fuse board in ballyfermot query

irish_stu

Need to pick your expert brains,my mother in law is getting her house done up, etc,she got quoted 2500 for electrical work???????,the house itself is not been rewired or anything major, just getting a fitted kitchen ,its old house in ballyfermot and the main meter/fuse board,to which they only replaced the old type screw in fuse board, is located directly in kitchen corner, up near the ceiling which is housed directly under the bathroom.more so the area where the bath is,a power shower is also been fitted and a feed has been taking from the new unit in kitchen along the ceiling and they have fed the wire up thru a hole in ceiling to the bathroom,at the moment the feed is within plastic box conduit.


Is this common practice,a fitted kitchen is been fitted so all this work will be covered in,if this is totally not the norm can anybody link me some guidelines to where the fuse board should be and not be,just the mammy inlaw is bit naive and soft and dont want her been ripped,bull ****ted off.

regards stu

Steve

Please don't take offence stu but I tried reading that 3 times and couldn't.

Any chance you could throw some punctuation in and I'll do my best to help you out.

Stoner

LOL.

Well what jumped out at me from it was,

a) I would have genuine concerns about a fuseboard being placed under a bath. If its just a replacement board the only solution to address your concern is a rewire, large joint boxes are not recommended.

b) Regarding the cable for the shower, it depends on the type of cable used. You can runs some cables clipped along the surface if they have the required mechanical protection, but other cable types need to be installed in a wall / a covering of some sort. A pic of the cable would give us the information to answer your questions.

irish_stu

sorry stevec,punctuation was never my thing,always late for work,i will post pics up too.

Steve

Putting the cable in plastic trunking is common enough - I wouldn't worry much unless it looks really shoddy or there's some other reason you are concerned about it.

Not much you can do about the location of the board, as Stoner said, unless you were getting a full re-wire done then it's a huge messy job to re-locate it.
Having said that, the location seems a bit odd (directly under the bathroom) but if that's where it has always been then theres not much you can do, where is the ESB meter?

What other work did they do for the €2500. Seems a bit steep for just replacing a board and wiring the shower (unless they supplied the shower as well).

DublinDilbert

SteveC wrote: »

What other work did they do for the €2500. Seems a bit steep for just replacing a board and wiring the shower (unless they supplied the shower as well).

Did they put in a new earth electrode?
Did they put in a new circuit for the "new" kitchen?

irish_stu

sorry with delay in pics

DublinDilbert

Definitely not the neatest job in the world.... Why did they leave so much left over cable on the run from the shower??

The price seems very high... the new consumer unit would be about €65 before VAT.

What other work was done? extra sockets for the new kitchen?

Steve

I agree, that looks pretty shoddy.

I'm guessing the meter and fuseboard is just above the under stairs cupboard - I've seen a few houses on Lally road and this seen to be the norm so I wouldn't worry about the location of it.

As DublinDilbert asked, what were they doing for that price? - it seems a lot...

irish_stu

that meter is directly under the bathroom,and the wires been chased is fed up into the bathroom for the shower,the doing menial electrics,that go along with fitting kitchen,but 2500 is for electrics only,not including the kitchen,very shoody and shady,but according to his website his company has great portfolio,

fishdog

I agree, that looks pretty shoddy.

+ 1


I think you should ask him for a breakdown of the price.

DublinDilbert

irish_stu wrote: »

wires been chased is fed up into the bathroom for the shower

The wire for the shower isn't chased anywhere... Its just in some plastic trunking....

irish_stu wrote: »

the doing menial electrics,that go along with fitting kitchen

I'm not sure what you mean by this?? Did he fit a new cooker supply? fit 10 double sockets around the kitchen? Did he fit a few new light fittings...

irish_stu

work finished,a shower fitted is constantly on,no other switch other than the shower button,legal??????????,and that water pipe is from attic to shower and the conduit is powered from shower too to power 4 sockets in room,no clock or thermostat fitted to heater/boiler,so if heating needs to be turned on it means going upstairs every time to adjust heat,or turn heating on,off,as you can see, the new socket has been fed from existing socket,wires ran around skirting board,

i think its cowboy material,but im impartial here cos its not my house that the work was done,this at the moment is just the electrical end im concerned about,alot of other work carried out other than electrics is a disgrace,
i just looking to pass on advice,im not a qualified spark but educated in an other trade and im wondering is it worth getting reci,solictor involved,small claims .i doubt the insurance company would pay out god forbid if something happened

irish_stu

more

irish_stu

last 2

Stoner

That's a job for RECI, they'll find some of that very interesting

irish_stu

thanks stoner,bit of joke ,the website the company has, shows a great portfolio of work done,shame that an old woman has been taking advantage of,and the electrics is tip of iceberg regarding quality of workmanship,plenty of photos taken.

