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Make EICR's a mandatory requirement for home insurance purposes.
And scrap the 10 year time frame.
5 years is far more realistic.
Also once the above is introduced, public awareness should be provided through advertising ect.
Of course a minimum qualification standard along with minimum time in the trade would also be relevent
before you can carry out an EICR.
JIB approved and 2391 for example
 
Does any one know whether these loose connections causing the fires are at the main switch or at the mcb terminals . I have often wondered about these cage clamps used in accessories, to me it seems a bit like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. Wirepuller made a good point about having main switches with deep tunnels & two screws to grip the conductor you could even crimp a round ferrel on the end of the conductor so this fits snuggly into the terminal & the screws bite down on this instead of damaging the individual conductors. My own opinion on all this is a sledge hammer to crack a nut
 
Make EICR's a mandatory requirement for home insurance purposes.
And scrap the 10 year time frame.
5 years is far more realistic.
Also once the above is introduced, public awareness should be provided through advertising ect.
Of course a minimum qualification standard along with minimum time in the trade would also be relevent
before you can carry out an EICR.
JIB approved and 2391 for example

... house 'MOT' ... I like it!
 
Does any one know whether these loose connections causing the fires are at the main switch or at the mcb terminals . I have often wondered about these cage clamps used in accessories, to me it seems a bit like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. Wirepuller made a good point about having main switches with deep tunnels & two screws to grip the conductor you could even crimp a round ferrel on the end of the conductor so this fits snuggly into the terminal & the screws bite down on this instead of damaging the individual conductors. My own opinion on all this is a sledge hammer to crack a nut

Good question ... I am troubled by the sketchy 'evidence' trotted out to support this course of action ... I would love to see the high quality images of the remains of the CU and its terminals filed with every fire report that has CU fire as its cause! There seems to be a lack of scientific expertise and weight behind it.
 
Make EICR's a mandatory requirement for home insurance purposes.
And scrap the 10 year time frame.
5 years is far more realistic.
Also once the above is introduced, public awareness should be provided through advertising ect.
Of course a minimum qualification standard along with minimum time in the trade would also be relevent
before you can carry out an EICR.
JIB approved and 2391 for example


Thismhas been covered a few times on here

Why just houses?

Or is this again another reason to try and get more work from homeowners? You dont have to have your car serviced by law so why should electrics?
 
Thismhas been covered a few times on here

Why just houses?

Or is this again another reason to try and get more work from homeowners? You dont have to have your car serviced by law so why should electrics?

Not serviced, no, but you do have to have its safety systems tested and inspected annually after it is 3 years old. Clearly there is much less movement in most houses ;-D and therefore wear and tear should be less of an issue; particularly to a CU and its connections.
 
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Thismhas been covered a few times on here

Why just houses?

Or is this again another reason to try and get more work from homeowners? You dont have to have your car serviced by law so why should electrics?

You DO have to ensure your car is in a roadworthy condition, so an MOT would be more relevant in this scenario.
And that has to be conducted on an annual basis once the vehicle reaches 3 years.
Without it, your insurance is void.
Most home owners have no idea how electrically safe there installations are, and there is no incentive for them to get it checked by a Qualified electrician.
Most only take electricity seriously after an event, or when a problem occurs.
If the EICR every 5 years scenario was mandatory, these fires would be far less frequent.
If manufacturers designed to a better standard, and as others have said build better safeguards into connection points and potential hot spots.
Then incidents that have brought all this up, would be almost non existent.
Self extinguishing ABS is already in use and if the above was applied would be sufficient.
The steel board to contain a fire approach, is a bit like giving mothers a tank to drive the kids to school in case they have a prang !!
 
Make EICR's a mandatory requirement for home insurance purposes.
And scrap the 10 year time frame.
5 years is far more realistic.
Also once the above is introduced, public awareness should be provided through advertising ect.
Of course a minimum qualification standard along with minimum time in the trade would also be relevent
before you can carry out an EICR.
JIB approved and 2391 for example

Do you mean the ones done without even visiting the premises?
 
You DO have to ensure your car is in a roadworthy condition, so an MOT would be more relevant in this scenario.
And that has to be conducted on an annual basis once the vehicle reaches 3 years.
Without it, your insurance is void.
Most home owners have no idea how electrically safe there installations are, and there is no incentive for them to get it checked by a Qualified electrician.
Most only take electricity seriously after an event, or when a problem occurs.
If the EICR every 5 years scenario was mandatory, these fires would be far less frequent.
If manufacturers designed to a better standard, and as others have said build better safeguards into connection points and potential hot spots.
Then incidents that have brought all this up, would be almost non existent.
Self extinguishing ABS is already in use and if the above was applied would be sufficient.
The steel board to contain a fire approach, is a bit like giving mothers a tank to drive the kids to school in case they have a prang !!

... and we all know what problems that causes ... ! Bigger roads with higher load classification and APFSDS rounds flying at drop off and pick up time ... just think of all that depleted uranium all over our schools too!
 
Do you mean the ones done without even visiting the premises?

