Do I trust this Electrician

[Sandman]

Hi
We are having major reconstruction work done in our 6 year old 3 bed Bungalow as part of a insurance claim which they have paid up to us.

We had an electrician come round to quote and bring up to regulations of our wiring, lighting etc. who is contracted to the builder. He came round the day of the start of the work to Isolate part of the supply in the Bungalow he remove 2 electric showers and 1 switch and 1 socket plates. I had to remove a Socket plate which he missed so they can take a wall down. £186.00 quote When he left I checked the Consumer Unit, to Isolate part of the bungalow, he just switched the mcb’s to off none of the MCB’s was removed, no notice was put on the C.U. etc. Should this have been done?

Also 4 points I brought to his attention.

Down lights in the bathroom and on suite, which are standard 12v down lights one directly above the showers they have no moisture protection or to stop moisture ingress into the loft. Should these be moisture protected down lights? He said 12v will be fine.

The extractor fan is over the toilet and is close to the window. Should this be closer or over the shower? Which is 8 feet away.

We have only 1 mains smoke alarm, 18 feet distance away from the kitchen door and is sited between our bedroom door and front door. I said the smoke and heat detectors need to be on their own circuit. I said it should be on its own rcb or mcb plus do we need additional smoke sensors etc. he said it will be ok on the lighting circuit, plus he never quoted for extra sensors.

I wanted my fridge freezer on its own circuit, speaks for its own. He said it’s not part of Regs.
He as quoted for a new consumer unit.
Cheers

 

[Modernelectric]

When he left I checked the Consumer Unit, to Isolate part of the bungalow, he just switched the mcb’s to off none of the MCB’s was removed, no notice was put on the C.U. etc. Should this have been done?

He should have disconnected the live conductors from inside the c.u?

Down lights in the bathroom and on suite, which are standard 12v down lights one directly above the showers they have no moisture protection or to stop moisture ingress into the loft. Should these be moisture protected down lights? He said 12v will be fine.

All electrical accessorys should be suitable for any external influences so i would say they should have the appropriate I.P ratings unless they are outside the defined zones. (2.25m ceiling height)

The extractor fan is over the toilet and is close to the window. Should this be closer or over the shower? Which is 8 feet away.

In my opinion no, but this may fall under building regs rather than electrical regs.

We have only 1 mains smoke alarm, 18 feet distance away from the kitchen door and is sited between our bedroom door and front door. I said the smoke and heat detectors need to be on their own circuit. I said it should be on its own rcb or mcb plus do we need additional smoke sensors etc. he said it will be ok on the lighting circuit, plus he never quoted for extra sensors.

This is from the on site guide....

Smoke and Heat alarms

Part B of the building regs and the building standards scotland requires all new and refurbished dwelling houses to be provided with a fire detection and alarm system.

In a standard house(single storey or multi storey with no storey exceeding 200m2 floor area), the basic requirement can be met by installing interlinked smoke alarms as follows.
1 In circulation areas between sleeping places and places where fires are most likely to start e.g kitchens/living rooms.
2 In circulation spaces within 7.5m of the door to each habitable room
3 At least 1 on every storey
4 If the kitchen is not seperated from the circulation area by a door, a compatible interlinked heat detector or heat alarm must additonally be installed in the kitchen.

That is the basics of it, i wont bore you with the position details.

I would suggest 1 smoke/heat detector in the kitchen, 1 smoke/heat detector in the main living area, 1 smoke detector in the hallway and 1 smoke detector on the landing all interlinked.

I wanted my fridge freezer on its own circuit, speaks for its own. He said it’s not part of Regs.

Regardless of whether it is part of the regs if you asked for it why didnt he just quote for it and do the work? Very unusual for a man to turn down such a straight forward job.

 

[Spudnik]

And smoke detectors do not have to have their own dedicated circuit.

 

[ian.settle1]

Whilst you may not like what he has done as he is sub-contracted to the builder you should really take it up with the builder who is paying him stating the problems you have found and if not rectified properly then yu may consider not allowing him on your property to carry out any further work as you believe him to be a H & S issue.

 

[danzor]

I say beat him with a stick

 

[Des 56]

If the questions are from someone who is not in or aware of the electrical trade then the responses may be given with good intent
However the type of questions being asked suggests that the person posting these questions is either in or associated with the trade or has been given points to persue
Asking a question on a dedicated fridge supply would not be the type of information joe public would have
IP rated bathroom downlights is another
The smoke alarm and fan question would suggest an ill informed spark
Care to say why the questions arose initially?

 

[Darkwood]

If the questions are from someone who is not in or aware of the electrical trade then the responses may be given with good intent
However the type of questions being asked suggests that the person posting these questions is either in or associated with the trade or has been given points to persue
Asking a question on a dedicated fridge supply would not be the type of information joe public would have
IP rated bathroom downlights is another
The smoke alarm and fan question would suggest an ill informed spark
Care to say why the questions arose initially?

You raise a good point des but wouldnt their be less cowboys out there if more people were asking these questions, how ever he came about the knowledge its good to challange the work you pay for and as a customer knowing the job you pay for is of a high standard should be challengable with questions no matter how knowledgable the client is, if the contractor cant give you a satisfactory answer then i would myself question their abilities.

 

[Sandman]

Hi
I believe I am technically minded I was a Tech support engineer in Communications, but I am not in the trades, to me these are common sense questions. We moved into our house last year.
Take the down lights and fans in the bathrooms we had condensation dripping from the trusses in the loft last winter. While the loft light was off I could see light coming through the down lights. Me being me I looked at the down lights and the bulb could be moved around no problem, so could that be the route of the moisture to the loft? The fans in both bathrooms don’t seem man enough to clear the moisture. After a shower we have to open the window to clear. Looking at the moisture it seems to circulate slowly between the window and the fan. To me the most logical position for the fan for on-suite would be above the shower and with a more powerful extractor fan. This could take the moisture away from the on-suite more efficiently and then less ingress into the loft.
Looking at the alarm system, safety in mind I always look at the worst case. If the mcb or a rcd trip being on another circuit and the backup batteries have failed to store a charge, then we do not have a effective alarm system. So that’s why I questioned the alarm system being on a lighting circuit.
We are having a new fridge freezer now it’s going into the utility room. Same thing, me being me what would happen if we are on holiday and the ring main trip with the fridge/freezer is on it? Spoilt food. It happened in our old house so we had a sparks come in and he installed a circuit for the fridge freezer to cut down the risk, then we had no problems. For some reason the dishwasher was tripping it.
Maybe a bit of Knowledge is dangerous and maybe not. To me it’s all about cutting down the risk.
So these are the reasons for my questions

 

[danzor]

The fans in both bathrooms don’t seem man enough to clear the moisture. After a shower we have to open the window to clear. Looking at the moisture it seems to circulate slowly between the window and the fan.

Alot of people think this is the job for a fan, but a fan is just simply to circulate air. I have yet to see a fan that stops my mirror steaming up

Or I could invest in a heated mirror if I was that bothered

 

[Spudnik]

Indeed, the fan is there to help remove steam but will not keep it away completely unless it is upped to a 5 or maybe 6 inch.

You will notice that the room does clear quite quickly after you have finished the shower though.