Every landlord should watch this. I'm a sparky with 15 rental properties containing 15 familes in them - that's a lot of lives in my care. A proper EICR is not negotiable.
That's totally the right way to look at it. Are you sure your a landlord? Shouldn't you be saying that's 15 potential insurance claims when they all go up in smoke, rather than that's 15 families life you are responsible for? 😂
This is a fantastically educational supplement to the John Ward "Inspection and Testing" series. Each polar opposites in style of delivery but ultimately with highly complementary results.
I really like how you always back up your own words with regs Love the video Dave , honestly one of the best i have seen on YT, Your channel is great, keep it up
I agree michal, David did a good job of this one.. hid the persons details for legal ease and then showed exactly why it was terrible and unacceptable. Keep it up David.
Heard of a landlord who arranged 5 back to back 1 x bed flats inspections .All same floor nice apartments in west end of London. Built 1950's . Each test took 30 mins . All readings / note 100% the same for each flat ! The spark was paid £80.00 for each one . Thats serious money !. As landlord said "who really fucking checks? Its a tick box pay money thing " He is right .The whole system for gas and electrics in the UK is a fucking mess . Just get them done and dont bother the tenant too much or the landlord . Unless its shit dangerous .THis Spark says he can do £1200 worth of easy tests a week
David your delivery is class I am literally in bits. I love it when I get called for a quote for a ECIR and they say "what I can get it much cheaper than that" I respond with yes you can but what you want is a piece of paper not a test. Keep up with videos they are brilliant viewing.
I charge minimum £275.00 for a EICR it’s around 4-5 hours on a property up to 3 beds and the time off site documenting. I produce a photo of issue or observation, regulation reference with a solution and cost to rectify. I use an app called site audit pro. This can then be used as a pricing document for other contractors of the client wants more prices. There needs to be a standard on this so everyone prices to carry out the same level of testing. I generally carry out ring continuity, insulation resistance live to earth and neutral to earth, but not live to neutral as a limitation and always at 250V 1st. I will carry out all live tests and calculate R1+R2 as the circuit is already in service.
What we charge doesn't reflect the work that goes into it and we make more on installation work, but I fear that charging too much would mean we undertake very few inspections and only those with deeper pockets would be able to afford us. I know that sounds like I have my head up my arse, but I like to think we do a proper job as much as we can, and I want us to be as accessible as we can. It also opens doors to new repeat clients and new work, so can be worth the hit. As for testing, like you, there are as few limitations as possible. I've heard people say they don't undertake IR testing because if the RCD ain't tripping, then it can't be bad! They fail to see that the idea is to find the current condition so that we know it's safe and then if problems later occur we have a record of how things have changed.
I lived in a house built in 2008 (I've since moved). The CU was located in the downstairs toilet and was plastic. The stairs started to the right of the toilet but spiraled round so that the last 4-5 steps were above the downstairs toilet, the stairs were made of wood. This was the only staircase and therefore the only means of exit. Would this mean that the CU would not meet current regs? Strictly speaking, I would say that a CU change would be required, but interested on what an electricians perspective on this would be? Thanks for sharing. Atb Shaun
I've recently stopped doing any work for a company who constantly compare me to the drive by class as mentioned in my tweet and your beautifully ranted video! Not only am I better than them in terms of quality of reporting, but if I agree to do work for people who say "I know it's cheap but you'll get the remedial repairs too" then I'm only contributing to this very real race to the bottom. I'd much prefer to carry out a proper EICR than just a half baked thing with the prospect of extra work.
Oh yeah, that old one of "I want it cheap because I have loads of properties and you'll get any remedials!" They'll want the remedials cheap too of course, so the only way to deal with them is to make up work!
Fantastic video, same as usual. I had one like this a couple of months ago, landlord was abroad, and an electrician was sent by estate agent carried out inspection and test and issued an EICR. Then landlord contacted me for a second opinion. When I was reading it, I didn't know to laugh at it or cry for our industry.
Bang on, can't argue. I’ve been dribbling on about this for years. Any electrical cert is not only for the client. So if you do an install or EICR and all did goes belly up on a site (no matter the size) and the documentation doesn’t marry up, then game up. As soon s it gets in to a court of law they will rip it to pieces. This document IS an insurance policy for your work and competence. This then begs the question whey 2391, 2394, 2395 there is not a day of how to fill these out? Just a thought
Hi David! Watched your videos from time to time over the years ! Amused by the wit of delivery! Haha! Just wanted to comment a thing or two about present day regs. Which maybe of interest to your watchers and yourself. When I was doing my apprenticeship in a factory. ( In the 70s) When a metal enclosure was used being a switch, socket or whatever? We would drill 1/8'' hole in the bottom corner of the unit order to reduce condensation and run off any condensated water. Now the introduction of metal clad consumer units where the fitting and the sealed cable entry are completely closed to outside atmosphere will not be able to breathe and may produce leakages which at best may cause nuisance tripping of the RCD. We remember in the old days before the back of RCDs that damp sockets would smell acidically horrendous ! as they arched within!
Good points - even my wife was informed and interested- We had an EICR recently and one electrician and mature apprentice took all day - 9 hours and charged £200- it was very thorough and gave us a fair amount to improve. We feel it was good value as the system is now safer and more capable. (Redditch area)
Another top video. I worked for a Sheffield based company that expected three tests a day times 6 electricians. Some of the guys were doing them easily with hours to spare. I was working over every night with no dinner or even tea breaks. Worst fours years of my electrical career. Wouldn't be stupid enough these days to do it again. At job interviews I ask "how many tests do you expect in a day"? If the answer is anymore than one, I would just get up and walk out of the interview!!! Far to many companies asking for 3 or more tests every day. Its a joke!!
That installer/"inspector" has actually marked it as a commercial inspection to start with, that's the first sign I'd use as a consumer to go "who the eff is this guy?" 😂
Also, I believe that RCD protection or the lack of in older installations is a C3, unless there is a socket that can be used for external use. That socket would require RCD protection regardless of the age of install. So in that case it would be a C2.
David Savery Electrical Services .....Not to be picky but internal circuits can also be used for external use. A kitchen socket just inside the back door, installed 30 years ago when RCD protection wasn’t required for internal socket outlets, would still be coded a C2 for having no RCD protection. If that same socket was on the 1st floor, it would be a C3. (Both fed from internal circuits)
Agreed. You watch a bunch of noobie numpties come along this summer all rubber-stamped as inspectors even though the only previous thing they ever inspected was bus tickets when they drove the Number 42 route.
David Savery Electrical Services 🤣 You joke but I worked for a Company not so long ago and they literally have one guy who was a bus driver for 20 years who went a 4 week crash course and was out doing EICR’s after just a week of working alongside another “electrician” They have an army of guys who only have 17th/18th Edition and 2392 (level 2 initial verification) doing 4-8 tests a day each! One of the many reasons I had to get away from that shit show but even with some of the better companies doing all these EICR’s for social housing etc 4 tests a day is the bog standard target per day.
@@Daniel.Dalziel Crikey. It'll never get stamped out though, standards continue to slip, and it's only thanks to good earthing and protective devices doing their job that more aren't killed or injured, but it's cure rather than prevention.
you lose the initial eicr, but you get the repeat eicr a few days later... (as David seems to have here). And you get to sleep soundly at night. I may be weird but that counts to me...
Northy 32 Totally agree with you mate. The company I had worked for for over 20 years fell foul of these rogues and their so called contracts managers. We’d been doing social housing with eicrs/ remedials for years the right way and left every job compliant and correctly certified. Mr “newbie” Electrical manager turns up a pulls the plug, now having a big shytefest of a company doing 8-12 eicrs a day with an horrendous complaints log. I’m now left seeking work after years of doing proper eicrs and now have to try and sift through the copious amounts of crap offers like what caused this situation in the first place to try and survive. That’s the state our industry is in.! On paper compliance and safety is paramount...in reality it’s the total opposite.
Works the same for an MOT. If somewhere is offering a £30 MOT there is no way they will be making any money on it. In fact they will be making a substantial loss if they do the test properly. Paying 40 or even 50+ quid you are much more likely going to get honesty and not a big list of unnecessary repairs.
Interesting, when the council electrical inspector visited my nans flat and was told about the atrocious light switches and dodgy sockets with broken gates etc he noted it down on the test but never changed the fucking things. I know none of them have been changed since contruction (1976). One of them blew up only a month later. He did find a fault with one leg of the ring circuit leading to a socket in the lounge, then proceeded to shove trucking down the wall to replace the faultly section, gouging out the top of the metal patress to top insert the new 2.5mm section. I later found out when decorating that a sharp piece of metal had gone right through the "new" cable and penetrated the live conductor - with the expected bang and RCD reaction having obviously moved it the last 1mm needed to make Valhalla. By this point I had a guts full of it and replaced the lot with MK fittings myself, something I'm not supposed to do and shouldn't have to either but when you get such a bollox reaction and quality of workmanship from the official source you stop giving a shit, you just realise nobody is coming to help, it's all on you. I should have complained on her behalf, but that's not how it works, as long as the fucking boxes are ticked - nobody cares. And just to prove it, the consumer unit supplying that worn out calamity - well thats a 14 way dual RCD metal consumer unit - with 4 circuits! Ring / Cooker / Lights / Immersion. It's got more blanks than CEF. Why? Because somewhere it ticked a fucking box. Epic Rant.
I went to a job the other day that had an EICR the week before ,a 2 bed flat £240 inc vat ,I asked the tenant how long the NICEIC sparky had been there ,they said no more than 30 mins .what more can I say ,and the pages for test results not filled in and not signed
Bloody hell. The thing is, in that instance they've paid the full rate for a proper job which they haven't received. Had it been below a ton, I'd say it was too cheap and they should expect to have their pants pulled down, but that's daylight robbery. They should complain to NICEIC and/or trading standards as there's no way the guy could prove he's done a diligent job.
I lost out to another contractor who told the customer he had a special offer on Eicr £90 so they went with him, they had purchased the house but weren't around when the inspection was done, the contractor carried out the work and sent a failed report with £900 work, they contacted me after to ask if I would have a look at the report, there was nothing accurate on his report, he had put things like no protective bonding present, but this wasn't the case it was all there how many people have they caught out like this. 🤔
Had an EICR test done today, not sure how much my Landlord has paid for it but it only took 45 minutes, 1 Consumer unit 6 circuits physically tested the cooker and 1 socket in each room, he also passed the lighting circuit which, well if only i could upload a picture here, Flush mount light fitting in ensuite (zone 1) ip20 rated he has marked as a C3, i have taken this light fitting down before the test as it was buzzing, left it as I found it expecting a fail and it gets passed, i am now worried about the state of the wiring in this house so will go through it myself and make it safe (i'm one of your favorite types of People David, I am an Electrical Engineer)
Had my mate round yesterday, he is a site manager at a J+I school, they just had the PAT testing done last week, he said over a couple of days staff started noticing that the date on the labels was wrong, so he is calling them back out to rectify the mistake. out of curiosity I asked him how long did it take the guy to do all the testing, which is around 450 items, fully expecting him to say around 3 day's his reply was the guy started at 8AM and was all done and left about 1PM I all most fell of the sofa, he really has just come in and just put a sticker on everything, so they are going to pay a bill off over £400 for nothing, I told him to call me next year to do it.
450 items in about half a day? Absolute waste of money as you say. All they've done is buy stickers and pay a guy to whack 'em onto everything. I really must finish my PAT testing video I started last year where I talk of this nonsense!
