RCD x1 on fuseboard

[Claire]

I'm a homeowner with no electrical skills. BG electrician came to repair something & said my fuse board is not to standard as it only has one RCD. The property was built in 1874 and most of the current systems were put in place in the 1980s. Lived here 24 years & the tripping mechanism works brilliantly. In my basic understanding you can't have two RCDs on one circuit & he was using modern regulations and applying them to my old property, which can't be done retrospectively, am I right? I am trying to sell, will this be an issue on survey & if so, what will it cost to correct. Thanks

 

[buzzlightyear]

When you sell the property is sold has seen
On the electric front if nowt been done recaintly. So I would not be worried if I was you.

 

[SparkyChick]

Hi Claire,

BG engineers, in my experience, put the frightners on people to try and get them to have more work done.

In simple terms, if the RCD covers all the circuits, it's not ideal but unless there is a real need to change it (for other works, new kitchen for example which requires additional circuits say), if someone asked me to replace a consumer unit in such a setup I'd be asking them why and not necessarily writing them a quote.

Yes, we inspect to today's regulations, but that doesn't mean just because it doesn't 100% comply with them that it's not safe for continued use.

Maybe post a picture of your consumer unit and supply intake.

 

[pc1966]

The regulations are not retrospective so as long as your installation is in good safe condition for the date it was installed then you do not have to do anything.

The usual reason for having multiple RCDs is so if you have a fault, say, on a socket you don't get plunged in to darkness because the lights share the same RCD. For that reason many houses would now get a dual RCD board.

Also recent regulation changes were to increase the safety by extending RCD protection to most circuits to reduce the impact of accidents such as nailing a buried cable when putting up shelves, etc.

BG do not have a good reputation in these parts, so if you do consider getting a new "consumer unit" (CU, as the fusebox is typically referred to here) then some of the electricians on this board might be able to point you in a better direction.
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When you sell the property is sold has seen
On the electric front if nowt been done recaintly. So I would not be worried if I was you.

Depending on the cost to upgrade and the effect on selling price (or delay in finding a buyer) then it might make sense to upgrade.

But still don't get BG involved!

 

[Andy78]

As above BG have a reputation for creating work through unnecessary upgrades. If you have any concerns you can upload pictures of your system here for an unbiased opinion.

 

[Wilko]

Hi - I would not worry about it. If it’s raised you may rightly ignore the suggestion (as it’s not a compliance requirement) or perhaps magnanimously offer £50 contribution to an upgrade. Hope you are able to progress your sale at this terrible time ...

 

[buzzlightyear]

It's amazing. That BG that goes to house and say your wiring needs up grading or because your boiler needs up grading because we can not get the parts even the boilers are 5 years old its common practice for them to say that, being roborts..

 

[Claire]

Thanks to everyone above for the replies, I feel more reassured about it now. I asked him, hypothetically, if the house needed rewiring (always looking for the worst scenario) how much would it cost and he said £5-£7k ?. I don't know how realistic that is. I like the idea of magnanimously offering £50 Wilko. I was worried it would be a big issue on survey - assuming I ever get to that point given that this scourge is not only delaying everything but knocking house prices down too. ?

 

[Strima]

As mentioned before, if you could post a couple of pictures of your board, meter and main supply fuse we could make more informed comments.

 

[Risteard]

The regulations are not retrospective so as long as your installation is in good safe condition for the date it was installed

This isn't strictly true. Regardless of when the installation was erected it will be inspected against current Regulations. Safety issues will be coded as such regardless of whether it was compliant at the time of installation or not. (My usual example is fused neutrals.)