old fuse box

[akhil]

the fuse box and wiring in my house is old. If i replace the consumer box does this mean all wiring has to be done also?
could the electrician do just the box and not the wiring?

and in general, does wiring have to be replaced after a certain time by law?

 

[pete01]

Post some pictures.

My house is red and black twin and earth but it was untouched since it was installed in the 80s I'm guessing, so I just fitted a new consumer unit.

 

[EFLImpudence]

the fuse box and wiring in my house is old. If i replace the consumer box does this mean all wiring has to be done also?

Not necessarily but there may be wiring defects that modern safety devices in the new consumer unit would not tolerate.

could the electrician do just the box and not the wiring?

Yes, unless really old and crumbling.

and in general, does wiring have to be replaced after a certain time by law?

It's nothing to do with the law except new work has to be done to ensure safety for the user.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

the fuse box and wiring in my house is old. If i replace the consumer box does this mean all wiring has to be done also?
could the electrician do just the box and not the wiring?

Possibly, it depends on how old the wiring is, and it's condition. That need the installer to decide, what can be done, with what you have, it's condition, and its safety.

A better opinion can be given, if you post some photos of what you have at the moment.

and in general, does wiring have to be replaced after a certain time by law?

No such law.

 

[akhil]

Possibly, it depends on how old the wiring is, and it's condition. That need the installer to decide, what can be done, with what you have, it's condition, and its safety.

A better opinion can be given, if you post some photos of what you have at the moment.



No such law.

what about build regs?

 

[flameport]

what about build regs?

Available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/2214/contents
and apply to buildings when they are first constructed and when changes are made to them and what is contained within them.

 

[blup]

If your old box is has mcb's or even wire fuses, upgrading to rcd's will introduce a good measure of safety )but might also expose problems). It is worth having an EICR first and/or as part of the new board fitting. Your insurance company will require that the property is well maintained.

 

[akhil]

but wouldnt the EICR test expose problems too? what if they do the test and it fails. that means you would now be on the radar and could be prosecuted. whereas if you left it as it is, nobody would bother you.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

The "ignorance is bliss" approach? Your house, your [family's] funeral, I guess.

 

[ericmark]

1966 there was a major change to regulations (not law) on the earthing for lighting, and around the same time we moved to PVC rather than rubber cables, Ian Douglas Smith around same time also caused a copper shortage, so there was a move to aluminium cables, short lived, and also there have been problems over the years with batches of PVC leaching out plastersizer often seen as a green gue, but in the main PVC cables are good for 100 years so unless unlucky in most cases the cables are OK, only the distribution board needs changing.

Not sure of date, in the 90's I think, we got the type tested distribution board called a consumer unit. They are single phase, 125 amp or less, and designed for domestic use, for use of an ordinary person, however today with EV charging etc, we are seeing three phase and over 125 amp with domestic, so seems the idea of the consumer unit has gone, but to retain type testing it means only one make of items can be fitted, so in spite of using the German standard DIN rail, we can't mix and match RCD's and RCBO's.

In the main this is not a problem, however if something special wanted, like duel pole switching RCBO's then some makes don't make them, or if they do hard to find, so with specials more expensive makes of consumer units are required.

Main thing is an EICR (electrical installation condition report) good enough to find likely problems when fitting RCD's or RCBO's, you want to know before it is fitted, OK for me, I just had new CU fitted and sorted out problems after, only one, wrong neutral selected with landing lights. Since all RCBO it was only the two circuits affected.

Since the RCD tripped while moving house, and three freezers defrosted, I did not want a repeat of that, so now all RCBO except for freezers which have RCD sockets from an UPS supply. I had enough money not to worry about unexpected expense, but if short of cash, the the inspection first is the way to go.

 

[Jurassicspark]

The electrician who will test, before replacing things would carry out an ir test. this will tell you if the wiring is in good condition.

And guesses are not allowed here.
A visual inspection can be helpful but not always.

 

[Taylortwocities]

but wouldnt the EICR test expose problems too?

Yes, that is the reason for the test and report. It will tell you what MUST be fixed, in the interests of safety, and what would work should be carried out to upgrade the existing to meet today's regulations.

what if they do the test and it fails.

There is no fail. there is unsatisfactory, or satisfactory. If unsatisfactory there will be need to make things better. In some cases urgently to prevent injury, death or fire.

that means you would now be on the radar and could be prosecuted. whereas if you left it as it is, nobody would bother you.

You aren't anyone's radar. there is no house wiring gestapo. Its not like a car MOT where ANPR cameras will flag an MOT failure if you drive it.

Its up to you. If its your own house and its only you and your family at risk. Nobody cares if you ignore an expert's advice. Until something goes wrong and your house catches fire, or that live wire you were told about kills your mother-in-law. Then you WOULD be prosecuted.

Its a different story if you are renting the property. In that case, you cannot legally let an unsatisfactory property.

 

[akhil]

Its up to you. If its your own house and its only you and your family at risk. Nobody cares if you ignore an expert's advice. Until something goes wrong and your house catches fire, or that live wire you were told about kills your mother-in-law. Then you WOULD be prosecuted.

The problem is the test does not take all the factors into account. The risk of fire depends on what you're plugging in. A phone charger is not going to draw enough current to cause the wires in your walls to melt is it. About 50% of the sockets in my house arent even used at all in which case what risk of fire is there? Yet the regulations would force you to excavate the entire wall to replace them causing huge amounts of dust and mess.
All these safety regulations are not always proportionate.

 

[Taylortwocities]

The problem is the test does not take all the factors into account. The risk of fire depends on what you're plugging in.

The EICR is for the fixed wire installation only. It takes no account of what you might plug in. That's your problem to assess.
Some consumer units include what are called AFDDs. AFDDs are protective devices installed in consumer units to provide protection from arc faults. They use microprocessor technology to analyse the waveform of the electricity being used to detect any unusual signatures which would signify an arc on the circuit.
It all depends on the level of your paranoia, and your trust in competent tradespeople who are trained to asses electrical installations.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

About 50% of the sockets in my house arent even used at all in which case what risk of fire is there?

The risk does not go away, even with nothing plugged in.

Yet the regulations would force you to excavate the entire wall to replace them causing huge amounts of dust and mess.

The regulations are not forcing you to do anything, it is entirely advisory, unless you are putting tenants at risk.