Advice on rewiring a house?

[subaqua]

nah we hugged and made up by PM .

Bromptonfb has some valid points and some not so valid, just like me.

my main concern is ensuring people don't get hurt. I get tired of hearing the regs are the law. they are not , they can be used to help determine if good practice was used but there is nothing to say we have to do exactly what is written down. Indeed , as Bromptonfb will agree, there are several paragraphs in the standard that contradict each other. this is where we use our engineering abilities to determine the correct method to be applied.

several of the old school tie clubs ( NICEIC is a good example) have a set of ACOPS for their members and a lot of the members see this as what the regs mean you MUST do , when it is in fact one interpretation.

in a commercial environment using the regs will ensure complince with several pieces of secondary and primary legislation that could only ever be applied in a commercial environment , and yes paying somebody to rewire your house is a commercial situation. money has changed hands.

part p is heading towards making them a statutory document and i am undecided if this is a good or bad thing. personally a scheme such as gas safe with a UK register of electricians graded by skill and qualification ( just like the JIB grading scheme) would be the solution but this is being resisted by the government as it could be deemed restrictive practice. sad really when it would weed out the 2 week sun sparks who are the ones that cause most of the problems. wiring socket oulets in 1.5 instead of 2.5 etc, diagonal cabling in kitchens , not having the technical background to understand why bonding and earthing are different and why we do what we do with installations that are supplied from PME systems.

 

[summerdays]

I've been reading this all with interest and have shown it to Mr Summerdays who would have a much greater understanding of it all. Thank you for all the comments, as usual you can always rely on CycleChat as an alternative to Wiki to find out information on most subjects under the sun

Seeing the electrician tonight and I've drawn up some plans of where I think the sockets should go. At least I feel I'm going into this armed with a little more knowledge.

 

[srw]

No-one's mentioned the most important point. A full proper rewire is hugely disruptive. All the carpets will be up, all the rooms will be dusty, all the walls may have to be replastered and repainted. You may even have to redo some of the ceilings.

 

[summerdays]

Well met the electrician - turns out I was wrong - it's not one ring main for the house ... it's one radial main for the house currently.

I realise that it will be a mess - that's why we want to get it over with as soon as possible. (And it is only the first of a potential succession of mess - cavity wall tie person being the next.)

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

ah right so none of it is actually statutory then.
suggest you read 114.1 ,page 15 if you want it made easy, in the current edition which explains the relationship with current statutory regulations.

Memorandum of guidance on the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989


which are law, as a site is a place of employment, whether self employed, or employed by a company.

i can see though how some electricians fail to be educated in this back door way of enforcing the bs7671 and making it 'law'.

7. The British Standard BS 7671 Requirements for Electrical Installations is also known as the IEE Wiring Regulations* – they are non-statutory regulations. They ‘relate principally to the design, selection, erection, inspection and testing of electrical installations, whether permanent or temporary, in and about buildings generally and to agricultural and horticultural premises, construction sites and caravans and their sites’. BS 7671 is a code of practice which is widely recognised and accepted in the UK and compliance with it is likely to achieve compliance with relevant aspects of the 1989 Regulations.

also have a read of:
IEC Guide 105. Principles concerning the safety of equipment electrically connected to a telecommunications network.

"Rules are for the obedience of fools, and the guidance of wise men."


you sir, have been corrected.

 

[subaqua]

one word. Likely. not WILL. see the difference

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Seeing the electrician tonight and I've drawn up some plans of where I think the sockets should go.

However many sockets you've allowed for, double it...at least. And put some more in.