Issues with house lighting wiring.

Merku

Hi there,

I hope I’m the correct forum. Wasn’t sure if I should put it here or in consumer issues.

Anyway, long story short: the wiring for the lighting in my house is all over the place.

I have a 3 gang switch at the front door. 1 for an outside light, 1 for the hall light and 1 for the toilet.
A while after we moved in (8years ago), we noticed that the outside light switch (there was no fitting outside, just a connection box) was switching off the whole ground floor, stairs and landing! Because we had so many issues elsewhere in the house and never used that switch because there was no outside fitting, we forgot all about it.

Last week, I finally decided to get someone to install outside light fittings at the front and the back of the house. I remembered the switching issue but I didn’t think it would be a major job, probably “just a wire not wired in the right place”...
What the electrician uncovered was in fact quite scary. The switch we never used and that needed to be in a certain position for the lighting to work elsewhere was actually on, therefore the connection box outside was live for the last 8years…
He fixed it but only to divert the problem onto the hall switch, which means that now, we need the hall light on at all time for the rest of the lights to be switched on and off.
He tried to fix this but only uncovered more “beauties”: the living room light is fed from the kitchen switch, the outside back light can only be switched on if the living room light is on, etc..
We spent a good 2hours trying to makes sense of it all only to come to the conclusion that the wiring had been done arseways.
The electrician told me the installation didn’t meet the regulation but it also could be a fire hazard.

I obviously need to get this fixed (we have got ride of the hall light for the time being so that it doesn’t have to stay on all the time) but I’d like to know if anyone has faced such an issue before and if there is any course of action I can take for the builders , the insurance or homebond to cover the cost before I fork out money I simply don’t have.

I have been told by my management company that homebond only covers building defects and that the block insurance (I live in a duplex) doesn’t cover this. I am not sure the builder is still trading either…

I would have thought that the electrical and plumbing installation would be certified before being handed over to the client, if there is an obvious malpractice like in my case, who should be liable for it?

M cebee

you'll need an inspection to find out if there's serious issues
I think your lighting guy may possibly be scaremongering

rob w

Agree with above post, get someone to have a proper look and see what the problem is.

But it sounds to me like there is just connections mixed up at switches/fittings, rather than wiring being "done arseways". Ive met some bad electricians in my time, but i dont know many that would wire lights in one room back to a switch in another!

Ive fixed a few problems like yours before from people doing diy in their own house and mixing up switch wire/feed connections. Is the electrician you had there sure of the problems he found? If so, you can only take him at his word, but a second opinion just to make sure before you do anything else wouldnt hurt!

M cebee

i'd be skeptical of this lighting guy-the story sounds familiar
Can't fix minor issues-condemns the installation

Not saying there aren't serious issues

Diggerdunne

it sounds like loop feeds are mixed up with switch wires,should not too difficult to sort out,more time consuming than difficult....

Bruthal

Sounds like some switch feeds mixed up with switch wires.

If thats the problem, it should have been straight forward enough for a proper electrician to fix.

Diggerdunne

u reading my mind robbie?

Bruthal

Diggerdunne wrote: »

u reading my mind robbie?

I must be slow at typing anyway, 2 minutes difference there:D

paddymick

First of all from what you have said about the switches I cant see how there is a direct fire hazard so i wouldnt panic too much unless he discovered something else wrong that you havent said.

It sounds like a simple mix up of wires somewhere that any competent electrician should diagnose easily.

Fault finding is the achilles heel of a lot of electricians as a lot of them just dont have the patience to stand back for 5 minutes and think about what is going on.

He probably arrived thinking he would be in and out quickly as it was just fitting a light and then realised there was to much involved so pulled out the aul ah this place is wired arse ways...

Get someone else to look at it....

EDIT: I need to learn how to type quicker:D

Merku

That's what "my guy" said in fairness, to get a qualified and certified electrician to do a survey and thats what i intend to do.

I worked as an apprentice electrician in my youth, it was more commercial based so i wouldnt have much of a clue about domestic installation but even on my most basic knowledge, i do think myself that there is something wrong about the way its been wired.

But it make sense to know for sure before going any further.;)


PS: sorry about the font size of my 1st message, dont know what happened there

M cebee

there could be serious issues
But those problems could go unnoticed if they weren't thorough doing the testing