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Hi am new to forum. Just had 4.5day bathroom installation. Bathroom v good however was told on initial survey we wont need to touch your electrics - was keeping original Mira Sport shower and spotlights. Day 1 was then told "our sparky wont pass them, you need new spots, need bathroom rewire" this then led to "need new fuse board with rcd" ok. £480. Ok. We have a hotwater tank that was on a Diall timer (and worcester bosch CH only boiler) only moved in 1 month ago but worked perfectly timed at night on economy 7 tariff. Discovered to horror on thursday that timer been removed "cos its not safe" think timer fine, i still have it, but there was no trip for it on new fuseboard, something about incorrect current loop? So to stop a permanent tripping out theyve replaced timer with a fused manual on/offswitch? Wire from top of tank old and casing snapped of in places - not replaced. Ongoing argument about this but they say sparky says "its now safe". Other plumbing issues, leaking sink, stole my existing shower head replaced it with naff plastic one. No reasons given.My husband has paid them in full my question is what is safe/advisable re hot water tank and what paperwork should i have re installation of fuse board/new spots/partial bathroom rewire/extractor etc. I spoke to the sparky on Tuesday in person he was knowledgeable but they got him to complete job wen i was out on Wednesday. (I was told Thursday and had booked the day off )Bathroom company say "there is no paperwork" they came highly recommended but since found out they never issue paperwork even receipts! What should i have been given and how do i get it tested to make sure its now safe? Electrician said on Tuesday i ideally need a whole house rewire this would be "£3to5k"? It looks like its black/red cabling which is ok but been diy-ed. Family member who does commercial looked it over before the bathroom debacle started when on old fuse box said it was safe but didnt test sockets etc. Tearing hair out here, please help. They sending sparky back next week as gesture of goodwill but i dont know whether to use him/report to trading standards? I've no leverage cos husband paid thank you
 
I'm not sure if I can follow the opening post, to make any comment. But agree any electrical installation work needs certificating, and possibly notification to local building control (in England & Wales).
 
Paid or not, you can still get a solicitor involved to argue that work was done that you did not agree to.
Keep any emails, invoices, receipts etc.
Bottom line.... they had no reason to touch the electrics, they shouldn't have.
 
Trying to understand why you would have economy 7 water heating and gas central heating unless there are other high load appliances making use of the off peak electric
That aside it sounds like there may be a number of issues with this electrical installation including the "spark" doing the alterations.
An "incorrect current loop" is this what the spark said or the OP's interpretation and not fitting a large enough CU to accommodate all the circuits start to make alarm bells ring
 
Bathroom fitters were correct in having the fuse board upgraded. However you get what you pay for. The electrical installation should have been tested before and after changing the consumer unit. Economy7 should ideally be on a separate board and the costs would have been a lot higher.
From a home owners perspective you should consider getting rid of the economy 7 and getting a combi boiler some time in the near future.
 
Bathroom fitters were correct in having the fuse board upgraded. However you get what you pay for. The electrical installation should have been tested before and after changing the consumer unit. Economy7 should ideally be on a separate board and the costs would have been a lot higher.
From a home owners perspective you should consider getting rid of the economy 7 and getting a combi boiler some time in the near future.

Just trying to work out why someone living in Brighouse would use a London based contractor
 
Well if they said in the first place nothing is to be done electrically you would not need a sparky to pass them much less not pass them. What is he passing? Nothing as there is nothing to do.
I know it is weird but they just lied at the beginning, decided to take the ceiling down that we had agreed would stay put - cos it will look better, which it does to be fair. Took it down uncovered myriad of wiring issues etc
 
Ask the electrician in person for the certificate and building control notification. Might just be the bathroom company being awkward.

You should get invoices/receipts for the work though.
Is it a legal requirement to issue EIC /be Niceic registered to fit new consumer unit and do rewiring?
 
Is it a legal requirement to issue EIC /be Niceic registered to fit new consumer unit and do rewiring?

The legal requirement in this case is for the consumer unit job to be notified to the local building control office. Ultimately that responsibility falls upon the householder.

An EIC should be issued with a consumer unit change but this is not in law.
There is no requirement to be registered with any scheme to do electrical work, although if your electrician is registered with a scheme (this is searchable online) then you can complain to them if you feel the work you have received is not up to scratch.

If you feel the work you have had done has been done without real cause to or done misleadingly then trading standards is where you want to be.
 
An EIC should be issued with a consumer unit change but this is not in law.
There is no requirement to be registered with any scheme to do electrical work, although if your electrician is registered with a scheme (this is searchable online) then you can complain to them if you feel the work you have received is not up to scratch.

Good luck with a complaint to a scheme, there all about collecting money and not spending it on investigating complaints
 
The legal requirement in this case is for the consumer unit job to be notified to the local building control office. Ultimately that responsibility falls upon the householder.

An EIC should be issued with a consumer unit change but this is not in law.
There is no requirement to be registered with any scheme to do electrical work, although if your electrician is registered with a scheme (this is searchable online) then you can complain to them if you feel the work you have received is not up to scratch.

If you feel the work you have had done has been done without real cause to or done misleadingly then trading standards is where you want to be.
Very useful thanks. Do you think i have a case to complain to them or trading standards that i dont have an EIC if when I agreed for their electrician to carry out the work i had just assumed he would be registered(big company £6k job in total)?! I had not realised it was a voluntary scheme! My fault for minimal research I know but i was put on the spot - "if we don't do this now we can't continue with bathroom work etc". I think consumer unit is ok, electrician knew his onions! Issue was more what the bathroom ppl were prepared to let him do for his money as he was subcontracted not paid directly. They've made a huge thing so far out of "he works for us not you" one more question! To get the building regs approval will i require an EIC? How can I get one/can I get one now? I am an ex legal assistant, cross with myself I've been so naive here! Assumed too much! Allowed myself to be bullied into a poor decision by 3 builders!
 
The EIC is on a list of things the Buildings Inspector will ask to see to give a final sign off. If for some hardship reason an EIC is not available (Electrician won lottery and moved to Spain) they usually have some local work around.
 
This is a bit of a mess and recrimination of yourself will do little of use. So the way forward now is you must get BC certificate and you will probably have to get an EICR which is normally acceptable to building control in order to satisfy BC. I know that by rights an EIC should have been issued by the persons undertaking the work but it has not been and while you can take various actions over the matter is it worth it. After all you need to regularise the situation. If it comes to your selling the house this will be a problem if it is not done properly.
An EICR may cost around £150 to £250 dependant on how many circuits being checked. This will in one action regularise your situation, forestall any future problems and highlight any shortcomings in the work you have had done. Then you could always make trading standards aware of the situation after having settled the matter. In the future you will no doubt be more circumspect. Having said that it is so often the case where you start a job and problems pop up which have to be addressed so ce'est la vie.
 

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