A big NO to that one mate.
And the blokes putting there names to that kind of nonsense need to be named and shamed.
Brings me to another point though.
Price !!
I have seen situations where EICR's are being conducted at ridiculous prices.
So cheap in fact that there is no way they are being conducted properly.
As the industry stands the clients just want a piece of paper to satisfy a third party request ie potential buyer or to cover rear end for some reason.
If its mandatory then there's no choice.
Pricing would be able to reflect proper procedures and time taken.
And the home owner would need it for insurance purposes.
Its also going to make home owners aware.
At the moment electricity and the risks associated are all taken for granted.
The industry needs to change attitudes, and start approaching all this with a genuine attempt to get rid of cowboys, improve materials used, and educate the general public.
Electrical Trainee are given the scam providers blessings (Its money in there pocket)
Plus faulty and badly designed manufacturing materials.
Are being circumnavigated at the risk of the above getting the finger of blame pointed at them (for populating the situation in the first place).
And hey ho, steel boxes to contain F Ups and keep the fire brigade happy old chap.
Chin chin we got ourselves out of that one old boy.

http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/news/...ehazardlurkingunderthestairs.asp#.VOYqdOasV8E

http://www.3rdamendment.co.uk/?utm_...tent=3rd%20amendment%20audio&dm_i=WCP,2U7ZR,6
 
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A big NO to that one mate.
And the blokes putting there names to that kind of nonsense need to be named and shamed.
Brings me to another point though.
Price !!
I have seen situations where EICR's are being conducted at ridiculous prices.
So cheap in fact that there is no way they are being conducted properly.
As the industry stands the clients just want a piece of paper to satisfy a third party request ie potential buyer or to cover rear end for some reason.
If its mandatory then there's no choice.
Pricing would be able to reflect proper procedures and time taken.
And the home owner would need it for insurance purposes.
Its also going to make home owners aware.
At the moment electricity and the risks associated are all taken for granted.
The industry needs to change attitudes, and start approaching all this with a genuine attempt to get rid of cowboys, improve materials used, and educate the general public.
Electrical Trainee are given the scam providers blessings (Its money in there pocket)
Plus faulty and badly designed manufacturing materials.
Are being circumnavigated at the risk of the above getting the finger of blame pointed at them (for populating the situation in the first place).
And hey ho, steel boxes to contain F Ups and keep the fire brigade happy old chap.
Chin chin we got ourselves out of that one old boy.

London Fire Brigade - Londoners warned of potential fire hazard lurking under the stairs

EICR's underdone...blimey.....give it a couple of years and some of these jokers will be issuing a code 2 for a non metal CU...or even a code 1 for those who don't know the difference.
 
EICR's underdone...blimey.....give it a couple of years and some of these jokers will be issuing a code 2 for a non metal CU...or even a code 1 for those who don't know the difference.

Jokers or not how do you code a potential risk to life and property ??

Think about it, Existing moulded consumer units are being referred to as no longer compliant because they lack the ability to contain a potential fire hazard.

So after July 1st 2016 how do you code these boards.

You do an EICR, leave the moulded plastic board in place, deem the installation as satisfactory, issue a report with a 10 year life span.
The following year an electrical fire kills 3 of the occupants and the board is the source of ignition.

Your cert is still valid, and your name is on it.
Now find the joker, nobody's gonna laugh at this one ????

Can of worms vs poking the hornets nest vs closing the stable door after the horse as bolted.
 
Jokers or not how do you code a potential risk to life and property ??

Think about it, Existing moulded consumer units are being referred to as no longer compliant because they lack the ability to contain a potential fire hazard.

So after July 1st 2016 how do you code these boards.

You do an EICR, leave the moulded plastic board in place, deem the installation as satisfactory, issue a report with a 10 year life span.
The following year an electrical fire kills 3 of the occupants and the board is the source of ignition.

Your cert is still valid, and your name is on it.
Now find the joker, nobody's gonna laugh at this one ????

Can of worms vs poking the hornets nest vs closing the stable door after the horse as bolted.

You put a Code 2 in for a wylex rewireable, then?
 
What I am saying Charlie is that if a CU has been installed properly the terminations are extremely unlikely to become loose.
As I said earlier, I've gone years after installation and the terminals have still been tight. What part of that is difficult to understand.
 
Jokers or not how do you code a potential risk to life and property ??

Think about it, Existing moulded consumer units are being referred to as no longer compliant because they lack the ability to contain a potential fire hazard.

So after July 1st 2016 how do you code these boards.

You do an EICR, leave the moulded plastic board in place, deem the installation as satisfactory, issue a report with a 10 year life span.
The following year an electrical fire kills 3 of the occupants and the board is the source of ignition.

Your cert is still valid, and your name is on it.
Now find the joker, nobody's gonna laugh at this one ????

Can of worms vs poking the hornets nest vs closing the stable door after the horse as bolted.

Well, simply check all the terminations in a CU are sound as part of your I&T.
You can't go around willy-nillingly condemning installations as unsatisfactory because of 'combustible' CUs.
 
A plastic CU will be at worst a C3. However, if you read some of my learned friend Mr Skelton's recent posts on the matter you'll see that plastic CUs in domestic situations have not been banned after all. Far from it in fact
 
What I am saying Charlie is that if a CU has been installed properly the terminations are extremely unlikely to become loose.
As I said earlier, I've gone years after installation and the terminals have still been tight. What part of that is difficult to understand.

Hang on a minute! I stated that loose terminals are not NECESSARILY due to poor workmanship!
What part of that don't you understand?
Ok..will explain it to you... Some loose terminals are loose due to poor workmanship and some loose terminals are not due to poor workmanship..ok.
I have also been to jobs where terminals are still sound after many years, I have also been to jobs where the terminals are very loose..
Improvements could be made to the terminals to prevent them loosening.
I think it is unfair for the likes of BEAMA to blame poor workmanship for loose terminals when the reason could be down to other causes
 

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