Steve

Oh sweet jesus, I can't believe those pictures!

I'm sorry but a first year apprentice could do better than that!

Stoner's suggestion of a RECI inspection is the way to go as a first step.

Hal1

Reci, consumer association, surveyors report and a solicitor. Disgracefull and dangerous, sockets in the bathroom. :eek::pac:<(ffs!)

irish_stu

sorry hal1,will clarify that,no sockets in bathroom,but a feed has been taking from the shower,to supply four sockets in the adjoining bedroom,i think thats a reason he didnt isolate the shower with a secondary switch/pull cord,but as you can see the shower is fed directly via the wire going up thru the kitchen ceiling from the distribution board,no switch in between,thats why the shower is constantly live,no earth rod fitted and the meter is still in its original position,under the bathroom,i had a friend do my own house and im well aware of the quality of work regarding safety etc,but this is a job from a registerd builder.i could open another thread regarding the kitchen he finished and so called decking.....with more pics

Hal1

What action are you going to take? It might be an idea to email the building contractor the pics and ask if this is the standard of their work. What's he going to do about it, I'd be fumming.

irish_stu

i agree hal1,but im the messenger and have been pointing out faults since they started working,and in some instances i think the mammy in law got bit pissed off with me pointing out and giving her advice,if you check my first post i included pics of the cable enclosed in box conduit,and after finishing the work they took down the conduit,im just the son in law and the final decision is and will always be in the mammy in laws hands,im just passing on well sought advice to backup my own concerns giving the dangerous work done,if reci is contacted,what could be the outcome

fishdog

if reci is contacted,what could be the outcome

Tell the builder the RECI inspector is being notified and watch his reaction:D

DublinDilbert

That's just shocking..... someone who doesn't give a dam about their work and doing any sort of a neat job, never mind the safety implications....

jonnner

This couldn't be the work of a qualified Electrician. It's a bloody disgrace.

.G.

That is some of,if not the most shocking,downright dangerous work I've ever seen in my life.Disgraceful is putting it kindly.Defo one for Reci and a solictor.If this company is registered they should have the book thrown at them.

Solair

That wiring is an absolute complete and utter disgrace.

1) It's very dangerous
2) it will invalidate your house insurance!

irish_stu

rang reci.....not registered
so thats that avenue closed...how it came about was a cert was asked for,and then they declined to give one.did bit of searching and the company
has one or two other names going for it,all linked to same address.all genuine companys.so i think its case of cowboys have won this one,they wont return calls etc.
so poor woman is at end of her tether

Solair

Check with http://www.ecssa.ie/ they are also a licensing body for electricians.

If he is indeed a cowboy, which seems likely, I would suggest your next avenue might be small claims court.

Was the overall cost less than €2000 or, would €2000 cover most of it?

You might be best to contact the National Consumer Agency to discuss anyway www.nca.ie

A quick call to Jooooooo Duffy might not go amiss either. email: joe(at)rte.ie

irish_stu

Checked it out already along with citzens advice/consumer affairs,and checked his various companys/alias on guilds web site too. As for out of pocket cost I estimate about 10 to 13 grand on all works.Rather than drift from the thread I limited my concerns regarding the electrics to this section,but the standard of work that was also done is scandalous,basic stuff like sealing counter tops. Drawers and doors not fitting/closing,quality of decking,bad workmanship,and to date they still haven't put finishing touches to all of work,dashing,plastering exterior where new door was fitted,the gas boiler shuts down due to low water pressure etc,I prob could start new topic in plumbing,carpentry etc,
But thanks to all out there advising on boards.

Solair

Personally, I would just sue whoever did this for damage to the house. What they did wasn't upgrade work it's an act of vandalism!

As for the electrical system, the previous one may have been old, but it more than likely complied with whatever regulations were in force when it was installed and would have been reasonbly safe. What you now have is a very dangerous system that needs to be put right.

At the very least you need to sue the cowboy contractor for the cost of re-installing the electrical system to an acceptable standard i.e. in compliance with ET101 regulations.

I would suggest that you contact a solicitior a.s.a.p. and gather as much photographic evidence as possible.

The solicitor would be able to advise you regarding what you need to do about a surveyor etc.

You'd have a VERY strong case!