Replacing an old CU with a new one

[Naz1977]

I would not install any consumer unit provided by a customer, regardless of what devices it contained.

I work as a mechanic and sometimes people ask me to fit their part to their car. I say fine, but as long as you realise if that part either doesn't work when fitted or if it fails after a while, then I can't give you any guarantees for it and it is down to you and whoever you bought it from to change for you. You will have to pay for my time.

Would have thought this would be the same provided you can see it is a brand new item and bought from a reputable seller?

 

[Naz1977]

Im confused, if he says he will get the board to come and change the meter tails, i assume he did not want to ilegally break the seal.
If all the materials had been suitable how did he propose to isolate the supply to fit this new metal board

The set up is as follows:


Meter to sealed Fuse ( outside the house in a cabinet)
Sealed fuse using 16mm cables to a separate Voltage Operated breaker next to my CU which is inside the house
From VOCB to the switch inside the CU again using 16mm cables


The CU can be replaced by turning off the VOCB and they is not feed to the CU. Also those tails could also be replaced at the same time.
It is the tails between the sealed fuse and the VOCB that he said needs to be replaced and as there is no way to isolate it, other than breaking the seal and removing the fuse, the board would need to replace it.

 

[securespark]

I would not install any consumer unit provided by a customer, regardless of what devices it contained.

To be fair, there are some qualified and competent sparks who would install customer-supplied parts, but that would charge more.

 

[EFLImpudence]

The set up is as follows:
Meter to sealed Fuse ( outside the house in a cabinet)
Sealed fuse using 16mm cables to a separate Voltage Operated breaker next to my CU which is inside the house
From VOCB to the switch inside the CU again using 16mm cables

That cannot possibly be true.

 

[flameport]

as you realise if that part either doesn't work when fitted or if it fails after a while, then I can't give you any guarantees for it

You can say whatever you want at the time.
In 6 months or a year when some part fails and they have no electricity, their freezer full of caviar is defrosting, they can't watch the world cup on TV, etc. they will conveniently forget about that.

Defective circuit breakers can cause fires, as can counterfeit ones. They look the same on the outside.

If someone arrived with replacement brake pads which looked ok, and you fitted them, and a few miles down the road one of them fractured in half, jammed and caused the car to swerve across the motorway into the path of other vehicles, would it be useful to say 'wasn't me, customer supplied the parts, no guarantee' etc.?

Persons that buy their own CU and expect someone to fit it are usually of the type who:
- buy the cheapest thing they could find in B&Q, or even some online tat bazaar.
- buy something which is not suitable such as pre-stuffed with devices, half of which are the wrong ratings.
- don't buy the other essential parts such as glands for where the cables enter, and expect you to provide them for free
- want the job done for virtually nothing
In summary, the kind of customer that no business wants or needs.

If the customer buys the exact proper things and knows why, they are probably capable of installing the thing themselves.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

BAN; Because (if that were true) that would please you as you could then make a point?

I'd be neither pleased nor displeased, but there is a point to be made.

There are plenty of not-cheap sparks who don't know their stuff; they do things a certain (and often incorrect) way without questioning it because that is how they were taught.

I'm sure that's true, but....

The whole point of getting a few people to provide quotes is to find the cheapest person to do the work.

No it isn't, because people are not all the same. I don't know how strong the correlation is between price and quality, but the saying "pay peanuts, get monkeys" wouldn't exist if there were no truth in it.

If you buy purely on price you are the prey of people who do things on the cheap.

Cheap doesn't mean necessarily bad, as competition brings prices down.

That will be why rail fares, fuel prices, water prices etc have all come down over the years, will it?

Also, bear in mind that in a race to the bottom, those who are most prepared to lower their standards will be the ones who get there first.

Do you not go to price comparison sites and change your gas and elec supplier to the cheapest one?

No - I also take note of reviews and ratings for customer service.

It is the same. why should I not use the cheapest leccy?

You've just found out why.

If you are all ( leccys that is ) covered by the same guidelines and rules and regs to follow, then why should it matter who I use?

