extra sockets.

So when they installed the electrics in the 1930s/40s, they not only accurately predicted where people would need sockets 70-80 years later, they also successfully anticipated the massive increase in the number that people would want. Given how few appliances people had, and that most of todays hadn't even been invented, that degree of foresight is unbelievable.

Literally unbelievable.

Even the kitchen has enough.

It is likewise staggering that a 40-year old kitchen would have enough sockets.

Are you saying the lighting circuit cannot be legally "replaced/repaired" without warrant. (please be helpfully, rather than negative)

I don't know what the exact wording of the legislation is - I was going by Owain's post, but I was making the (IMO not unreasonable) assumption that a house with circuits at least 40 years old and with lighting so old that it's still got lead covered cables would need more doing than just a simple replacement of what was there with modern cable. Like division of circuits, luminaire positions not predicated on not being silhouetted in bedrooms, wall lights where there are none, 2-way switching where there is none, etc.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What you want me too commision/test it as well

You want to DIY - you have to do it properly.

 

[Chri5]

i would prefer not to move sockets they are on mint condition skirting boards from the 1900's.

There will be no need for extra sockets.

Even the kitchen has enough.

Are you saying the lighting circuit cannot be legally "replaced/repaired" without warrant. (please be helpfully, rather than negative)

Get the sockets out of the skirt and above

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• Chri5
• 14 Sep 2010
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• Chri5
• 24 Sep 2010
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No wall damage, no lyncrusta damage, and a million times better.





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