EICR issue. Need advice

[Concernednewbielandlord]

Hi, I'm new to being a Landlord (wasn't my plan!) Anyway I contacted a company online who arrange for electricians from around the country to perform EICR reports. The property is a small studio flat, 10 years old. (The electrician stated approx 20 yrs old on the report.) The report came back 'unsatisfactory' due to a couple of issues:
1. 6.6 Suitability of equipment for external influences for installed location in terms of IP rating. (701.512.2)
2. Need to change all spotlights (20 of them)
These were both marked as Further Investigation Required.
Yesterday I received a quote to replace all 20 downlights from the electrician via the company who have been handling the certification. I phoned the company who arranged the electrician questioning the report as I had no idea what my next step was re Further Investigation Req, They came back to me stating that the electrician had got it wrong and the two issues should have been marked as C2's and stated that the whole building had the same IP rating problem.
I'm not sure where to go from here. The flat is 10 years old and was built by Berkeley Homes. I'm assuming the IP ratings must have changed since the lights were installed?
Excuses if I'm sounding a bit naïve but I am new to this and a female (say no more!!)
I'd really appreciate some advice. Thanks

 

[DPG]

Can you post the report on here, but with names and addresses redacted.

The downlighter issue may be to do with them not being fire rated (bearing in mind it's a flat), but better if we can see the details.

 

[David Prosser]

Excuses if I'm sounding a bit naïve but I am new to this and a female (say no more!!)

Please don't say this, it's irrelevant naïve males and females who are not electricians, tradesmen or technically knowledgeable in this area are constantly being taken for a ride or ignoring good advice in equal measure. As DPG said post up the report and if possible the original electrical installation certificate if you have it. Please remove any personal information.

 

[Concernednewbielandlord]

Can you post the report on here, but with names and addresses redacted.

The downlighter issue may be to do with them not being fire rated (bearing in mind it's a flat), but better if we can see the details.

Thanks so much for your prompt response, the document is a pdf and can't be altered but I can sort it out another way. I'll do it this evening.

 

[Concernednewbielandlord]

Please don't say this, it's irrelevant naïve males and females who are not electricians, tradesmen or technically knowledgeable in this area are constantly being taken for a ride or ignoring good advice in equal measure. As DPG said post up the report and if possible the original electrical installation certificate if you have it. Please remove any personal information.

Thank you David. I've responded to DPG with the following, so I will post later on.....

Thanks so much for your prompt response, the document is a pdf and can't be altered but I can sort it out another way. I'll do it this evening.

 

[Concernednewbielandlord]

Hi guys, here is the report minus personal details. As I mentioned the electrician stated today that he made a mistake and the two issues stated as FI's should be C2's.Thanks

 

[pc1966]

Hi guys, here is the report minus personal details. As I mentioned the electrician stated today that he made a mistake and the two issues stated as FI's should be C2's.Thanks

Thanks for posting the redacted report.

I think you should ask them specifically what the reasons for the C2 rating are.

The C3 (not a reason to fail) on regulation 512.2 on environment is a general section about environmental suitability. It is hard to see how all the downlights would need changed under that regulation. There are more important ones on fire protection, but that is not the rule cited there.

The 'FI' for regulation 701.512.2 is the same idea but explicitly for bathrooms. As it seems unlikely you have anything in "zone 0" (basically in the bath) it means less than 1mm access to any electrical fittings within zones 1 or 2 (which is around 1m from any shower/bath - a search will pull up diagrams showing the zones in more detail).

It is sounding a bit dodgy to me, so I would ask them by email or similar (so you have a written explanation) of the specific issues and why they fail the regulations.

If you want some information on the whole EICR coding process, there is a free Best Practice Guide #4 from here:

Best Practice Guides | Electrical Safety First

Electrical Safety First produces, in association with other industry bodies, a range of Best Practice Guides which provide definitive information and guidance on a range of technical subjects.

www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk

 

[littlespark]

My thoughts.

IP ratings are for protection against dust and water basically… nothing to do with fire… that’s a different regulation.
If the building has fire breaks between floors, ie concrete floors rather than then fire protected downlights aren’t needed as fire can’t spread.
It may be IP rating of downlights in a bathroom.

They haven’t ticked the boxes for operation of rcd test button.


Looks like an exercise on generating unnecessary work.

 

[pc1966]

Just to add - you do not have to use the same company who did the EICR to rectify anything.

If you have a trusted contractor then it is the simplest and easiest for them to do both, but all you need is evidence that any "unsatisfactory" issues have been resolved that can be appended to the original report. So if you don't feel happy about them you can get another sparky in to check/fix issues.

 

[Concernednewbielandlord]

Thanks for posting the redacted report.

I think you should ask them specifically what the reasons for the C2 rating are.

The C3 (not a reason to fail) on regulation 512.2 on environment is a general section about environmental suitability. It is hard to see how all the downlights would need changed under that regulation. There are more important ones on fire protection, but that is not the rule cited there.

The 'FI' for regulation 701.512.2 is the same idea but explicitly for bathrooms. As it seems unlikely you have anything in "zone 0" (basically in the bath) it means less than 1mm access to any electrical fittings within zones 1 or 2 (which is around 1m from any shower/bath - a search will pull up diagrams showing the zones in more detail).

It is sounding a bit dodgy to me, so I would ask them by email or similar (so you have a written explanation) of the specific issues and why they fail the regulations.

If you want some information on the whole EICR coding process, there is a free Best Practice Guide #4 from here:

Best Practice Guides | Electrical Safety First

Electrical Safety First produces, in association with other industry bodies, a range of Best Practice Guides which provide definitive information and guidance on a range of technical subjects.

www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk

Thanks so much, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out. I have taken your advice and sent an email requesting the specific issues and why they fail the regulations as you suggested. I'll let you know the response!