I think it would be a worth while video to bring the point to customers attention, I guess they work on the thought proses off people wont know how long this should take to do, so we will get away with saying it is all done in a small amount off time, the head teacher did say it makes you wonder how good a good they have done if they cant even get the date on the labels right haha,Have to read the instruction on my new Hpat 600 again, I am not sure what the shift key function does, the instructions tell you how to activate it and deactivate it, but unless I missed a section it doesn't actually explain what it is for, I will read it again lol
Good day sir just a quick question in the napit book it says that a socket down stair without rcd is a c2 as it could be used with extension lead outside but then as you rightfully pointed out no rcd protection is c3 what's your thoughts asking for a friend 😉
I can't seem to find that Steve. They have a C2 for anything that can be used outdoors, but not for internal sockets that someone might attach an extension lead to and throw out of the window. And as far as that's concerned, I'd code it based only on the fixed wiring of the installation. If all sockets are internal, but date back to before RCD protection was required, then it's a C3. Just because someone *might* trail an extension lead outside to plug in a lawnmower doesn't come into it in the same way that a socket outside a bathroom doesn't get failed because someone might drag an extension lead into there so they can plug in their bean-to-cup machine and make a macchiato while soaking in a tub of Matey bubble bath. I'm concerned only with the fixed wiring, and while I'd recommend Joe Homeowner gets additional protection, whether he does or how he goes on to use the installation is down to him.
David been watching your vids for a while and although not a sparky like the himour👍 just wondering if you could answer a question. The bathroom sockets in this vid and also the fact that we are buying a newish 2016 house shortly. Can you still have shaver points located near the sink/taps or do they have to be a certain distance away? Cheers and keep the vids coming.
Shaver sockets which have protection via an isolating transformer can be installed in Zone 2 where direct spray from showers is unlikely. When it comes to sinks, there are no set distance regulation in BS7671 that I know of even for standard socket outlets, although the Electrician's Guide to the Building Regulations recommends outlets be at least 300mm from the sink. This is because some kitchens and utility rooms are so small, there isn't enough distance in the room to move socket outlets too far away. Common sense prevails of course, and in the case of shavers or standard outlets, they shouldn't be immediately above the sink area, but they can be close to it.
Really good video Dave - These sorts of drive by inspections don’t worry me anymore - it used to really wind me up as I thought I was missing out on the additional work to some 5 week wonder spark with no idea what they are doing. But now I take the view that if a customer wants to pay the cheapest price for an inspection then I don’t want them as a customer and in my experience you end up getting the work anyway. There’s still not enough public awareness regarding electrical works and not enough prosecutions when it goes wrong so I can see it continuing for years to come.
You'll never stamp 'em out Gareth, so best not to get stressed and to take on the jobs uncocking the mess. Not enough wrist slapping goes on as you say.
I have just subscribed to your channel off the back of this video. It’s both educational and funny as fudge 👌🏽 Genuinely, I had my regs book out whilst watching this to get a better understanding, whilst also cleaning up the piss in my pants from your reply to check-a-trade! Top work, David.
PDF files can be electronically signed to ensure any later modification invalidates the signature. But it requires purchasing a commercial certificate that a particular signature mark belongs to you and nobody else. These commercial certificates don't check your qualifications. just your name and maybe some kind of ID paperwork, recipients of the PDF will need to compare the certified name to your approved contractor registration. The commercial certificate may or may not include a physical key to prevent people stealing your secret 70 digit seal. You may or may not need additional software to apply the signature to a PDF file.
Fantastic video with many valid points. I’ve been to jobs where the dodgy landlords say they’re only paying if I pass it, I walk away. There are too many testing people, I see loads more in the future, who either fail everything to get the ‘fix’ work or pass on a nod and a wink. I’ve worked and studied long and hard to be qualified and working through 2396 because I love the job however I’m sick of these terrible fly by night people
That's the other side of the coin, and one I really should have mentioned, where someone is paid to pass the installation regardless of its true state.
Hiya. My favourite was the council who tender the eicrs out. Was doing maintenance when I saw a father and son brigade who tendered like £37 for an eicr. Doing 30-50 full flat eicrs a day. Clocked 20 mins a flat. Per inspection. That’s walking up 3 flights of stairs as the tails to the fuse boards had just been put back in. Found 11 flats where the dno put live and neutral backwards into the fuse board main switch. I said they could only use Henley blocks in future as non electricians shouldn’t be taking out tails to put in new ones and complained to nic about them. Extent and limitations on ring circuit. No ring/ zs on sickets apart from 1 next to fuseboard. Rcds. Not tested as tenants said the power never went off while watching house inspected. Joke. The thing that people don’t understand though. Is if you put your name on it. And somebody gets injured killed. That’s 3rd degree manslaughter. And I want to go home knowing people are safe.
Crikey. For £37, I wouldn't even get out the van! Still, it sounds like they were raking it in, albeit with the risk they'd be hauled up in court one day. But then, how did the council not pick up on what must have been appalling quality reporting? Or did they just not care if someone else had signed it off?
Was just wondering would you class a low voltage bathroom fan as selv as that’s a bit like a circuit starting at the transformer and finishing at the fan? Excellent videos thanks.
Brilliant. Well said.this industry is saturated with pessimism. I love your optimism. Those type of people always say, "Well, you have to cover your own back, havn't you"!? Hmmmm? Thanks for that David.
This type of video is quite informative and helps make the homeowner aware of what they should be getting from a proper report from a proper competent and qualified sparky. I've had a read of your cowboy competition blog and it truly is shocking (excuse the pun) on what sort of shite is going on out there!
I can't complain too much I suppose, I make good business un-borking bad work. You'll never stamp it out, but if it saves a few well installed plastic CU's from being replaced with poorly installed metal ones, then that should be a good thing.
I can remember working for a company a few years ago who just got a new contract with a housing association who only requested visual inspections and no testing on their properties ( they wouldn't pay for a Eicr( periodic inspection at the time) at change of tenancy or void property and had another contractor in who would do an eicr every 5 years. Thankfully that was soon after changed to include testing and inspections.
A visual tells you so little. "Can I see anything that may be immediately dangerous or that the tenant has messed about with?" Doesn't give much else to go on!
@@dsesuk yes that was pointed out to the client with the company I worked for saying they couldnt take responsibility for any electrical defects, DIY and testing for earthing and said they wouldn't continue doing just visual inspections and had it agreed to carry out testing and certification after office meetings. I can remember another council I did inspection and testing for who would say to cut the plugs off extension multiple adaptor leads so they can't be used to potentially overload socket outlets.
Remember that EICR maximum damand failure vid from about a year ago? It's a snap from that. The RCD was rated at 63A driving three 40A electric shower circuits and five socket ring circuits (two of which served two kitchens). It had failed in the closed position (wouldn't mechanically operate to open), and I could make no guarantees for its ongoing performance with more current than it was designed for passing through it, hence the C1.
Such a cool video David, just love your delivery and style. If you ever wanted a change of career, I'm sure the BBC would happily employ you on some kind of consumer complaints program. 😀
Another fab, no holds (or ballbags) barred take on the EICRs. I had an email from a certain PROPerty CERTificate company asking whether we would be interested in doing EICRs for a similar price. My reply, whilst not as fluent and direct as your own CheckaTrade reply, was nonetheless to the point of "go forth ye scroats and multiply". Keep the vids coming
Sadly David with the new EICR requirements we will we flooded with some sparks who will order works when there is probably 0 need to top up the paltry fee they charge for the report but hey god bless the government for loving landlords with all these regs and then not making it clear that only suitable people should be allowed to do this work and not any old spark , will be seeking your services come June. I reluctantly agreed to 3 consumer unit changes purely as they were fairly old but just like you I tried arguing it wasn’t required but gave up after 3-4 sparks just weren’t willing to even bother seeing it from a common sense point of view.
Ah its like your describing this weeks job. I went to change a consumer unit and carry out remedial works on a domestic installation as per an EICR carried out at the end of 2019 by another so called contractor, only to see 3x code 2's on the report, 2 consumer units out of the three were missing from the report, BS numbers were missing or wrong for some of the protective devices and a multitude of other dangerous incompetence. After explaining to the customer why this was such an abomination, they agreed for use to carry out the EICR properly. We found 16 code 3 items, 65 code 2 items, 1 code 1 on the bloody shower circuit of all places, where a shower pull switch and the cabling behind it had melted about 250mm back up the cable so much so that the supply cable and load cable had melted together and had no insulation left at all in places, had exposed live conductors and a dead short between Neutral and CPC with not an RCD to be seen! What the hell is wrong with people in this industry, I couldn't sleep at night if I had produced a report like that. It is refreshing when I see your video's, keep bringing this shit into the light for people to see it. Good Job! 👍
@@dsesuk Yes I know, it was only a 3 bedroom bungalow with a garage, it really was bad. An example of some of the code 2 items we found are as follows; There were multiple junction boxes in the loft and nearly all of them had single insulation showing 200mm - 300mm out each side of the junction box with the CPC's twisted together, no CPC sleeving or connectors, spurs off the 30A ring in 1.0mm T+E cable, CPC's all cut off in Y plan heating system cabling, CPC's used as switched Line conductors, Outside class 1 light fittings with CPC cut off, no main equipotential bond to incoming gas service or copper water pipe entering the building, orange 1.0mm garden flex spurred from the immersion circuit into a light fitting!, the list goes on page after page! We were very close to re-wiring the place, but decided to carry out the remedial works instead as the customer didn't have the budget for a full re-wire. I also found it pretty shocking that the guy charged them £500 for the previous report, considering it took me 8 hours to carry out a new EICR properly.
Valid observations and highly entertaining. Even in these litigeous times, it is common to find letting property owners who don't understand the risks (both physical and legal) involved in not doing the job right. Well said mate.
Fault protection on a PME supply is performed by the fuses/MCBs, isn't it? In case of a TT supply with high earth impedance it could be a second Type S RCD with another 30 mA RCD for additional protection.
Spot on with everything you say 👍, unfortunately this is the norm. Where I live they are charging £50 run in the front door and out the back door. They don't realise what they are taking on and the consequences. I went to one job, they had a test done, said it just wanted some updating work, I had only been there 10 mins and found the place was wired in rubber, the place got rewired and the guy got stopped by the NIC from doing testing, he was doing it for an estate agent, who don't like paying anyway.
@@dsesuk yeah very true, personally I have stopped doing them unless it's for regulars, there's no money in them. My plumber mate gets £85 for testing one gas appliance when he does a landlord cert, says it all really, The sad thing is it will never change.
Used to work with a guy called letterbox Jack. He was so named because it was said that he could test a house through the letterbox. He did 10 tests a day.
Page 37 NAPIT EICR Codebreakers. Section 5.10 would see almost all None rcd circuits receive a C2. You don't need to open a wall to know if the cable is mechanically protected. And as we can only assume that the only protection it needs is from a nail or screw, then anything other than earthed steel conduit would not provide protection. So if the cable enters the back box from the side's through a rubber grommet then we can can safely assume its less than 50mm deep and not protected. You ask for documentation and referenced the book your self! doubt you would argue the logic. Really like the channel, blogs ect. Great humour and knowledge Regards Steven
I see what you're saying Steven, and I must admit I hadn't spotted that in Codebreakers. Can't say I agree with it as that would mean any pre-17th Edition installation would always be marked as unsatisfactory because of cables in walls at less than 50mm lacking mechanical protection (lighting mainly). But then, just fifteen years ago, that's how houses were built. It seems NAPIT are suggesting lack of full RCD protection is a C2 then, even though the protection for the cable is supposed to be the prescribed zone itself. Good find, I'll have to have a closer look at that.
