Are there any jobs we CAN still do ourselves?

[Mark A]

Our electric hob suddenly stopped working so I bought a new one and fitted it myself yesterday. An easy job, replacing like-for-like.

I turned it on this morning (to cook some scrambled eggs) and acrid smoke started to waft up from underneath. I managed to return it to Currys, thought the woman took a lot of convincing first. She said it should have been installed by a qualified electrician, otherwise our house insurance would be void. She then went on to say my wiring was the fault, which I find particularly offensive since my wiring was far superior to that of the electrician who rewired our house five years ago (only when I pulled out the oven I discovered he had just used a terminal strip wrapped in insulation tape).

I thought I was permitted to replace electrical fittings like-for-like, thought a qualified electrician (or an inspection by Buildings Regs) was required if changes to the wiring were to be made?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Mark

 

[joethedrummer]

Oh dear don"t get me going !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MMUK]

Connecting a cooker can be done by any "competent" person as long as it is connected to an existing circuit (as in this case) and the work done complies with BS7671.

http://www.niceic.com/Uploads/File1247.pdf

Print that out and show it to the stupid female Alsatian, she obviously needs educating. In fact, print it out for yourself - it tells you what you can and can't do regarding notification.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

We're all the victims of the increasing complexity of life. Back in the days when almost all the electrical knowledge you needed was blue for neutral, brown for live and green for earth (since changed!), and how to twirl a small screwdriver, DIY electrics wasn't so complicated; but then the curcuits and appliances in the average house weren't so complex as they are today either. But after a lot of house fires attributable to wiring faults, legislation to restrict electrical work to 'competent persons' came about with the perfectly laudable aim of reducing the number of house fires.

Have to admit that apart from changing plugs and lightbulbs, I leave anything electrical well alone. However, I do understand the frustration of those with more competence than I. It would be wise to ensure that your competence is real though, not just misplaced confidence. House fires are a real pain in the arm.

 

[finneyb]

But after a lot of house fires attributable to wiring faults, legislation to restrict electrical work to 'competent persons' came about with the perfectly laudable aim of reducing the number of house fires.

I also expect it was protectionism by the Electricians' Union, taking advantage of the opportunity.

Brian

 

[MMUK]

We're all the victims of the increasing complexity of life. Back in the days when almost all the electrical knowledge you needed was blue for neutral, brown for live and green for earth (since changed!), and how to twirl a small screwdriver, DIY electrics wasn't so complicated; but then the curcuits and appliances in the average house weren't so complex as they are today either. But after a lot of house fires attributable to wiring faults, legislation to restrict electrical work to 'competent persons' came about with the perfectly laudable aim of reducing the number of house fires.

Have to admit that apart from changing plugs and lightbulbs, I leave anything electrical well alone. However, I do understand the frustration of those with more competence than I. It would be wise to ensure that your competence is real though, not just misplaced confidence. House fires are a real pain in the arm.

Old colours for mains cables were RED live, BLACK neutral, GREEN earth.
New colours are BROWN live, BLUE neutral, GREEN/YELLOW earth

Flex has been in the "new" colours for quite a number of years now, even before the mains cable colour change.

:wink:

Just to confuse matters, 3 phase used to be RED,YELLOW,BLUE with a BLACK neutral. Now it's BROWN,BLACK,GREY with a BLUE neutral. Crazy using the old neutral for a live and vice-versa.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

.......which is one reason why I stick to changing lightbulbs and plugs, and leave the complicated stuff to someone ... er .... moderately competent.

 

[Lons]

Ignorant employee would say anything to disuade you from returning faulty goods. I'd email a complaint to the chief exec.

If she'd said that to me I'd have asked her to prove how she was qualified to lecture me on electrics or insurance.

 

[Jonzjob]

This is one of about 6 wall boxes around our house. Normal for France, so what's complicated?



Red is something, yellow something else, blue something else again, but the yellow/green might be earth?

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

The clear plastic box on the right is the relay for the kitchen lights and the 4 seperate switches that can operate it :shock:

 

[RogerS]

....But after a lot of house fires attributable to wiring faults, legislation to restrict electrical work to 'competent persons' came about with the perfectly laudable aim of reducing the number of house fires.....

Sorry but where is the evidence to support this claim? Lots of cases of numpties incorrectly loading extension leads or electric blankets but no evidence that faulty wiring by non-competent people caused 'a lot of house fires'.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I question whether the legislation has made any real difference to the safety of most domestic electrical installations, although it has created more work for electricians.

Those that recognise the potential dangers and complexity would anyway employ someone qualified or take the trouble (easier in the internet age) to understand how to do the job properly.

The incompetent are often too confident to acknowledge their inadequacies and continue to do poor quality and dangerous work anyway, ignorant of compliance and motivated by an apparent cost saving.

Terry

 

[Mark A]

Connecting a cooker can be done by any "competent" person as long as it is connected to an existing circuit (as in this case) and the work done complies with BS7671.

http://www.niceic.com/Uploads/File1247.pdf

Print that out and show it to the stupid female Alsatian, she obviously needs educating. In fact, print it out for yourself - it tells you what you can and can't do regarding notification.

Thanks for the link; it made for some interesting reading.

Ignorant employee would say anything to disuade you from returning faulty goods. I'd email a complaint to the chief exec.

If she'd said that to me I'd have asked her to prove how she was qualified to lecture me on electrics or insurance.

I wasn't certain if cookers were something I could legally touch, so I thought it best not to antagonise her before she had processed the refund!

While on the subject, can anyone recommend a particular brand of well-designed electrical fittings? I bought a MK cooker outlet for this and I had to modify the front plate so that it would screw on.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[chippy1970]

MK are usually the best

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[MMUK]

MK are usually the best

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

You're confusing quality with price there chippy :wink:

MK are the most expensive by far but they're nowhere near the best. If you want superior quality look at Schneider. :mrgreen:

 

[Student]

Don't get me started about electrics and Part P regulations. Our oven needed replacing so, as it was work in the kitchen, I contacted a local firm that employs qualified electricians. There was one going between jobs so he called in. He pulled out the old oven, connected the three 2.5mm wires from the oven to the junction box that the original installer had left hanging at the back of the cabinet, put the oven back and then had a cup of tea. Total time on the premises - 1/2 hour; total time for work - 1/4 hour. Time charged 1 1/2 hours BUT he never did give me the certificate saying that the work complied with Part P.

Another "qualified" electrician that my son employed, having spent time telling me about how important it was to have suitably qualified electricians, installed some sockets on a wall. He chased out the plaster in a couple of places which was only 1/2 in thick. Having covered the cable with plastic trim, he said that it could be plastered over. I pointed out that the trim sat 3 mm proud of the rest of the plaster so he chased out the wall a bit more and the trim was then 2 mm below the surface. We had to skim the whole wall to cover it up. I thought he couldn't be that bad a second time, so I asked him to rewire the connection to our garage. He installed the junction box on a door jamb of the basement utility room. When I tried to shut the door, it caught the box. His solution; cut a slice out of the door. Finally, inadvertently, my daughter employed the same guy to bury their light switch and socket cabling as it was surface mounted. The mess he made was unbelievable. He also told me that he had nearly had a problem. In chasing out the wall, he missed a gas pipe buried in the wall by less than 1/2 inch. However, he did give us certificates!

I could go on but .....