Earths cut off at switch

[robskiing]

Been doing work on a farmhouse and shes had one or two blokes doing various rooms before they got plastered. She was told in good faith that they were bona fide experienced sparks and she paid accordingly anyway i was asked while i was there if i could have a look at a two way sw which is part of a 4 gang i removed the face plate and all the earths cut off at the top of the cables which are feeding outside lights and indoor metal fittings . This was supposed to be rewired only 3 years previous and the 2 way is brown /grey /black one end joined to the old colours apparently while she had her central heating renewed they recommended their competent spark to rewire at the same time while the boards were up his name by the way was rewire ray ! Couldnt pull any slack down to earth the boxes it seems to be plastered in no capping . What course of action would you take because i believe im going to open a can of worms up and what do you say to the client whos already paid good money out.

 

[madmac]

You could provide her with a PIR and charge a friendly, low price, that would then let her have the ammunition to take action against this shower of you know what, otherwise it's looking like a re-wire again!!!
You also could open up the plaster and try to join through the cpc's and extend them down to the switch, It'll be better than leaving circuits with no earth protection down stream.

 

[robskiing]

Had one or two jobs like this lately only went there to put a couple of smoke alarms in and she asked me while i was there to have a look at the two way lighting couldnt believe my eyes to see the new harmonised coloure cable at the sw but with the earths cut out at the top of the box . She wants me to do some pat testing on one of her cottages so im going to have give her the bad news im sorry but it would play on me if i couldnt help her out like you say a PIR is the next course of action

 

[madmac]

At least you're doing the right thing mate, as for the cowboy that done original install......:banghead:

 

[Amp David]

Had the same today, luckily they're having some plastering done so i chased out and extended the cpcs into the backbox

 

[Engineer54]

You could provide her with a PIR and charge a friendly, low price, that would then let her have the ammunition to take action against this shower of you know what, otherwise it's looking like a re-wire again!!!
You also could open up the plaster and try to join through the cpc's and extend them down to the switch, It'll be better than leaving circuits with no earth protection down stream.

The numbties could have cut the CPCs off at the light positions too!! Or much more likely, they thought we'll earth from the CU to the lighting points, but those switches don't really need a CPC. ...Well, not until the homeowner want some nice smart metal faced wall switches!! lol!!

 

[robskiing]

Beggars belief what corners people are prepared to take some shorter than others i did manage to lift a board above the switch and theres a joint in the twin and earth above looks like he used odd lengths of cable here there and everywhere. I bet just what engineer said in his post that the earths have been cut out at the light points looks like a big head scratcher this one

 

[Mr Mike]

For the life of me I don't see why this is done.

 

[robskiing]

That has crossed my mind when i first seen it but took another sw off and the same thing earths cut off and no grommets in the boxes the client does run a livery yard so could be any ye-ha

 

[robskiing]

Joking aside you are talking of serious implications here no cpc protection if the cable did get snagged and no protection against shock there is metal light fittings and outside lights on this circuit

 

[diditrain]

Sticker on board and class 2 fittings throughout

 

[robskiing]

The work that was carried out is in her house.Going to have to tell her to sort it out a bit of chopping out will have to be done .It did made me think when i first got the phone call she told me that the last electrician had let her down guilty conscience maybe

 

[PC Electrics]

Even if she didn't get a receipt or certs, if she paid by cheque or BACS then the transaction is traceable.

 

[Jimmyb]

I found this a few week ago when doing a cu change, first light had cpc to it and then from there all cpc to lights where pushed up and put between light and ceiling, well pleased easy to fix until I tested them and found no earth at any light, then tested at switches and found that the first switch had cpc to it, and the feed cpc wire to next light was into a block connector so no lights after that point was earthed, connected all these as I went round and got 6 out of the 11 lights earthed, the bathroom needed replacing but was ok thanks to the loft but the back box that fed o/s lights and feed to shed had all earth cut but the feed in wire for that switch had an earth that I just managed to test by stick test into it, so ended up moving the back box up by 5cm and just filled in the old space. Happy days.

So why did this used to happen I thought it was just a one off that I found, there is just no reason it there

 

[Des 56]

My advise would be to be very cautious of getting involved until you are aware of the full extent of the crapiness of this install and a thorough Pir carried out
Dont look at this job as a problem with light switch cpcs and the means to put that right

If you start working on a circuit for whatever reason,making sure it complies fully before even considering doing anything,