I've been thinking all day about your video, and as NIC always say its your interpretation, and I will admit you have a very good understanding maybe better than mine.... But I read, watch and learn all the time to offer a better service. The one thing that's been going round my head was the idea of the old man who might pop his clogs in a few years and the next person to own the property can bring it up to date. So assuming u give a satisfactory somehow on an old rewireble with numerous c3 but... Then for argument sake he find a new lease of life and marrys Nigle and they move in to Nigles House and put the property out to rent with 4 years left on the EICR you issued. Do you still feel comfortable? My concern is that the old man has the choice not to fit Rcd even though they do offer much inhanced safety to the installation(in my opinion). The tenant dose not get the choice? They may get to see the report but, they were not present when you and the owner had the discussion where you rightly emphasised the benefits. If you went to the same property but knew it was intended to be rented, would your interpretation be seen through a different set of goggles? My feeling is it will be insurance that will push it as I have had 2 landlords where the insurance have said they do not want to see Recommendations on the Certs
@@sgfelectrical734 When I talk of the old man, it's about someone who has been living in that house as his home for decades, and it shows. Nobody's touched the decor since the Eighties, the furniture is as dusty and creaky as he is, a lifetime of personal effects and photographs of kids who have all long since grown up and moved away hang on the walls. His mobility and/or his memory may be poor and it's pretty obvious that no new lease of life is going to be dangled before him. Like the carpets, the electrical installation is dated, but by the same token, it hasn't been meddled with. It's been providing overcurrent protection for years, and inspection shows it still does. It's been providing shock protection via earthing for years, and the testing says it still does. No new modifications have been made since the requirements for additional protection started filtering through 16th Edition in the 1990's, and he's got no plans to start putting in a new kitchen or loft conversion! Will he really benefit from the expense and upheaval of an upgrade to an 18th Edition consumer unit for his remaining time there if the overcurrent and shock protection have been confirmed as being still in place and operational? If he pops his clogs and his family decide to clear out his stuff and rent the place, or if he decides to move in with his daughter and rent the house himself, then it's a different situation. Now that property would be expected to be brought up to a better standard for the new tenants, and not just the electrical installation. Even a basic refurb ought to see it redecorated and an improved bathroom and kitchen put in, and those sort of modifications will likely require alterations to the electrical installation which themselves would have to comply with today's standards, so best to change the CU at source at that point. My point, which I may not have made very well, was that if I knew the property was going to be a rental or lived in by younger people, my report would recommend an upgrade, and I'd sell the client the safety benefits of it, but where it's someone who may be vulnerable, confused or upset at the upheaval or change brought on by workmen installing new equipment, or where I don't see them getting a long term benefit from their investment because it's all likely to be stripped back to the bricks sooner rather than later, then the report will recommend the upgrade, but I won't push for it.
I could not agree more.... Where my head struggles is that we have to sell the idea of safety. Where maybe the regs on any form could help. It's easy to sell a family on the idea of safety. Most parents would naturally be risk adverse. It's a different story with a landlord (not all) who's first question is do I have too. Not to pull you apart... But great to converse. Please take as a compliment
Im Domestic installer myself, dont do eicrs, agree with everything you said, obvious really looking at this eicr, but worth spreading for sure. But what bothers me, you said you will charge about £140 for that eicr, it would take you half a day, 2 people, which i agree, for 3 bed house with propper testing. Surelly its not what experienced electrician as yourself should earn? Especially that on other video you mentioned £60 for e7 controller swap, which is fair... how do you make money on eicrs??
Is it really statutory (BS7671) to be registered with one of these NICEIC NAPIT ECA.....or BS7671 states that the person carrying the work must be a complete person. Or perhaps a different term is used
No, accreditation with a CPS isn't necessary. It has advantages for a business like mine as it makes complying with Part-P of the building regulations easier and helps to inspire customer confidence, but you don't have to be accredited and there are plenty of people who are yet shouldn't be!
Hi Dave. What would your report say if for example everything checked out but the consumer unit is plastic and not the latest reccomendation of metal ? is it still a pass ? Regards Don
Hi Don. If plastic and installed in a sole escape route or under wooden stairs, then it's a C3 assuming there are no other considerations to take into account (e.g. a fire might start in it because it has the wrong protective devices or it's got a hole in it exposing live parts). If, like on this installation, it's located somewhere non-critical, shows no signs of damage, improper modification, overheating, loose connections, etc., then the 'Condition of Enclosure in Terms of Fire Rating' box would get a tick with no comment and no observation recorded.
@@dsesuk lol thats a good thing, yea maybe yt being twits again, and tell your work mate, hes a plooker lol , also great videos buddy , i do learn alot just by watching them
Great Video Dave, its just cropped up into my feed. Keep the cowboys in the headlights. Too many DIYers see the cowboys efforts and decide they can mimic them thinking its the right way. I work mainly on control systems and had one 'Electrician' offer to do domestic work for me (building automation projects). He was afriend of a friend and had just rewired my mates house because of the 'much much cheapness' bought most of his kit from car boots and described 6mmsq cable as 'shower and cooker cable'. For an additional charge he could provide test results/certificates!! I said no, I would be ok not associating with him, in fact I actively avoid any social events where he may be there, just in case we ever appeared on the same photo and someone jumped to the wrong conclusion that we were even talking about anything involving electrcal installations.
Pedantic Corner: It’s with an apostrophe is perfectly fine when used as an abbreviation of a possessive noun as it replaces “it has” and has been used as a contraction in English for hundreds of years.
It's sentences like that which makes me realise I'll never fully figure out the correct use of the apostrophe however, I only received a GCSE grade D in English, so if I didn't learn it back in the sobriety of 1990, I probably won't now that my spare time largely involves me pissing down the front of my trousers.
Not necessarily, but if a contractor is registered with such a body, then they should know what what that contractor is up to. At the moment, someone could join a CPS scheme under the domestic installer umbrella and undertake EICR's, and if their CPS which doesn't allow such shenanigans doesn't know they're doing it, or doesn't make it clear that they shouldn't be, then they're not being vetted on the quality of their reports. I've said before that all accredited sparkies should have to upload a copy of each cert and report to their CPS so that when assessment time comes, a random selection can be viewed and problems with paperwork completion picked up on.
@@dsesuk This sounds like a good option However like most of the sensible solutions only the honest reputable guys will comply. The others will just not bother and who will ever know
I’m not a sparky, but your sensible / informative and legitimate descriptions of how the work should be done is valuable information for the average bod like me.....Thankyou.👍🇮🇲
David Savery Electrical Services , I’ve been an avid watcher for a good while now, love the humour, but also love the fact that there are still good / honest trades out there , such as yourself and Nige.....well Nige not so much but hey we can’t all be perfect....lol 👍🇮🇲
This is a brilliant, almost poetic piece of work, and it's great to see conscientious tradespeople having a go at the idiots. I shall watch more of your vids just for the turn of phrase :-) However I am less sympathetic than I might be as a competent DIYer who is now barely allowed to scratch his arse due to ridiculous edifice of regulations, accreditation bodies and building inspectors (who won't do their job and just tell you to pay an electrician). The trade as a whole has brought much of this idiocy upon itself and I'm afraid I feel primarily only schadenfreude in further regulations just leading to a sad race to the box-ticking bottom. It just shows that this approach of professionalising everything does not actually solve the problem it purports to solve, and DIYers with engineering degrees get shafted in the crossfire. I deeply resent how difficult/expensive it has been made for me to do my own electrical works legally, whilst it is still possible for just about everything else, including arguably more serious structural matters.
David I take my hat off to you for continued decent electrical work and enthusiasm as I after 20 years have had enough. no one wants to pay they just want “that will do work” at dirt cheap prices. I think I might become a plasterer !
You've hit the nail on the head there Guyll. A homeowner would be mighty annoyed with a poor finish on their plastering, but when it comes to electricity which they can't see, where it's covered by the fabric of the building and where it appears to be working, then they don't want to spend money on it.
David Savery Electrical Services ingorance is bliss my friend does kitchens that cost between 10-20k but you try and get £600 for bonding and a board upgrade and they look at you like your Jesse James madness
Brilliant video. I've got to give a second opinion on a installation that is unsatisfactory and needs a rewire. It's (it is) funny though, as there are no test results for any circuits. I cant wait to see it. Yes like you it takes me about 4 hrs to do a test on the average house. I thought it was only me pulling the cables out and meggering each individual circuit. Keep up the videos as i'm fed up with the smelly vision.
You never know, it may be valid. Perhaps it's in such bad condition that someone decided it wasn't worth the time and money on actual inspection and testing and just wrote it off with a massive C1!
Very interesting David and really relevant to me as i'm upgrading from DIS to AC predominantly to carry out EICR's due to the imminent changes . Carrying out EICR's isn't something i will relish but i don't want to be constantly turning work down due to not having the correct accreditation.
How do MOT certificates work these days? Are they not held on some central database and validated by the DVLA, VOSA etc? Why can't electrical inspection certs be part of a similar system? They should have to be filled in online and submitted for approval before they can be issued to the customer. Only at that point is it considered a valid document.
@@dsesuk I think this is a crazy idea because it dose nothing to protect the Incoming cable Not many people with know about it Will a Normal 100 amp fuse fit in with its place
@@nigellewis4686 The fuse would be at source Nigel, so replacing it with another in-line and to the same rating wouldn't be an advantage. Also, it's network equipment so only the DNO should be making modifications to it. Might be worth asking them about it if you have concerns as they'll be able to confirm what's at the property and whether it's adequate.
Thanks Dave I honestly thought this was a myth,OMG I saw the first one the other day.Fantasy results and codes totally wrong and very vague faults.I was thinking what the hell are they talking about,its all about ripping the unsuspecting landlord off and keeping the work to themselves. Keep up the good work Dave!
I'm not an electrician and will need an inspection soon as my property is nearly 10 years old. A quick question, how can I ensure that any electrician I ask to do a test is qualified to do so? Bear in mind, I live in a rural area not swarming with electricians. Nevertheless, I did enjoy your video even though it has worried me now!
It's tricky John as there is an awful lot of rubbish out there. If you search for the Registered Competent Persons (Electrical) database, then that will show who is accredited for inspection work, although that in itself is no guarantee you'll get someone who isn't a complete chancer. If your installation fails, your best bet is to get someone else who is well rated to look over the remedial work as they will advise on what needs doing with respect to the report without the risk they're trying to make up for the time in undertaking the report.
Good video. And well said! (I would grade a sockets outlet in a bathroom inside 3meters as a code 2 normally. There’s nothing immediately dangerous about it being there......the potential danger comes when someone decides to plug something in or decides to belly flop in the bath and send water gushing over it!) If anyone thinks it is a code 1......Let me know why! Would be interested to see another point of view?
Hi K C. Thanks for watching. I code it as a C1 as the definition for such is Immediately Dangerous, while a C2 is Dangerous in the event of a fault. It wouldn't take a fault condition for a shock incident to occur, merely someone handling electrical equipment while wet or an accident such as knocking their toaster into the bath! That's my reasoning anyway.
David Savery Electrical Services Hi David! Thanks for the reply. I understand why you consider it to be a C1.....however, I have spent many an hour thrashing back and forth regarding various issues and faults and what their grading should be. Read all sorts of guff and spoke to NICEIC tech multiple times about same things!! (Proper Sad I know) I therefore maintain that I think it is a C2, and here is my reasoning. 1. A Code 2 should be used to indicate that, whilst an observed deficiency is not considered to be dangerous at the time of the periodic inspection, it would become an immediate danger if a fault or other foreseeable event was to occur in the installation or connected equipment. 2. Further more, and in the spirit of you requesting any argument to be backed by credible publications, 👀 Lol.....you will see that a socket outlet within 3 meter of zone 1 in a bathroom is an example of what a code 2 would be in the Electrical safety first, best practice guide 4: Page 13. If the socket just sits there, 2 meters from the bath, with nothing plugged into it.....possibly inside a cabinet or something.....it’s actually of no immediate danger to anyone. It’s only when it is used it becomes ‘potentially dangerous’
In contrast....a Code 1 indicates an ‘immediate risk’ I would argue that a socket outlet present inside the 3 meter boundary that has nothing plugged into it poses no immediate risk or danger. Certainly, there is ‘potential’ for danger.....and there lies the difference between it being a C1 or C2. Thoughts??
