Residential Conduit VRI

[sulley]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of buying a house. I went for a second viewing at the weekend and essentially performed our own survey. I was surprised to see that the electrics were all in conduit. There was conduit visible up from the consumer unit and the lighting radial in the loft was seen to be in conduit. As a 1950s house, I understand this is not unusual, and it would have originally had VRI cable running through it. This is a well maintained house, I'm fairly confident that it will have been rewired at some point. However I'm seeking a little more confidence. My question to you is, as the house has a 17th edition CU, is this a good indicator that that the VRI cables would have been replaced long ago, otherwise any sparky worth his salt wouldn't have undertaken a CU swap?


Thanks,

Sulley

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Assume nothing. How do you know that the householder didn't lob that cu at the wall himself last year. Rewiring the conduit-if it is proper 20mm (or 3/4") then yes its feasable, if it is that skinny half inch tinplate stuff then no, its a pain to do.
Did you remove any socket outlets or ceiling roses to have a look? Or even thw cu cover if you were confident it could be properly isolated

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

As above. Likely it will be old grip or clamp 5/8" conduit and a rewire would usually involve trying to only reuse the conduit drops to switches, with the rest being removed where possible. Especially in the loft space, if you are seeing undisturbed conduit, then almost certainly it will urgently need a rewire. Sockets became more and more necessary as time progressed so these might, or might not need replacement. So a thorough electrical inspection will be needed, before any opinion can be offered.

 

[securespark]

Yes, I second the "assume nothing advice".

My sis bought a house in 1994, claimed to have been rewired.

There were newish accessories, but everything behind them was VIR.

They also buggered off with a gas fire, leaving the uncapped pipe hanging out of the wall.....

 

[sparkwright]

Early pvc cable came out around 1953, though the older type cable would still have been available.

It's not unheard for electricians to rewire properties and use old conduit drops.

Circular 5/8 conduit may suggest VIR.

Oval metal conduit would suggest twin and earth, either rubber or early pvc.