All car drivers are covered by the same guidelines and rules and regs to follow. Are they all equally competent?

The chap was on mybuilder.com

ok, he quoted me £350 to replace the CU. The other one quoted me £450 as said he would have to notify the council. However I told him he didn't have to as I had a building work going on and council was already aware and all he had to do was to provide a cert to me. First one said fine, second said no he still needs to do it and hence the charge of £450. So I went with the first one.

And then you went and knocked him down further by supplying your own CU.

Do you think that that was likely to make him keener to do the work, more inclined to demonstrate high standards of customer care, etc, or was it more likely that you'd p¡ssed him off before he even started?

If I do a job, at least I know what I have done and as it is on my own house I will be neater and done with more care than when it is working on someone else's house.

Have you had much experience of tradesmen not doing a good job?

 

[securespark]

the saying "pay peanuts, get monkeys" wouldn't exist if there were no truth in it.

There are plenty of sayings that have no truth in them that are perpetuated regardless.

Like, don't go outside with wet hair. You'll catch a cold.

You’ll catch a cold if you go out in winter without a coat.

Sitting on a cold wall gives you piles.

The swing of a ring will determine the sex of your baby.

Pull out a grey hair and two will grow in its place.

If you sit too close to the TV you’ll go blind.

Chocolate (or other fatty foods) causes acne.

It takes 7 years to digest a piece of gum after you swallow it.

Eating within an hour of swimming will give you cramp.

Masturbation causes blindness.

 

[333rocky333]

Sorry naz i missed the bit about the voelcb Most would have cracked on and fitted the CU and the tails from that and sorted the other out later.
Seems like you say he didnt want to do it, maybe he was out of his depth.

Whats the situation with that Voelcb are you still allowed to keep that.

 

[seasickstevie]

Seems like you say he didnt want to do it, maybe he was out of his depth.

Or like bas said, perhaps the op had ****ed him off by knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Whats the situation with that Voelcb are you still allowed to keep that.

It can be retained as an isolator.

 

[333rocky333]

It can be retained as an isolator.

Would you disconnect the earth connections

 

[Naz1977]

Earth connections ? It is a TT circuit, so no earth from the supplier.

 

[Naz1977]

Or like bas said, perhaps the op had ****ed him off by knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

No, actually we had agreed on the lower price and he had given me a list of the MCB values to get.

It wasn't as if he arrived and I said to him hey I have the CU, so you need to fit it!

When quoting for a job, there are 2 aspects to it:

1) Hardware cost
2) Labour costs

You as the leccy can set your labour cost to whatever you want. you can charge £100 an hour if you want to or you can charge £10 an hour. Depending on how good you are and how much you want the job.

The hardware cost is also fixed. you know what the part is gonna cost, so if you decide to rip someone off charging them way over the price, then it is your fault.

I know what the CU costs and how much to expect to pay for one. Hence when he initially said £350 and then lowered to £250 if I supplied the parts, then I knew it is ok as the CU and MCBs do come to about £100. In fact the one that I bought came to just over that as I like to get PROPER stuff and not the cheapest brand that you would go and get from screwfix/CEF/YESS electrical and ...

Then he buggered off, charging me £100 for doing something and then not sending me documents for it thinking as he hasn't given me an invoice nor his address , then I can't do anything about it. Little did he know that it is not that difficult to find someone's registered company address!

He would have earned himself £250 cash for half days work. and more than likely another £2000 with different parts in the next 2 years. instead he has now lost it all for the sake of £100 and trying to pull wool over my eyes. Which is what really ****es me off as I thought he was a really sound guy when he was doing the work here and we got on well and chatting. But now I guess he was only after his £100!

I wish I earnt £500 a day!

 

[John D v2.0]

Let's not start the while 500 a day thing. I've never been self employed but that 500 doesn't add up close to 180k a year in the bank.

 

[Naz1977]

No, more than likely he claims £12k through the books, sits at home and claims benefit and then goes on nice expensive holidays! like a few ****ers that I know who do that sort of things!

I wish I lived in a council house and could afford a brand new car!