David Savery Electrical Services Not to worry.....regardless of anything, the bloody thing shouldn’t be there! Lol! Talking of ‘electricians’ not really understanding the fundamentals; I was in a wholesaler the other day. Over heard an ‘electrician’ explaining to a client the purpose of fire rated down lights! Every part of me wanted to step in and take over......because this guy had no idea what the actual purpose of fire rated down lights is! Literally no idea! Scary thing is.....I think he thought he knew...! Dangerous people like him are out there all over the place proclaiming to be electricians! Worryingly.....they believe their own shit! I always say, there’s a big difference between ‘knowing’ how to do something and ‘understanding’ why it needs to be done like that! Quite often the difference between installation electricians and time served Approved electricians .
I'm not sure about UK regs, but here in Finland funnily enough the main feed has to be fused, MCBs or any type of automatic circuit breaker isn't allowed as the main protection. Larger commercial installations usually fit the monstrous 2000A Schneiders as additional protection after the main fuses, just so you can break the current somewhere a bit more easily. I'm not even sure if MCBs are mandatory in new installations, or if you could actually just do a new install with porcelain fuses and RCDs :)
Yes, it's all about the breaking current capacity...That makes perfect sense. Here in the UK (god rest our souls) the electricity network operator fits a fuse at the intake before the meter... it ranges from 20 to several thousand amps.(the most common for a house being 60 to 100A) But it is ALWAYS a fuse
Hello Dave - That nice paperwork is from NATIONALCERTS and its copyrighted :). There is a massive selection on reports available in all colours and logos including Approved Contractor. Do you want a copy of it?
Interesting find. I was a bit sniffy about them; they may be a useful resource for some, but Word isn't the best for form-filling, and this could still have been saved as a PDF.
Absolutely brilliant, everything you say is absolutely spot on, and I just love the way you’ve backed it up with the regs and health and safety at work act!!! Get on son!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I had exactly the same issues you mention on 3 of my rental properties,,,,,,,the electrician (so called) gave me a bag of shite condition report for all 3......every circuit that had low IR readings were all exactly the same value of 7meg,-go figure.......there were so many applied limitations that i think it would take longer to eat a packet of crisps than carry out the test......... when i pulled him he tried to blind me with sparky bollocks........at that point i pointed out that i am an approved electrician with 2391, 18th edition and i teach it for a living.........he folded quicker than a cardboard box lid, he promptly sent me a covering letter to cover......well, his arse......how i laughed.
The inspection industry works best when every circuit has been installed, maintained and updated "correctly" by a qualified and suitably experienced person. Is the plastic use din the switch board of a type that supports combustion! I used to work for an organisation that makes plastic flame proof luminaries.
Been ill in bed all bloody day waiting for that vid. Didn't disappoint when it eventually dropped. One of your best yet and agree with you 100%. Will send it to anyone who thinks those prices get them a real inspection. Thanks.
I dont mind telling you I charge 150 for a eicr and spend the day on one, I have been at the counter of my local Denmenns while a so called spark was bragging he bangs 3 out a day, Great informative vid mate, keep em coming
I used to apply that as a fixed rate before going per-circuit after being burned on a few domestic properties that looked easy enough from the outside, but had more than their fair share of circuits lurking within! Per-circuit means you can't always give a price until you open the CU and see what breakers are in use, but it means bigger installations pay more which seems fair. We still book a whole day to a standard domestic EICR, but with two of us on it, we can usually see it through sooner and move on to a reserve job. The worst one I attended was a house that belonged to an old electrical engineer who had shuffled off. Wiring everywhere, exposed live parts all over the place and a hell of a job to figure out all hos monkeying!
@@dsesuk Also had to do a Periodic on a retired electrical engineers place many years back. He had made all his own switches and light fittings! Milled Bakelite and brass terminals. Absolute perfection. Every cable intact and tidy. All working and wired correctly as it should be. Went back last year for a repair and the new twat holiday-let owner had it rewired by utter numpties. Keeps me in work I guess!
i will be honest, i get back from work and dont wana hear or read anything about electrics. but hear i am watching ur videos with a few Guinness enjoying myself. good shit mate
When I was younger I used to work for one of these people, he would send me out to do condition reports in properties by myself. I had no idea what I was doing because the only qualifications I had was my level 2.
David Savery Electrical Services Luckily it was not, I only realised the wrong I was doing after I educated myself on the subject. To verify continuity of bonding conductors he would tell me just to take a picture of the earth clamp 🙈 no wandering lead at all. I’m sure he didn’t even own one.
I love your videos. So honest, informative and funny. You've become a mini inspiration too after hearing you on the EGTE podcast and I'm taking a similar route to you into the industry. Plus, your bang on about lily Allen. Hope you managed to watch ricky gervais at the golden globes. Thanks for your vids.
Been the case in Scotland for a while. The PAT testing at least was questionable in my flat, the cooker hood plug was ancient and not well wired(inner wires coming out of grip), not helped by having zero slack
@@dsesuk my point was if the electrician was unable to spot, or unwilling to act on that, what was the quality of the inspection of the fixed circuits ?
@@Martin-uf4ut It needs finishing - probably about ten minutes of filming and several hours of editing that I haven't been drunk enough to face since the end of last summer.
You should do a full video on EICR paper work dave. A step by step guide on the NICEIC certs! Or maybe show us an example of 1 of yours. Great video BTW!
Thanks G S, but that's not on the cards I'm afraid. I have thought about it before, but the thing is, I shouldn't have to show anyone how to complete the report as those who have undertaken the 2394/2395 or 2391 training should be correctly versed in it. My demonstrating how I'd complete the form would only allow iffy installers who haven't got the overheads of training/insurance/accreditation to tick the boxes a little more accurately while undercutting me on price and still doing half a job.
@@dsesuk yea good point to be fair. That was a real bad cert aswell. I'm not convinced it was a qualified electrician who did it. The basic errors just wouldnt be there.
@@GS-sz4ge It does make you wonder doesn't it? How can someone have been in business for nine years and not be able to fill in this paperwork? If I wanted to do a drive-by EICR, my report would at least look the part and contain accurate information in any box without LIM written in it!
A great point well made, I enjoy your videos. So I’m a qualified gas engineer with 20 years experience. I come across similar issues with gas certs and it drives me nuts. I’m currently training via Trade Skills 4 U to become Part P qualified. I was under the impression that the course I’m doing with them will qualify me for carrying out these electrical inspections but in fact it won’t. So I’m digging deep, shelving out more ££££ and doing the higher level course so I will be able to. I would still hesitate though at describing myself as a “qualified electrician” when my training is complete. A paper cert is one thing, a true electrician with at least 10 years experience is another. Good work on grammar correction, my partner is a teacher and she’s always pulling me up ;)
That's the problem with the industry , I am a time served trained joiner but got involved with electrics and underwent informal training further into my career, including being taught to test (from an era when college based training wasn't a requirement) , they no longer look at experience , just want a piece of paper and they let you loose but its coming back slowly to bite them on the arse. We had some young lads on a large insurance office refit in Stratford (3 year job) , absolute nightmare containment didn't exist, fire protection just ripped out standard of workmanship was atrocious . When I end up having to refix loose sockets (and the electrics on this job were nothing to do with us) , fix cabling correctly seal holes reinstate timberwork barred out a joke non of them could read construction drawings but all passed their course
You sir, are spot on.I see it all the time C2 being used when there’s no RCDs present.I argue with some fellow sparks over this.Its a C3 if they are not supplying exterior equipment.FFS
Thanks David. Another video on this is rendering as we speak and should go live tomorrow. In that one, we reinspect a first-floor flat that has been C2'd for lack of RCD protection.
David, I know this is over two year ago... But £145 for an EICR is far too cheap. I would double that price today. To do an EICR properly and fill in all the forms plus sampling and putting your neck on the block for £145.... No way
The apostrophe is possessive and therefore correct in the sentence, even if it's use is not correct in legal terms. Another great video though. I live in rented property and the electrical legality is only just catching up with the gas, though both are equally as dangerous as each other in the wrong hands.
I recently got emailed from a company asking if I would be interested in doing Domestic EICR's for them. They also expected 4-5 done a day and were willing to pay £50 per property..... they also added if the job was aborted due to no-one being in.... they would pay you £10 for an attendance fee....... 😐😐 A great video on highlighting these drive by or sitting in the van testers
Y'know Ryan, I'm actually tempted by that. Why am I bothering to spend a day producing an accurate report when I could knock out four or five good looking 'visual' reports full of limitations? I should just take the money and head for the pub.
Every landlord should watch this. I'm a sparky with 15 rental properties containing 15 familes in them - that's a lot of lives in my care.
A proper EICR is not negotiable.
That's totally the right way to look at it. Are you sure your a landlord? Shouldn't you be saying that's 15 potential insurance claims when they all go up in smoke, rather than that's 15 families life you are responsible for? 😂
This is a fantastically educational supplement to the John Ward "Inspection and Testing" series. Each polar opposites in style of delivery but ultimately with highly complementary results.
I really like how you always back up your own words with regs
Love the video Dave , honestly one of the best i have seen on YT,
Your channel is great, keep it up
Very kind, thank you.
Yeh, he's like an Electrical Solicitor!
I agree michal, David did a good job of this one.. hid the persons details for legal ease and then showed exactly why it was terrible and unacceptable. Keep it up David.
Heard of a landlord who arranged 5 back to back 1 x bed flats inspections .All same floor nice apartments in west end of London. Built 1950's . Each test took 30 mins . All readings / note 100% the same for each flat ! The spark was paid £80.00 for each one . Thats serious money !. As landlord said "who really fucking checks? Its a tick box pay money thing " He is right .The whole system for gas and electrics in the UK is a fucking mess . Just get them done and dont bother the tenant too much or the landlord . Unless its shit dangerous .THis Spark says he can do £1200 worth of easy tests a week
David your delivery is class I am literally in bits. I love it when I get called for a quote for a ECIR and they say "what I can get it much cheaper than that" I respond with yes you can but what you want is a piece of paper not a test. Keep up with videos they are brilliant viewing.
I thank you!
I charge minimum £275.00 for a EICR it’s around 4-5 hours on a property up to 3 beds and the time off site documenting. I produce a photo of issue or observation, regulation reference with a solution and cost to rectify. I use an app called site audit pro.
This can then be used as a pricing document for other contractors of the client wants more prices.
There needs to be a standard on this so everyone prices to carry out the same level of testing.
I generally carry out ring continuity, insulation resistance live to earth and neutral to earth, but not live to neutral as a limitation and always at 250V 1st. I will carry out all live tests and calculate R1+R2 as the circuit is already in service.
What we charge doesn't reflect the work that goes into it and we make more on installation work, but I fear that charging too much would mean we undertake very few inspections and only those with deeper pockets would be able to afford us. I know that sounds like I have my head up my arse, but I like to think we do a proper job as much as we can, and I want us to be as accessible as we can. It also opens doors to new repeat clients and new work, so can be worth the hit. As for testing, like you, there are as few limitations as possible. I've heard people say they don't undertake IR testing because if the RCD ain't tripping, then it can't be bad! They fail to see that the idea is to find the current condition so that we know it's safe and then if problems later occur we have a record of how things have changed.
I lived in a house built in 2008 (I've since moved). The CU was located in the downstairs toilet and was plastic. The stairs started to the right of the toilet but spiraled round so that the last 4-5 steps were above the downstairs toilet, the stairs were made of wood. This was the only staircase and therefore the only means of exit. Would this mean that the CU would not meet current regs? Strictly speaking, I would say that a CU change would be required, but interested on what an electricians perspective on this would be? Thanks for sharing. Atb Shaun
"Old big balls has no operational limitations." Literally pissed myself.
I've recently stopped doing any work for a company who constantly compare me to the drive by class as mentioned in my tweet and your beautifully ranted video! Not only am I better than them in terms of quality of reporting, but if I agree to do work for people who say "I know it's cheap but you'll get the remedial repairs too" then I'm only contributing to this very real race to the bottom. I'd much prefer to carry out a proper EICR than just a half baked thing with the prospect of extra work.
