Fuseboard upgrade. Surveying / condition reports and testing.

Hi guys.

I wanted some advice.
I've been trading for almost 12 months and I'm still relatively new (and slow) at testing. And testing is the bit of the job I dread and lose time on.
I'm NIC EIC registered as a domestic installer. So I can't officially do condition reports yet.

I've noticed my competitors are charging a bit less than me to do board changes and I don't know if I am being too expensive, taking too long or my competitors are too cheap.

I charge a days labour plus materials. Usually I fit MK, AMD 3, 5+5 split load boards.
First I go in and test the installation as if it was an initial verification (I haven't come across a job with any previous certification yet), then I highlight any faults and relay this to the client to be put right before I carry out the board change and then repeat testing upon completion.
Previously to working for myself I never did any testing, I only did installation work. And practically all of my experience is in domestic properties.

Is it ok for me to just check a sample of the installation?
How do you guys go about board changes?

Sometimes I'll spend ages trying to get IR to >999M ohms, before I give up and write down the value I actually find. I know >1M ohms is acceptable but I always try to get it as high as possible disconnecting loads etc,
Also do you guys check R1 +R2 at every point or just a sample light at ceiling points?
Do you remove all lamps, disconnect boilers, cookers etc etc
Do you document which points you took your samples from?

I'm asking because I have just been to a job that has no earths on the lighting circuits, and the lighting circuits are not on an RCD either.
I've suggested to the customer we upgrade the board first so then I can test the whole property which will give me an idea of the current condition of the installation.

what sort of money are you charging for a board change?

It seems to me you are doing a buck shee Eicr for a relatively simple intended job

I would say,where it appears a thorough test and inspect is going to be required,you could recommend a Eicr to identify whats needed
Charge the many pennies for the report then maybe proceed with whats needed as a separate job

Testing that you do on the Eicr can contribute to the board change Eic later
For a board change,I take my chances and sort out any problems if and when I meet them,I test nothing

You don't have to be a scheme member to do EICR nor do you need qualifications ..... Those are the facts.... Not that the NICEIC will admit this

Regarding the lighting circuits not on rcds- what is the issue with this?

You would ideally need to assess the installation before changing a consumer unit to avoid being caught out by unanticipated faults on the circuits, but this can be a fairly limited inspect and test to ensure that say neutral earth faults are identified beforehand. So long as the IR is above 2Mohms then there should not be any problems. Where you have an unearthed lighting circuit then the obvious recommendation would be to earth the circuit, but this would be down to whether the customer is prepared to do this. If the circuit is not safe to reconnect then it should not be reinstated but the customer should be aware of this. Circuits should be safe to connect to the new consumer unit i.e no faults but that is all.

Unless a board change is of upmost urgency I would not change it if the lighting does not incorporate cpcs and the client is not willing to fork out for a rewire.

As a minimum before a CU change, I would do an IR test and check for bonding. If all came back OK, I would then make the customer aware that any issues found during/after the CU change, would cost extra to sort out. It is a fine line between doing some testing for a quote and spending hours testing and not getting the job anyway.

And as said above, the readings you get during the initial testing, if OK, can be used on your EIC.

Jay

OP don't know if you've read this document;
http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/mediafile/100423440/Best-Practice-Guide-1-Issue-3-.pdf
Gives some views, as well as asking members here. I don't think there is a default way to approach domestic CU changes, in the same manner each time. A fairly large property with many circuits, perhaps might warrant carrying out an EICR, or comprehensive inspection prior to change. Whereas a small property with only a few circuits, might just warrant some minor checks prior to. In both cases, I would do something, as its too late with the old one gone, and the new dual RCD CU on the wall, and the rcd's tripping away.

I make it clear to my customers that, the price doesn't include rectifying existing faults, and is also in my T&C's.

With lighting circuits with no cpc, and the customer does not want to rectify, I would personally take on the CU replacement.

R1+R2 testing; I do where practical, sockets, pendants, switches etc. But not where it requires removing luminaires for example, or the security light at the gable end apex.

Midwest said:

I would personally take on the CU replacement

Click to expand...

Did you mean wouldn't ?

Vortigern said:

Did you mean wouldn't ?

Click to expand...

Must admit, I had to read that bit twice.lol

Jay