[Misc] Electrical advice needed

Dorset Seagull · Oct 31, 2015

Just had a refit in the bathroom and the electrician says the new lights need to put on their own circuit to meet building regs. It means having a new rcd circuit box and this and the labour for the day will be £550. The alternative is a spur for £150 but that would be the charge every time we needed any new electric installations whereas a new rcd would cover any future work.

Seems a bit steep but any electricians advise on this

happypig · Oct 31, 2015

I had a new consumer unit when I had my garage converted and it cost 400. this was for the biggest one they do (14 way ?)

Shropshire Seagull · Oct 31, 2015

Are you talking lights or power sockets [aka shaving point]?

In a bathroom both need to be installed with thought to high levels of condensation and water nearby.
But there should be no reason to place either of these "additions" on a separate circuit.
Ought to be a case of just adding it in to the existing ring-main - be that the 5amp lighting circuit or the 13amp power circuit.

Only possible question mark might be if you are fitting one of those ceiling lights that also has a heating ellement [my parents have one of these fitted] - you cant put the heating bit on the lighting circuit [too much current] but I'm pretty sure you add them both into the 13amp ring with a separate 5amp mini-spur for the light.

Anyways, I'd ask for a 2nd [professional] opinion as I'm not a qualified sparky ....

Edit: just re-read you post and it states "lights" - if it is purely lights only, I can imagine why these could not be added to the existing 5amp lighting ring. Is it additional lights or replacement lights - specifically, are you wanting to operate them all from the original [one] switch?

Soulman · Oct 31, 2015

I take it your consumer unit is not RCD protected. A new board fully loaded with appropriate RCD and MCB's would be around £60-100, depending on make. This one will probably have more than you need.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-sentry...- Electrical&gclid=CMbV6I-87MgCFdXNGwod2mYLCQ

A sparks would probably charge around £100 to £120 to change, unless the earthing needed to be brought up to date.
Your price seems a bit steep....in Darrrsettt

Blue3 · Oct 31, 2015

Soulman said:
I take it your consumer unit is not RCD protected. A new board fully loaded with appropriate RCD and MCB's would be around £60-100, depending on make. This one will probably have more than you need.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-sentry...- Electrical&gclid=CMbV6I-87MgCFdXNGwod2mYLCQ

A sparks would probably charge around £100 to £120 to change, unless the earthing needed to be brought up to date.
Your price seems a bit steep....in Darrrsettt

Not quite as it seems as its a split board the RCDs protect the entirety of each half which is not the best option plus this board does not meet the current regs hence its cheaper my view for a bord with individual RCBO circuit protection £500 is a good price

Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee · Oct 31, 2015

You can pick up a (currently) 17th edition consumer unit dirt cheap from screwfix at the moment. The regs are changing to a metal clad box in January, so there a shed load of plastic boxes they need to shift.
Ask the electrician about SELV or PELV lighting, this may be cheaper?

Dorset Seagull · Oct 31, 2015

Blue3 said:
Not quite as it seems as its a split board the RCDs protect the entirety of each half which is not the best option plus this board does not meet the current regs hence its cheaper my view for a bord with individual RCBO circuit protection £500 is a good price

This is pretty much how the sparky explained it and said he can only provide a certificate for building regs if we have the extra work done. I guess you aren't going to get locked up if you flout the building regs bit but assume that if you had a fire or something then the insurance company would play their get out of jail card

Soulman · Oct 31, 2015

Dorset Seagull said:
This is pretty much how the sparky explained it and said he can only provide a certificate for building regs if we have the extra work done. I guess you aren't going to get locked up if you flout the building regs bit but assume that if you had a fire or something then the insurance company would play their get out of jail card

Amendment 3 was published on 5th January 2015 and will apply to all Electrical installations designed after 1st July 2015; however Regulation 421.1.201 will not be mandatory until 1st January 2016.

Hope this forum here helps.

" As stated in Note 2 to the new regulation, the implementation date for the regulation is 1 January 2016. This is six months later than the effective date of Amendment 3 as a whole.
The purpose of the delay in implementation is to allow a period of co-existence of both metal- and plastic-enclosed consumer units and to allow time for manufacturers to work existing and new products through their supply chains. Nevertheless, as is also indicated in Note 2, the delayed implementation does not preclude compliance with the regulation prior to 1 January 2016.'
http://www.theiet.org/forums/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=205&threadid=61173

Ok then, buy a metal consumer unit, as i stated still only around £100 fully loaded.............
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Produc...=adwords&kw=&gclid=CJWg89zD7MgCFSgXwwodjPEL1g

Soulman · Oct 31, 2015

Muhammed 'im hard' Bruce Lee said:
You can pick up a (currently) 17th edition consumer unit dirt cheap from screwfix at the moment. The regs are changing to a metal clad box in January, so there a shed load of plastic boxes they need to shift.
Ask the electrician about SELV or PELV lighting, this may be cheaper?

Just scaremongering, as i said you can pick up a metalclad for around £100 if really concerned, with the number of ways included you could have one RCD doing the bathroom only and have blanks in that part of the split, and the rest of the circuits on the other side of the split.

Dorset Seagull · Oct 31, 2015

Soulman said:
Just scaremongering, as i said you can pick up a metalclad for around £100 if really concerned, with the number of ways included you could have one RCD doing the bathroom only and have blanks in that part of the split, and the rest of the circuits on the other side of the split.

Not sure I understand that as you guys speak a different language. As I understand it the current rcd has trips that each cover more than one circuit

In the new regs each circuit or whatever has to have its own trip. Hope this makes sense but my grasp of the subject matter is flaky at best

Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

[Misc] Electrical advice needed

More options

Dorset Seagull

Once Dolphin, Now Seagull

happypig

Staring at the rude boys

Shropshire Seagull

Well-known member

Soulman

New member

Blue3

Well-known member

Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee

You can't change fighters

Dorset Seagull

Once Dolphin, Now Seagull

Soulman

New member

Soulman

New member

Dorset Seagull

Once Dolphin, Now Seagull

Share this page

Forum statistics

Online statistics

Newest members

Share this page