Oh yeah, that old one of "I want it cheap because I have loads of properties and you'll get any remedials!" They'll want the remedials cheap too of course, so the only way to deal with them is to make up work!
Hey I'm so glad I came across your video, it gave me the idea for my next company name, thanks! 😂
@@JDM_Electric-SanDiego You're welcome 👌🏻
Fantastic video, same as usual. I had one like this a couple of months ago, landlord was abroad, and an electrician was sent by estate agent carried out inspection and test and issued an EICR. Then landlord contacted me for a second opinion. When I was reading it, I didn't know to laugh at it or cry for our industry.
Bang on, can't argue. I’ve been dribbling on about this for years.
Any electrical cert is not only for the client. So if you do an install or EICR and all did goes belly up on a site (no matter the size) and the documentation doesn’t marry up, then game up.
As soon s it gets in to a court of law they will rip it to pieces. This document IS an insurance policy for your work and competence.
This then begs the question whey 2391, 2394, 2395 there is not a day of how to fill these out?
Just a thought
Hi David! Watched your videos from time to time over the years ! Amused by the wit of delivery! Haha!
Just wanted to comment a thing or two about present day regs. Which maybe of interest to your watchers and yourself.
When I was doing my apprenticeship in a factory. ( In the 70s) When a metal enclosure was used being a switch, socket or whatever?
We would drill 1/8'' hole in the bottom corner of the unit order to reduce condensation and run off any condensated water.
Now the introduction of metal clad consumer units where the fitting and the sealed cable entry are completely closed to outside atmosphere will not be able
to breathe and may produce leakages which at best may cause nuisance tripping of the RCD.
We remember in the old days before the back of RCDs that damp sockets would smell acidically horrendous ! as they arched within!
Good points - even my wife was informed and interested- We had an EICR recently and one electrician and mature apprentice took all day - 9 hours and charged £200- it was very thorough and gave us a fair amount to improve. We feel it was good value as the system is now safer and more capable. (Redditch area)
Another top video.
I worked for a Sheffield based company that expected three tests a day times 6 electricians. Some of the guys were doing them easily with hours to spare. I was working over every night with no dinner or even tea breaks. Worst fours years of my electrical career.
Wouldn't be stupid enough these days to do it again.
At job interviews I ask "how many tests do you expect in a day"? If the answer is anymore than one, I would just get up and walk out of the interview!!!
Far to many companies asking for 3 or more tests every day. Its a joke!!
Nightmare. You either drop your standards or lose out.
That installer/"inspector" has actually marked it as a commercial inspection to start with, that's the first sign I'd use as a consumer to go "who the eff is this guy?" 😂
Y'know, even I missed that one and I've been forking through this turd all weekend!
The form the other party has used, doesn't appear to be a currently available "for download" form.
Also, I believe that RCD protection or the lack of in older installations is a C3, unless there is a socket that can be used for external use. That socket would require RCD protection regardless of the age of install. So in that case it would be a C2.
Quite right. That's supported in Codebreakers and is why I said 'internal circuits'.
David Savery Electrical Services .....Not to be picky but internal circuits can also be used for external use. A kitchen socket just inside the back door, installed 30 years ago when RCD protection wasn’t required for internal socket outlets, would still be coded a C2 for having no RCD protection. If that same socket was on the 1st floor, it would be a C3. (Both fed from internal circuits)
I keep meaning to buy that code breaker book.....it’s one thing I haven’t got that I keep hearing about!
Probably my favourite video yet and spot on with your comments , I’m sick of losing EICRs to the £85 brigade and I can only foresee it getting worse.
Agreed. You watch a bunch of noobie numpties come along this summer all rubber-stamped as inspectors even though the only previous thing they ever inspected was bus tickets when they drove the Number 42 route.
David Savery Electrical Services
🤣 You joke but I worked for a Company not so long ago and they literally have one guy who was a bus driver for 20 years who went a 4 week crash course and was out doing EICR’s after just a week of working alongside another “electrician”
They have an army of guys who only have 17th/18th Edition and 2392 (level 2 initial verification) doing 4-8 tests a day each!
One of the many reasons I had to get away from that shit show but even with some of the better companies doing all these EICR’s for social housing etc 4 tests a day is the bog standard target per day.
@@Daniel.Dalziel Crikey. It'll never get stamped out though, standards continue to slip, and it's only thanks to good earthing and protective devices doing their job that more aren't killed or injured, but it's cure rather than prevention.
you lose the initial eicr, but you get the repeat eicr a few days later... (as David seems to have here). And you get to sleep soundly at night. I may be weird but that counts to me...
Northy 32 Totally agree with you mate. The company I had worked for for over 20 years fell foul of these rogues and their so called contracts managers. We’d been doing social housing with eicrs/ remedials for years the right way and left every job compliant and correctly certified. Mr “newbie” Electrical manager turns up a pulls the plug, now having a big shytefest of a company doing 8-12 eicrs a day with an horrendous complaints log. I’m now left seeking work after years of doing proper eicrs and now have to try and sift through the copious amounts of crap offers like what caused this situation in the first place to try and survive. That’s the state our industry is in.! On paper compliance and safety is paramount...in reality it’s the total opposite.
Works the same for an MOT. If somewhere is offering a £30 MOT there is no way they will be making any money on it. In fact they will be making a substantial loss if they do the test properly. Paying 40 or even 50+ quid you are much more likely going to get honesty and not a big list of unnecessary repairs.
Interesting, when the council electrical inspector visited my nans flat and was told about the atrocious light switches and dodgy sockets with broken gates etc he noted it down on the test but never changed the fucking things. I know none of them have been changed since contruction (1976). One of them blew up only a month later. He did find a fault with one leg of the ring circuit leading to a socket in the lounge, then proceeded to shove trucking down the wall to replace the faultly section, gouging out the top of the metal patress to top insert the new 2.5mm section. I later found out when decorating that a sharp piece of metal had gone right through the "new" cable and penetrated the live conductor - with the expected bang and RCD reaction having obviously moved it the last 1mm needed to make Valhalla. By this point I had a guts full of it and replaced the lot with MK fittings myself, something I'm not supposed to do and shouldn't have to either but when you get such a bollox reaction and quality of workmanship from the official source you stop giving a shit, you just realise nobody is coming to help, it's all on you.
I should have complained on her behalf, but that's not how it works, as long as the fucking boxes are ticked - nobody cares. And just to prove it, the consumer unit supplying that worn out calamity - well thats a 14 way dual RCD metal consumer unit - with 4 circuits! Ring / Cooker / Lights / Immersion. It's got more blanks than CEF.
Why? Because somewhere it ticked a fucking box. Epic Rant.
I went to a job the other day that had an EICR the week before ,a 2 bed flat £240 inc vat ,I asked the tenant how long the NICEIC sparky had been there ,they said no more than 30 mins .what more can I say ,and the pages for test results not filled in and not signed
Bloody hell. The thing is, in that instance they've paid the full rate for a proper job which they haven't received. Had it been below a ton, I'd say it was too cheap and they should expect to have their pants pulled down, but that's daylight robbery. They should complain to NICEIC and/or trading standards as there's no way the guy could prove he's done a diligent job.
Remind me so much of the late Rik Mayall. Your videos have me in stitches. Very clever and funny guy 👏
Rik faked his death and became a spark.
What happens in that case, if you have 2 different certificate one positive other negative?
“Pick the peanuts out of the rubbery turd you left behind”😂. Legend David. Cheered up a dreary Tuesday night 👍
Cheers Martin
I lost out to another contractor who told the customer he had a special offer on Eicr £90 so they went with him, they had purchased the house but weren't around when the inspection was done, the contractor carried out the work and sent a failed report with £900 work, they contacted me after to ask if I would have a look at the report, there was nothing accurate on his report, he had put things like no protective bonding present, but this wasn't the case it was all there how many people have they caught out like this. 🤔
It happens a lot I suspect. People think it's a level playing field out there and that they're getting the same product and service for the money.
Had an EICR test done today, not sure how much my Landlord has paid for it but it only took 45 minutes, 1 Consumer unit 6 circuits physically tested the cooker and 1 socket in each room, he also passed the lighting circuit which, well if only i could upload a picture here, Flush mount light fitting in ensuite (zone 1) ip20 rated he has marked as a C3, i have taken this light fitting down before the test as it was buzzing, left it as I found it expecting a fail and it gets passed, i am now worried about the state of the wiring in this house so will go through it myself and make it safe (i'm one of your favorite types of People David, I am an Electrical Engineer)
Had my mate round yesterday, he is a site manager at a J+I school, they just had the PAT testing done last week, he said over a couple of days staff started noticing that the date on the labels was wrong, so he is calling them back out to rectify the mistake. out of curiosity I asked him how long did it take the guy to do all the testing, which is around 450 items, fully expecting him to say around 3 day's his reply was the guy started at 8AM and was all done and left about 1PM I all most fell of the sofa, he really has just come in and just put a sticker on everything, so they are going to pay a bill off over £400 for nothing, I told him to call me next year to do it.
450 items in about half a day? Absolute waste of money as you say. All they've done is buy stickers and pay a guy to whack 'em onto everything. I really must finish my PAT testing video I started last year where I talk of this nonsense!
I think it would be a worth while video to bring the point to customers attention, I guess they work on the thought proses off people wont know how long this should take to do, so we will get away with saying it is all done in a small amount off time, the head teacher did say it makes you wonder how good a good they have done if they cant even get the date on the labels right haha,Have to read the instruction on my new Hpat 600 again, I am not sure what the shift key function does, the instructions tell you how to activate it and deactivate it, but unless I missed a section it doesn't actually explain what it is for, I will read it again lol
Good day sir just a quick question in the napit book it says that a socket down stair without rcd is a c2 as it could be used with extension lead outside but then as you rightfully pointed out no rcd protection is c3 what's your thoughts asking for a friend 😉
I can't seem to find that Steve. They have a C2 for anything that can be used outdoors, but not for internal sockets that someone might attach an extension lead to and throw out of the window. And as far as that's concerned, I'd code it based only on the fixed wiring of the installation. If all sockets are internal, but date back to before RCD protection was required, then it's a C3. Just because someone *might* trail an extension lead outside to plug in a lawnmower doesn't come into it in the same way that a socket outside a bathroom doesn't get failed because someone might drag an extension lead into there so they can plug in their bean-to-cup machine and make a macchiato while soaking in a tub of Matey bubble bath. I'm concerned only with the fixed wiring, and while I'd recommend Joe Homeowner gets additional protection, whether he does or how he goes on to use the installation is down to him.
cheers bud
David been watching your vids for a while and although not a sparky like the himour👍 just wondering if you could answer a question. The bathroom sockets in this vid and also the fact that we are buying a newish 2016 house shortly. Can you still have shaver points located near the sink/taps or do they have to be a certain distance away? Cheers and keep the vids coming.
Shaver sockets which have protection via an isolating transformer can be installed in Zone 2 where direct spray from showers is unlikely. When it comes to sinks, there are no set distance regulation in BS7671 that I know of even for standard socket outlets, although the Electrician's Guide to the Building Regulations recommends outlets be at least 300mm from the sink. This is because some kitchens and utility rooms are so small, there isn't enough distance in the room to move socket outlets too far away. Common sense prevails of course, and in the case of shavers or standard outlets, they shouldn't be immediately above the sink area, but they can be close to it.
@@dsesuk many thanks for the detailed answer👍
Really good video Dave - These sorts of drive by inspections don’t worry me anymore - it used to really wind me up as I thought I was missing out on the additional work to some 5 week wonder spark with no idea what they are doing. But now I take the view that if a customer wants to pay the cheapest price for an inspection then I don’t want them as a customer and in my experience you end up getting the work anyway. There’s still not enough public awareness regarding electrical works and not enough prosecutions when it goes wrong so I can see it continuing for years to come.
