Periodic inspection report (Ripoff or good quote?)

[Richie]

Hi again

ok, I'm sure I'll become a pain in the butt as this is the first time I have bought a house and I went and had a periodic inspection report carried out on it as the house is a 1930's property so I wanted to find out the state of the wiring/electrics...

The electrian who did it (NICEIC approved) reports that the following works need rectifing to meet the requirements of BS7671

Section G of report: Observations and recommendations

1) No RCD for the use of portable equipment outdoors for the ground floor sockets

2) Lateral cable supplying the garage to be disregarded or rewired

3) no presence of supplimentary earthing to the bathroom

4) Loose twin socket in the kitchen

5) No warning notices to the electrical intake area

Obviously I wont mention the company that provided the report as I have no idea if this is a good or bad quote as I'm kind of fishing here to see if I'm being ripped off or if this is a good deal but I am worried as it seems to be a lot of money for not a lot of work.

The quote for the above was £1588

Is this good or bad and should I ask for a breakdown of the quote provided or will this just annoy the guy if I'm being ripped off?

Thanks
richie

[Gadget]

Get a breakdown!

[ultimatehandyman]

I once had an electrical survey done and most of it was complete rubbish.

On my survey it said that the meter tails needed increasing for the size of the main fuse

When the fuse fairy removed the main fuse it was only 60 amps and so the 20mm2 meter tails were adequate

It then went on to say that the wire feeding the upstairs sockets was too thin It was 2.5mm2 on a ring main and protected by a 32 amp breaker.



It made no sense at all to me and I was sure that the electrician was just out to make some money from someone who did not know.

Apparently in the new 17th edition IEE regulations there is no need for supplementary bonding in bathrooms and so if you wait until then you can save some money. I do not know when the 17th edition is coming out!

The loose socket in the kitchen can easily be fixed.

The cable to the garage can be replaced with some armoured cable, terminate this into an adaptable box and stick an rcd plug on the end of it, as long as the total load is less than 3kw

Not sure about the warning notices, if someone can't see the electrical intake area, will they be able to see a notice?

Do you use portable outside equipment? such as for a lawnmower etc?

If you do then change the socket that you use for plugging in the lawnmower to an RCD socket.

Personally I tell them to shove that quote up ther backside :!: :!: :!:

You can sort out most of the above for a couple of hundred quid max

[Richie]

UHM.... your a star... thanks mate

I had a gut feeling after doing loads of homework on these things and gaining a better understanding of how home electrics actually work (From this website too) so I couldnt help asking...

I've been stressing about this cost for quite a while now and your reply has totally given me some ammo to get some sleep finally...

If anybody else has any thoughts on this too then I'd love to here them.

I just had a quick look in google and found this: http://www.iee.org/Publish/WireRegs/DPC/index.cfm

Looks like the 17th edition will be out in January 2008

Thanks guys
Richie

[sparkydude]

Most definiteley trying it on , go on name the company they deserve to be named and shamed for a quote like that . If it was done by me i would be looking for around £600-£800, but that would include new fuseboard to the property to include RCD on circuits that needed it , and as i dont know what he is meaning about the garage fed, to re-feed it in armoured cable and update internal wiring and accesories to garage.

Hope this clears things up a bit

Nick

[Richie]

Hi Nick

Thanks for the reply, again its very much appreciated.
The company that provided the "Periodic inspection report" was.......

Drum roll if you please!

Barry Brown:
Brown Electrical Services / Honour Oak Park, London SE23

Think I'll have to find another sparky, one that wont give me a nasty shock

oh well, off to yell.com now to find a sparky and see what turns up....

Thanks again guys