How not to standard is this rewire?

[Baddegg]

I get that but wouldn't you go in, test to see if it actually needed doing and then advise them appropriately? Thought that'd be standard faire but i've never done domestic rewires so i don't know how this stuff works.

Yes I misinterpreted your question, as a rule you’d be called to the job for various problems beforehand, fuses blowing mostly and you’d know pretty much wether it needed a rewire from often a quick look, older cable etc or else someone has bought an older property and the surveyor has flagged up the electrics (they do this as standard to cover they arse) and the owner is adamant they want a rewire so you quote em, no amount of testing is gonna convince em otherwise as they see the “expert” surveyor as superior to the scruffy sparks

 

[cireland]

I get that but wouldn't you go in, test to see if it actually needed doing and then advise them appropriately? Thought that'd be standard faire but i've never done domestic rewires so i don't know how this stuff works.

Not always. Sometimes people decide to do a rewire because they plan to live in it for years and figure they'll get it rewired so it's done. One less thing to worry about.
Like I said, doesn't happen too often.

 

[timhoward]

I get that but wouldn't you go in, test to see if it actually needed doing and then advise them appropriately? Thought that'd be standard faire but i've never done domestic rewires so i don't know how this stuff works.

A rewire can come about for quite a few reasons, and one of them is certainly following inspection and testing, and finding very old cable, or very low IR results, or such a mess that it's beyond further modifications.
Sometimes it's more practical, lots of houses have far fewer sockets than are optimal.

 

[loz2754]

I get that but wouldn't you go in, test to see if it actually needed doing and then advise them appropriately? Thought that'd be standard faire but i've never done domestic rewires so i don't know how this stuff works.

Indeed. I have done this several times, suggesting alternatives to a complete rewire. But sometimes it's obvious as soon as you walk in the place that a rewire is the only way forward.

 

[davesparks]

How do we ascertain if it needs a rewire if we haven't tested it prior?

By inspecting the installation, testing rarely tells you enough about an installation to be able to know whether or not it needs to be rewired.

Testing may reveal that a particular circuit or cable needs to be re-wired/replaced.

An installation can test out perfectly and still need to be rewired based on the inspection.

 

[davesparks]

I get that but wouldn't you go in, test to see if it actually needed doing and then advise them appropriately? Thought that'd be standard faire but i've never done domestic rewires so i don't know how this stuff works.

Not necessarily, testing doesn't tell you very much about the condition of an installation, and generally most things that fail testing are findable and fixable.

It is inspection that normally reveals a need for more major work such as rewiring.

 

[swaRRR]

Not necessarily, testing doesn't tell you very much about the condition of an installation, and generally most things that fail testing are findable and fixable.

It is inspection that normally reveals a need for more major work such as rewiring.

But why would something need rewiring if the wiring tested fine?

 

[Baddegg]

But why would something need rewiring if the wiring tested fine?

Not enough sockets and unwilling to extend existing cabling (could be right on the limit at IR test) or could be old cabling that’s not had much use…no cpc in lighting circuits is common…although the cables could technically be fine the older an install the more it’s been bodged and butchered over the years to the point were you’d have to recommend a rewire rather than work on what’s there…

 

[swaRRR]

Not enough sockets and unwilling to extend existing cabling (could be right on the limit at IR test) or could be old cabling that’s not had much use…no cpc in lighting circuits is common…although the cables could technically be fine the older an install the more it’s been bodged and butchered over the years to the point were you’d have to recommend a rewire rather than work on what’s there…

Good points

 

[davesparks]

But why would something need rewiring if the wiring tested fine?

Because tests only tell you part of the story, they don't tell you much about the physical condition of the installation. Tests don't tell you how well installed something is, how many joints are in a cable, whether the cable is the right size. Tests can't tell you that the wrong type of cable is installed outdoors, the cable isn't rated for the temperature it's exposed to.

There are many situations where something could test out perfectly but be in desperate need of being replaced.

To give some extreme examples:
A circuit wired in un-enclosed single insulated conductors pulled through joists, chased into walls etc could easily pass all tests but be completely unacceptable.
Bare conductors clipped to a wall could pass all tests.
A 20mtr long cable with 7 joints in it hanging in free-air could pass all tests.