You'll never stamp 'em out Gareth, so best not to get stressed and to take on the jobs uncocking the mess. Not enough wrist slapping goes on as you say.
I have just subscribed to your channel off the back of this video. It’s both educational and funny as fudge 👌🏽
Genuinely, I had my regs book out whilst watching this to get a better understanding, whilst also cleaning up the piss in my pants from your reply to check-a-trade!
Top work, David.
So Funny dude! Lols
PDF files can be electronically signed to ensure any later modification invalidates the signature. But it requires purchasing a commercial certificate that a particular signature mark belongs to you and nobody else. These commercial certificates don't check your qualifications. just your name and maybe some kind of ID paperwork, recipients of the PDF will need to compare the certified name to your approved contractor registration. The commercial certificate may or may not include a physical key to prevent people stealing your secret 70 digit seal. You may or may not need additional software to apply the signature to a PDF file.
Fantastic video with many valid points. I’ve been to jobs where the dodgy landlords say they’re only paying if I pass it, I walk away.
There are too many testing people, I see loads more in the future, who either fail everything to get the ‘fix’ work or pass on a nod and a wink.
I’ve worked and studied long and hard to be qualified and working through 2396 because I love the job however I’m sick of these terrible fly by night people
That's the other side of the coin, and one I really should have mentioned, where someone is paid to pass the installation regardless of its true state.
Hiya. My favourite was the council who tender the eicrs out. Was doing maintenance when I saw a father and son brigade who tendered like £37 for an eicr. Doing 30-50 full flat eicrs a day. Clocked 20 mins a flat. Per inspection. That’s walking up 3 flights of stairs as the tails to the fuse boards had just been put back in. Found 11 flats where the dno put live and neutral backwards into the fuse board main switch. I said they could only use Henley blocks in future as non electricians shouldn’t be taking out tails to put in new ones and complained to nic about them. Extent and limitations on ring circuit. No ring/ zs on sickets apart from 1 next to fuseboard. Rcds. Not tested as tenants said the power never went off while watching house inspected. Joke. The thing that people don’t understand though. Is if you put your name on it. And somebody gets injured killed. That’s 3rd degree manslaughter. And I want to go home knowing people are safe.
Crikey. For £37, I wouldn't even get out the van! Still, it sounds like they were raking it in, albeit with the risk they'd be hauled up in court one day. But then, how did the council not pick up on what must have been appalling quality reporting? Or did they just not care if someone else had signed it off?
"Ringworm of the sphincter"
Was just wondering would you class a low voltage bathroom fan as selv as that’s a bit like a circuit starting at the transformer and finishing at the fan? Excellent videos thanks.
Brilliant. Well said.this industry is saturated with pessimism. I love your optimism. Those type of people always say, "Well, you have to cover your own back, havn't you"!? Hmmmm?
Thanks for that David.
This type of video is quite informative and helps make the homeowner aware of what they should be getting from a proper report from a proper competent and qualified sparky.
I've had a read of your cowboy competition blog and it truly is shocking (excuse the pun) on what sort of shite is going on out there!
I can't complain too much I suppose, I make good business un-borking bad work. You'll never stamp it out, but if it saves a few well installed plastic CU's from being replaced with poorly installed metal ones, then that should be a good thing.
12:23 Description of Premises actually has the commercial box marked... Domestic is the first box and is blank.
I can remember working for a company a few years ago who just got a new contract with a housing association who only requested visual inspections and no testing on their properties ( they wouldn't pay for a Eicr( periodic inspection at the time) at change of tenancy or void property and had another contractor in who would do an eicr every 5 years.
Thankfully that was soon after changed to include testing and inspections.
A visual tells you so little. "Can I see anything that may be immediately dangerous or that the tenant has messed about with?" Doesn't give much else to go on!
@@dsesuk yes that was pointed out to the client with the company I worked for saying they couldnt take responsibility for any electrical defects, DIY and testing for earthing and said they wouldn't continue doing just visual inspections and had it agreed to carry out testing and certification after office meetings.
I can remember another council I did inspection and testing for who would say to cut the plugs off extension multiple adaptor leads so they can't be used to potentially overload socket outlets.
David, on your inspections sheet, item 5.7 you have given a C1? Can you elaborate if possible, thanks
Remember that EICR maximum damand failure vid from about a year ago? It's a snap from that. The RCD was rated at 63A driving three 40A electric shower circuits and five socket ring circuits (two of which served two kitchens). It had failed in the closed position (wouldn't mechanically operate to open), and I could make no guarantees for its ongoing performance with more current than it was designed for passing through it, hence the C1.
@@dsesuk I do remember that video indeed, thanks for the reply.
I'd of put that down as a c2 personally.
Such a cool video David, just love your delivery and style. If you ever wanted a change of career, I'm sure the BBC would happily employ you on some kind of consumer complaints program. 😀
Sadly, Watchdog has just been canned I hear.
David Savery Electrical Services if they ever make a prequel to one foot in the grave I think you could be in 😂😂
Watchdog is being integrated into "The One Show".
Channel 4 DEFINITELY would!!
It's got to be Dave !
Some of those observations were nothing to do with the scope of BS7671. Time to flush these idiots out of the sector #MEGA
Another fab, no holds (or ballbags) barred take on the EICRs. I had an email from a certain PROPerty CERTificate company asking whether we would be interested in doing EICRs for a similar price. My reply, whilst not as fluent and direct as your own CheckaTrade reply, was nonetheless to the point of "go forth ye scroats and multiply". Keep the vids coming
Stick it to 'em!
Sadly David with the new EICR requirements we will we flooded with some sparks who will order works when there is probably 0 need to top up the paltry fee they charge for the report but hey god bless the government for loving landlords with all these regs and then not making it clear that only suitable people should be allowed to do this work and not any old spark , will be seeking your services come June. I reluctantly agreed to 3 consumer unit changes purely as they were fairly old but just like you I tried arguing it wasn’t required but gave up after 3-4 sparks just weren’t willing to even bother seeing it from a common sense point of view.
I love listening to u rant and some of your one liners are brilliant, the Mc Donald’s hat gets me every time !!!!!!!!!!
McCheers old chap!
Ah its like your describing this weeks job. I went to change a consumer unit and carry out remedial works on a domestic installation as per an EICR carried out at the end of 2019 by another so called contractor, only to see 3x code 2's on the report, 2 consumer units out of the three were missing from the report, BS numbers were missing or wrong for some of the protective devices and a multitude of other dangerous incompetence. After explaining to the customer why this was such an abomination, they agreed for use to carry out the EICR properly. We found 16 code 3 items, 65 code 2 items, 1 code 1 on the bloody shower circuit of all places, where a shower pull switch and the cabling behind it had melted about 250mm back up the cable so much so that the supply cable and load cable had melted together and had no insulation left at all in places, had exposed live conductors and a dead short between Neutral and CPC with not an RCD to be seen!
What the hell is wrong with people in this industry, I couldn't sleep at night if I had produced a report like that.
It is refreshing when I see your video's, keep bringing this shit into the light for people to see it. Good Job! 👍
65 C2's on a domestic???!
@@dsesuk Yes I know, it was only a 3 bedroom bungalow with a garage, it really was bad. An example of some of the code 2 items we found are as follows; There were multiple junction boxes in the loft and nearly all of them had single insulation showing 200mm - 300mm out each side of the junction box with the CPC's twisted together, no CPC sleeving or connectors, spurs off the 30A ring in 1.0mm T+E cable, CPC's all cut off in Y plan heating system cabling, CPC's used as switched Line conductors, Outside class 1 light fittings with CPC cut off, no main equipotential bond to incoming gas service or copper water pipe entering the building, orange 1.0mm garden flex spurred from the immersion circuit into a light fitting!, the list goes on page after page! We were very close to re-wiring the place, but decided to carry out the remedial works instead as the customer didn't have the budget for a full re-wire. I also found it pretty shocking that the guy charged them £500 for the previous report, considering it took me 8 hours to carry out a new EICR properly.
Valid observations and highly entertaining.
Even in these litigeous times, it is common to find letting property owners who don't understand the risks (both physical and legal) involved in not doing the job right.
Well said mate.
Fault protection on a PME supply is performed by the fuses/MCBs, isn't it? In case of a TT supply with high earth impedance it could be a second Type S RCD with another 30 mA RCD for additional protection.
You should the electrics of homes in Portugal where we live. No separate circuit for the water heater. Done through a 3 pin plug
Spot on with everything you say 👍, unfortunately this is the norm. Where I live they are charging £50 run in the front door and out the back door. They don't realise what they are taking on and the consequences.
I went to one job, they had a test done, said it just wanted some updating work, I had only been there 10 mins and found the place was wired in rubber, the place got rewired and the guy got stopped by the NIC from doing testing, he was doing it for an estate agent, who don't like paying anyway.
It's a joke process to many and just seen as easy cash. It's like a garage writing out MOT certs at half price without checking the vehicles.
@@dsesuk yeah very true, personally I have stopped doing them unless it's for regulars, there's no money in them.
My plumber mate gets £85 for testing one gas appliance when he does a landlord cert, says it all really, The sad thing is it will never change.
Used to work with a guy called letterbox Jack. He was so named because it was said that he could test a house through the letterbox. He did 10 tests a day.
I bet he's rich too. Maybe I'm the one doing it all wrong? I could make a good whack by lunchtime and spend the afternoon down the pub!
Hahahahaha
Page 37 NAPIT EICR Codebreakers.
Section 5.10 would see almost all None rcd circuits receive a C2.
You don't need to open a wall to know if the cable is mechanically protected. And as we can only assume that the only protection it needs is from a nail or screw, then anything other than earthed steel conduit would not provide protection. So if the cable enters the back box from the side's through a rubber grommet then we can can safely assume its less than 50mm deep and not protected.
You ask for documentation
and referenced the book your self! doubt you would argue the logic.
Really like the channel, blogs ect.
Great humour and knowledge
Regards Steven
I see what you're saying Steven, and I must admit I hadn't spotted that in Codebreakers. Can't say I agree with it as that would mean any pre-17th Edition installation would always be marked as unsatisfactory because of cables in walls at less than 50mm lacking mechanical protection (lighting mainly). But then, just fifteen years ago, that's how houses were built. It seems NAPIT are suggesting lack of full RCD protection is a C2 then, even though the protection for the cable is supposed to be the prescribed zone itself. Good find, I'll have to have a closer look at that.
I've been thinking all day about your video, and as NIC always say its your interpretation, and I will admit you have a very good understanding maybe better than mine.... But I read, watch and learn all the time to offer a better service.
The one thing that's been going round my head was the idea of the old man who might pop his clogs in a few years and the next person to own the property can bring it up to date.
So assuming u give a satisfactory somehow on an old rewireble with numerous c3 but... Then for argument sake he find a new lease of life and marrys Nigle and they move in to Nigles House and put the property out to rent with 4 years left on the EICR you issued.
Do you still feel comfortable?
My concern is that the old man has the choice not to fit Rcd even though they do offer much inhanced safety to the installation(in my opinion).
The tenant dose not get the choice?
They may get to see the report but, they were not present when you and the owner had the discussion where you rightly emphasised the benefits.
If you went to the same property but knew it was intended to be rented, would your interpretation be seen through a different set of goggles?
My feeling is it will be insurance that will push it as I have had 2 landlords where the insurance have said they do not want to see Recommendations on the Certs
@@sgfelectrical734 When I talk of the old man, it's about someone who has been living in that house as his home for decades, and it shows. Nobody's touched the decor since the Eighties, the furniture is as dusty and creaky as he is, a lifetime of personal effects and photographs of kids who have all long since grown up and moved away hang on the walls. His mobility and/or his memory may be poor and it's pretty obvious that no new lease of life is going to be dangled before him. Like the carpets, the electrical installation is dated, but by the same token, it hasn't been meddled with. It's been providing overcurrent protection for years, and inspection shows it still does. It's been providing shock protection via earthing for years, and the testing says it still does. No new modifications have been made since the requirements for additional protection started filtering through 16th Edition in the 1990's, and he's got no plans to start putting in a new kitchen or loft conversion! Will he really benefit from the expense and upheaval of an upgrade to an 18th Edition consumer unit for his remaining time there if the overcurrent and shock protection have been confirmed as being still in place and operational? If he pops his clogs and his family decide to clear out his stuff and rent the place, or if he decides to move in with his daughter and rent the house himself, then it's a different situation. Now that property would be expected to be brought up to a better standard for the new tenants, and not just the electrical installation. Even a basic refurb ought to see it redecorated and an improved bathroom and kitchen put in, and those sort of modifications will likely require alterations to the electrical installation which themselves would have to comply with today's standards, so best to change the CU at source at that point. My point, which I may not have made very well, was that if I knew the property was going to be a rental or lived in by younger people, my report would recommend an upgrade, and I'd sell the client the safety benefits of it, but where it's someone who may be vulnerable, confused or upset at the upheaval or change brought on by workmen installing new equipment, or where I don't see them getting a long term benefit from their investment because it's all likely to be stripped back to the bricks sooner rather than later, then the report will recommend the upgrade, but I won't push for it.
I could not agree more....
Where my head struggles is that we have to sell the idea of safety.
Where maybe the regs on any form could help.
It's easy to sell a family on the idea of safety. Most parents would naturally be risk adverse.
It's a different story with a landlord (not all) who's first question is do I have too.
Not to pull you apart... But great to converse.
Please take as a compliment
PDFs can generally be opened and edited in MS Word...
I nodded off. I was very tired though. Was the ending good?
It was a happy ending.
I nodded off when editing the damn thing on Sunday night. But that may have been down to the wine consumption.
Im Domestic installer myself, dont do eicrs, agree with everything you said, obvious really looking at this eicr, but worth spreading for sure.
But what bothers me, you said you will charge about £140 for that eicr, it would take you half a day, 2 people, which i agree, for 3 bed house with propper testing. Surelly its not what experienced electrician as yourself should earn? Especially that on other video you mentioned £60 for e7 controller swap, which is fair... how do you make money on eicrs??
I love the straight talking, it is a shame you are not in my area.
Is it really statutory (BS7671) to be registered with one of these NICEIC NAPIT ECA.....or BS7671 states that the person carrying the work must be a complete person. Or perhaps a different term is used
No, accreditation with a CPS isn't necessary. It has advantages for a business like mine as it makes complying with Part-P of the building regulations easier and helps to inspire customer confidence, but you don't have to be accredited and there are plenty of people who are yet shouldn't be!
David Savery Electrical Services well answered.
Hi Dave. What would your report say if for example everything checked out but the consumer unit is plastic and not the latest reccomendation of metal ? is it still a pass ? Regards Don
Hi Don. If plastic and installed in a sole escape route or under wooden stairs, then it's a C3 assuming there are no other considerations to take into account (e.g. a fire might start in it because it has the wrong protective devices or it's got a hole in it exposing live parts). If, like on this installation, it's located somewhere non-critical, shows no signs of damage, improper modification, overheating, loose connections, etc., then the 'Condition of Enclosure in Terms of Fire Rating' box would get a tick with no comment and no observation recorded.
hey david , did u no ur camera frooze at 26:34 mins? lol then resumed at 30:10 lol
It's okay on my editor, so it must be a problem with YT's encoding. Still, at least I wasn't scratching my balls or anything at the time!
@@dsesuk lol thats a good thing, yea maybe yt being twits again, and tell your work mate, hes a plooker lol , also great videos buddy , i do learn alot just by watching them
@@darkdaz Thanks for tuning in!
13:23 Think you missed it but he appears to have ticked 'commercial' and not 'domestic' for the type of premises.
Great Video Dave, its just cropped up into my feed.
Keep the cowboys in the headlights. Too many DIYers see the cowboys efforts and decide they can mimic them thinking its the right way.
I work mainly on control systems and had one 'Electrician' offer to do domestic work for me (building automation projects). He was afriend of a friend and had just rewired my mates house because of the 'much much cheapness' bought most of his kit from car boots and described 6mmsq cable as 'shower and cooker cable'. For an additional charge he could provide test results/certificates!!
I said no, I would be ok not associating with him, in fact I actively avoid any social events where he may be there, just in case we ever appeared on the same photo and someone jumped to the wrong conclusion that we were even talking about anything involving electrcal installations.
Pedantic Corner: It’s with an apostrophe is perfectly fine when used as an abbreviation of a possessive noun as it replaces “it has” and has been used as a contraction in English for hundreds of years.
It's sentences like that which makes me realise I'll never fully figure out the correct use of the apostrophe however, I only received a GCSE grade D in English, so if I didn't learn it back in the sobriety of 1990, I probably won't now that my spare time largely involves me pissing down the front of my trousers.
Great vid should eicrs only be carried out if your under a body such as nic napit etc ?
Not necessarily, but if a contractor is registered with such a body, then they should know what what that contractor is up to. At the moment, someone could join a CPS scheme under the domestic installer umbrella and undertake EICR's, and if their CPS which doesn't allow such shenanigans doesn't know they're doing it, or doesn't make it clear that they shouldn't be, then they're not being vetted on the quality of their reports. I've said before that all accredited sparkies should have to upload a copy of each cert and report to their CPS so that when assessment time comes, a random selection can be viewed and problems with paperwork completion picked up on.
@@dsesuk This sounds like a good option
However like most of the sensible solutions only the honest reputable guys will comply. The others will just not bother and who will ever know
I’m not a sparky, but your sensible / informative and legitimate descriptions of how the work should be done is valuable information for the average bod like me.....Thankyou.👍🇮🇲
Thanks for watching Andy, I'm glad to hear my rambling is put up with by someone!
David Savery Electrical Services , I’ve been an avid watcher for a good while now, love the humour, but also love the fact that there are still good / honest trades out there , such as yourself and Nige.....well Nige not so much but hey we can’t all be perfect....lol 👍🇮🇲
This is a brilliant, almost poetic piece of work, and it's great to see conscientious tradespeople having a go at the idiots. I shall watch more of your vids just for the turn of phrase :-)
However I am less sympathetic than I might be as a competent DIYer who is now barely allowed to scratch his arse due to ridiculous edifice of regulations, accreditation bodies and building inspectors (who won't do their job and just tell you to pay an electrician). The trade as a whole has brought much of this idiocy upon itself and I'm afraid I feel primarily only schadenfreude in further regulations just leading to a sad race to the box-ticking bottom. It just shows that this approach of professionalising everything does not actually solve the problem it purports to solve, and DIYers with engineering degrees get shafted in the crossfire.
I deeply resent how difficult/expensive it has been made for me to do my own electrical works legally, whilst it is still possible for just about everything else, including arguably more serious structural matters.
Glad to see you're carefully monitoring the spread of COVID-19 😂
I'm looking for any excuse to self isolate from Nigel for a month!
@@dsesuk is Nigel patient zero?
you actually quite like the guy... poor bastard
@@dsesuk You could isolate him in the Manor house's bunker! 🤣
David I take my hat off to you for continued decent electrical work and enthusiasm as I after 20 years have had enough. no one wants to pay they just want “that will do work” at dirt cheap prices. I think I might become a plasterer !
You've hit the nail on the head there Guyll. A homeowner would be mighty annoyed with a poor finish on their plastering, but when it comes to electricity which they can't see, where it's covered by the fabric of the building and where it appears to be working, then they don't want to spend money on it.
David Savery Electrical Services ingorance is bliss my friend does kitchens that cost between 10-20k but you try and get £600 for bonding and a board upgrade and they look at you like your Jesse James madness
@@dsesukThe Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long After the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten -
Brilliant video. I've got to give a second opinion on a installation that is unsatisfactory and needs a rewire. It's (it is) funny though, as there are no test results for any circuits. I cant wait to see it. Yes like you it takes me about 4 hrs to do a test on the average house. I thought it was only me pulling the cables out and meggering each individual circuit. Keep up the videos as i'm fed up with the smelly vision.
You never know, it may be valid. Perhaps it's in such bad condition that someone decided it wasn't worth the time and money on actual inspection and testing and just wrote it off with a massive C1!
Very interesting David and really relevant to me as i'm upgrading from DIS to AC predominantly to carry out EICR's due to the imminent changes . Carrying out EICR's isn't something i will relish but i don't want to be constantly turning work down due to not having the correct accreditation.
Thanks Chris, and all the best with the step-up, I hope it works out!
How do MOT certificates work these days? Are they not held on some central database and validated by the DVLA, VOSA etc? Why can't electrical inspection certs be part of a similar system? They should have to be filled in online and submitted for approval before they can be issued to the customer. Only at that point is it considered a valid document.
Keep up the Sterling work. The "Martin Lewis" of the Electrical world.
That advert was working for wigan council.
Spot on with RCD protection - additional or fault. I was attempting to educate my colleagues to this fact recently, they don't get it!
What is your opinion of a permanent link fitted in main fuse
You see it on some flats at the cut-out position outside the individual dwelling when the fuse is downstairs in the meter room. Is that what you mean?
@@dsesuk I think this is a crazy idea because it dose nothing to protect the Incoming cable
Not many people with know about it
Will a Normal 100 amp fuse fit in with its place
@@nigellewis4686 The fuse would be at source Nigel, so replacing it with another in-line and to the same rating wouldn't be an advantage. Also, it's network equipment so only the DNO should be making modifications to it. Might be worth asking them about it if you have concerns as they'll be able to confirm what's at the property and whether it's adequate.
My rcd test I did on a radical circluit was 17 ms on 30 but 0
Second on100
Thanks Dave I honestly thought this was a myth,OMG I saw the first one the other day.Fantasy results and codes totally wrong and very vague faults.I was thinking what the hell are they talking about,its all about ripping the unsuspecting landlord off and keeping the work to themselves. Keep up the good work Dave!
Dave-Save, thanks for the video mate. I might start linking this video to customers when quoting for an EICR lol
Haha! I should have made a polite version for public information purposes!
@@dsesuk that is actually worth thinking about. The average customer/ landlord might not be able to handle your normal high standard of output.
He’s actually labelled the property as commercial not domestic. Loved the video. You’ve got yourself a new subscriber.
I'm not an electrician and will need an inspection soon as my property is nearly 10 years old. A quick question, how can I ensure that any electrician I ask to do a test is qualified to do so? Bear in mind, I live in a rural area not swarming with electricians. Nevertheless, I did enjoy your video even though it has worried me now!
It's tricky John as there is an awful lot of rubbish out there. If you search for the Registered Competent Persons (Electrical) database, then that will show who is accredited for inspection work, although that in itself is no guarantee you'll get someone who isn't a complete chancer. If your installation fails, your best bet is to get someone else who is well rated to look over the remedial work as they will advise on what needs doing with respect to the report without the risk they're trying to make up for the time in undertaking the report.
Thanks David.
Good video. And well said!
(I would grade a sockets outlet in a bathroom inside 3meters as a code 2 normally. There’s nothing immediately dangerous about it being there......the potential danger comes when someone decides to plug something in or decides to belly flop in the bath and send water gushing over it!)
If anyone thinks it is a code 1......Let me know why! Would be interested to see another point of view?
Hi K C. Thanks for watching. I code it as a C1 as the definition for such is Immediately Dangerous, while a C2 is Dangerous in the event of a fault. It wouldn't take a fault condition for a shock incident to occur, merely someone handling electrical equipment while wet or an accident such as knocking their toaster into the bath! That's my reasoning anyway.
David Savery Electrical Services Hi David! Thanks for the reply. I understand why you consider it to be a C1.....however, I have spent many an hour thrashing back and forth regarding various issues and faults and what their grading should be. Read all sorts of guff and spoke to NICEIC tech multiple times about same things!! (Proper Sad I know) I therefore maintain that I think it is a C2, and here is my reasoning. 1. A Code 2 should be used to indicate that, whilst an observed deficiency is not considered to be dangerous at the time of the periodic inspection, it would become an immediate danger if a fault or other foreseeable event was to occur in the installation or connected equipment.
2. Further more, and in the spirit of you requesting any argument to be backed by credible publications, 👀 Lol.....you will see that a socket outlet within 3 meter of zone 1 in a bathroom is an example of what a code 2 would be in the Electrical safety first, best practice guide 4: Page 13.
If the socket just sits there, 2 meters from the bath, with nothing plugged into it.....possibly inside a cabinet or something.....it’s actually of no immediate danger to anyone. It’s only when it is used it becomes ‘potentially dangerous’
In contrast....a Code 1 indicates an ‘immediate risk’
I would argue that a socket outlet present inside the 3 meter boundary that has nothing plugged into it poses no immediate risk or danger.
Certainly, there is ‘potential’ for danger.....and there lies the difference between it being a C1 or C2.
Thoughts??
@@Spark101. Very good, I can see that, and I applaud your reasoning! I shall defer to you on this one, looks like I'm in the wrong.
David Savery Electrical Services Not to worry.....regardless of anything, the bloody thing shouldn’t be there! Lol!
Talking of ‘electricians’ not really understanding the fundamentals; I was in a wholesaler the other day. Over heard an ‘electrician’ explaining to a client the purpose of fire rated down lights! Every part of me wanted to step in and take over......because this guy had no idea what the actual purpose of fire rated down lights is! Literally no idea! Scary thing is.....I think he thought he knew...! Dangerous people like him are out there all over the place proclaiming to be electricians! Worryingly.....they believe their own shit!
I always say, there’s a big difference between ‘knowing’ how to do something and ‘understanding’ why it needs to be done like that! Quite often the difference between installation electricians and time served Approved electricians .
Wait, fuses are not allowed for protection on new stuff? or did i mis hear...
I much prefer HRC fuses to MCB's for submains (SWA or similar of course)
Fuses are allowed. My point was people coding fuses as C2 just because they're not breakers. Which is nonsense.
got you. And if one wants to get pedantic, a fuse is technically the archetypal breaker of circuits !
I'm not sure about UK regs, but here in Finland funnily enough the main feed has to be fused, MCBs or any type of automatic circuit breaker isn't allowed as the main protection. Larger commercial installations usually fit the monstrous 2000A Schneiders as additional protection after the main fuses, just so you can break the current somewhere a bit more easily. I'm not even sure if MCBs are mandatory in new installations, or if you could actually just do a new install with porcelain fuses and RCDs :)
Yes, it's all about the breaking current capacity...That makes perfect sense. Here in the UK (god rest our souls) the electricity network operator fits a fuse at the intake before the meter... it ranges from 20 to several thousand amps.(the most common for a house being 60 to 100A) But it is ALWAYS a fuse
I know that may seem high to some people but we only get a single phase, most other countries on this continent get 3 of them .
Hello Dave - That nice paperwork is from NATIONALCERTS and its copyrighted :). There is a massive selection on reports available in all colours and logos including Approved Contractor. Do you want a copy of it?
Interesting find. I was a bit sniffy about them; they may be a useful resource for some, but Word isn't the best for form-filling, and this could still have been saved as a PDF.
@@dsesukThis is it - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electrical-Certificates-Unlimited-BS7671-2018-18th-Edition-CD-Rom-or-Email/113683054628
Let me know if you want a copy of one to review. I don't use them, but they found their way to me :)
Absolutely brilliant, everything you say is absolutely spot on, and I just love the way you’ve backed it up with the regs and health and safety at work act!!! Get on son!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I had exactly the same issues you mention on 3 of my rental properties,,,,,,,the electrician (so called) gave me a bag of shite condition report for all 3......every circuit that had low IR readings were all exactly the same value of 7meg,-go figure.......there were so many applied limitations that i think it would take longer to eat a packet of crisps than carry out the test......... when i pulled him he tried to blind me with sparky bollocks........at that point i pointed out that i am an approved electrician with 2391, 18th edition and i teach it for a living.........he folded quicker than a cardboard box lid, he promptly sent me a covering letter to cover......well, his arse......how i laughed.
I hope he sent you a refund too!
The inspection industry works best when every circuit has been installed, maintained and updated "correctly" by a qualified and suitably experienced person. Is the plastic use din the switch board of a type that supports combustion! I used to work for an organisation that makes plastic flame proof luminaries.
I never understood the two colour warning label..... It's like no one at the IET has looked in a ceiling rose since the 1970s....
Been ill in bed all bloody day waiting for that vid. Didn't disappoint when it eventually dropped. One of your best yet and agree with you 100%. Will send it to anyone who thinks those prices get them a real inspection. Thanks.
Nothing flu-like I trust Damion?! Thanks for watching, and get well soon!
I dont mind telling you I charge 150 for a eicr and spend the day on one, I have been at the counter of my local Denmenns while a so called spark was bragging he bangs 3 out a day,
Great informative vid mate, keep em coming
I used to apply that as a fixed rate before going per-circuit after being burned on a few domestic properties that looked easy enough from the outside, but had more than their fair share of circuits lurking within! Per-circuit means you can't always give a price until you open the CU and see what breakers are in use, but it means bigger installations pay more which seems fair. We still book a whole day to a standard domestic EICR, but with two of us on it, we can usually see it through sooner and move on to a reserve job. The worst one I attended was a house that belonged to an old electrical engineer who had shuffled off. Wiring everywhere, exposed live parts all over the place and a hell of a job to figure out all hos monkeying!
@@dsesuk Also had to do a Periodic on a retired electrical engineers place many years back. He had made all his own switches and light fittings! Milled Bakelite and brass terminals. Absolute perfection. Every cable intact and tidy. All working and wired correctly as it should be. Went back last year for a repair and the new twat holiday-let owner had it rewired by utter numpties. Keeps me in work I guess!
@@dave-d That's it Dave, the cowboys can be good for business! It pays to un-cock the cock-ups!
I won’t touch an eicr for under 350
@@supersparks9466 wow wish I could them at that price, it sure beats working for a living
Phenomenal video so funny yet so detailed and informative - keep up the great work!
i will be honest, i get back from work and dont wana hear or read anything about electrics. but hear i am watching ur videos with a few Guinness enjoying myself. good shit mate
Thanks for tuning in, and bottoms up!
When I was younger I used to work for one of these people, he would send me out to do condition reports in properties by myself. I had no idea what I was doing because the only qualifications I had was my level 2.
Was your signature on the paperwork or his? If yours, he laughed all the way to the bank. If his, he just didn't care about the risk.
David Savery Electrical Services
Luckily it was not, I only realised the wrong I was doing after I educated myself on the subject. To verify continuity of bonding conductors he would tell me just to take a picture of the earth clamp 🙈 no wandering lead at all. I’m sure he didn’t even own one.
@@pawelkowalski770 Bloody hell, you'll give me nightmares!
David Savery Electrical Services that’s not even the worst
total wan**r rip off merchant, retired many years ago and caught one out doing my rental property that i had pre inspected!
Money for nothing. Maybe I'm the one doing it wrong...
Nice!
I love your videos. So honest, informative and funny. You've become a mini inspiration too after hearing you on the EGTE podcast and I'm taking a similar route to you into the industry.
Plus, your bang on about lily Allen. Hope you managed to watch ricky gervais at the golden globes.
Thanks for your vids.
Thanks for that comment. I did see Ricky at the Golden Globes - what a hero!
@@dsesuk I meant to say," I agree with you banging on about lily Allen".
Too many hobgoblins.
@@enriquedmu1 No worries, I fully understand the lure and effects of Hobgoblin!
Been the case in Scotland for a while. The PAT testing at least was questionable in my flat, the cooker hood plug was ancient and not well wired(inner wires coming out of grip), not helped by having zero slack
PAT testing is another issue... one I made a video of months ago but haven't got around to uploading!
@@dsesuk my point was if the electrician was unable to spot, or unwilling to act on that, what was the quality of the inspection of the fixed circuits ?
@@dsesuk upload it then please!
@@Martin-uf4ut It needs finishing - probably about ten minutes of filming and several hours of editing that I haven't been drunk enough to face since the end of last summer.
@@dsesuk ok thanks. I'm not an electrician but I enjoy your content. Thanks for all the hard work you put into them.
You should do a full video on EICR paper work dave. A step by step guide on the NICEIC certs! Or maybe show us an example of 1 of yours. Great video BTW!
Thanks G S, but that's not on the cards I'm afraid. I have thought about it before, but the thing is, I shouldn't have to show anyone how to complete the report as those who have undertaken the 2394/2395 or 2391 training should be correctly versed in it. My demonstrating how I'd complete the form would only allow iffy installers who haven't got the overheads of training/insurance/accreditation to tick the boxes a little more accurately while undercutting me on price and still doing half a job.
@@dsesuk yea good point to be fair. That was a real bad cert aswell. I'm not convinced it was a qualified electrician who did it. The basic errors just wouldnt be there.
@@GS-sz4ge It does make you wonder doesn't it? How can someone have been in business for nine years and not be able to fill in this paperwork? If I wanted to do a drive-by EICR, my report would at least look the part and contain accurate information in any box without LIM written in it!
A great point well made, I enjoy your videos. So I’m a qualified gas engineer with 20 years experience. I come across similar issues with gas certs and it drives me nuts. I’m currently training via Trade Skills 4 U to become Part P qualified. I was under the impression that the course I’m doing with them will qualify me for carrying out these electrical inspections but in fact it won’t. So I’m digging deep, shelving out more ££££ and doing the higher level course so I will be able to. I would still hesitate though at describing myself as a “qualified electrician” when my training is complete. A paper cert is one thing, a true electrician with at least 10 years experience is another. Good work on grammar correction, my partner is a teacher and she’s always pulling me up ;)
That's the problem with the industry , I am a time served trained joiner but got involved with electrics and underwent informal training further into my career, including being taught to test (from an era when college based training wasn't a requirement) , they no longer look at experience , just want a piece of paper and they let you loose but its coming back slowly to bite them on the arse. We had some young lads on a large insurance office refit in Stratford (3 year job) , absolute nightmare containment didn't exist, fire protection just ripped out standard of workmanship was atrocious . When I end up having to refix loose sockets (and the electrics on this job were nothing to do with us) , fix cabling correctly seal holes reinstate timberwork barred out a joke non of them could read construction drawings but all passed their course
You sir, are spot on.I see it all the time C2 being used when there’s no RCDs present.I argue with some fellow sparks over this.Its a C3 if they are not supplying exterior equipment.FFS
Thanks David. Another video on this is rendering as we speak and should go live tomorrow. In that one, we reinspect a first-floor flat that has been C2'd for lack of RCD protection.
David, I know this is over two year ago... But £145 for an EICR is far too cheap. I would double that price today. To do an EICR properly and fill in all the forms plus sampling and putting your neck on the block for £145.... No way
The apostrophe is possessive and therefore correct in the sentence, even if it's use is not correct in legal terms. Another great video though. I live in rented property and the electrical legality is only just catching up with the gas, though both are equally as dangerous as each other in the wrong hands.
I recently got emailed from a company asking if I would be interested in doing Domestic EICR's for them. They also expected 4-5 done a day and were willing to pay £50 per property..... they also added if the job was aborted due to no-one being in.... they would pay you £10 for an attendance fee....... 😐😐
A great video on highlighting these drive by or sitting in the van testers
Y'know Ryan, I'm actually tempted by that. Why am I bothering to spend a day producing an accurate report when I could knock out four or five good looking 'visual' reports full of limitations? I should just take the money and head for the pub.