Dodgy electrician???

kranky

Hi, I recently got my kitchen extended and my brother is after pointing out a few things that he doesn't think are right so just looking for electricians advise. First of all the wiring for the one of the sockets near the oven was done diagonally....now I know this is not correct but is it illegal or against the regulations?
Also the electrician seems to have wired the double oven, the socket for the extractor fan and at least one other socket to the same 20 amp fuse....is this not too much? Should the double oven have its own 20 amp fuse? is it possible this fuse could heat up and become a safety hazard? It's an old house we bought so the fuse box is the old type.
It was a builder we hired so don't even know who the electrician was....

hufpc8w3adnk65

Thats not correct

With out going into details you HAVE too have your wiring checked

Go too http://www.safeelectric.ie/ and find a local contractor too come out and take a look!

Calgary22

oven should be on its own 32 amp Mcb without rcd protection. 20 amp for sockets is fine as long as there in radial. as stated please get this checked asap.

Mr.Fred

Some ovens come with a 13A plug top these days but it will require some form of isolation.

Is the hob wired off the same 20A fuse?

Is it a fuseboad or an MCB board you have in the house?

A fuse won't cause a hazard by heating up this is how they operate and eventually blow when they become over loaded.

It sounds like the builder wired this himself and there was no electrician contracted to do the work.

Either way best to bring up these concerns with the builder before you hand over the cash.

2011

kranky wrote: »

First of all the wiring for the one of the sockets near the oven was done diagonally....now I know this is not correct but is it illegal or against the regulations?

A bit of a grey area this.
I take it that the wiring is not run non the surface?
How far is it diagonal for?
Was there a practical option to run vertically only?

Also the electrician seems to have wired the double oven, the socket for the extractor fan and at least one other socket to the same 20 amp fuse....is this not too much?

That depends.
What rating is the oven (kW) ?

Should the double oven have its own 20 amp fuse?

That depends.
As above what rating is the oven (kW) ?

is it possible this fuse could heat up and become a safety hazard?

In genearl, no.
I assume your concern is that the fuse would get hot due to overloading of the circuit it is protecting?
A properly installed fuse will simply blow if overloaded.
It is hard to comment on your installation without seeing it.
New circuits nowadays in a domestic installation are generally not connected to
fuses anymore even if they are going to an old fuse board. Normally MCBs are used instead (often referred to as "trip switches").
What have the new circuits been connected to?

It's an old house we bought so the fuse box is the old type.
It was a builder we hired so don't even know who the electrician was....

First of all did you receive an ETCI completion certificate for the work?
If not you are entitled to ask for one, and this can not be an extra charge.

If any new sockets have been installed they must be protected by an RCD and MCB or an RCBO.
Can you identify these items in your board?

There may be nothing wrong with the work carried out, but answering the questions above will help confirm this.

beanie10

kranky wrote: »

Hi, I recently got my kitchen extended and my brother is after pointing out a few things that he doesn't think are right so just looking for electricians advise. First of all the wiring for the one of the sockets near the oven was done diagonally....now I know this is not correct but is it illegal or against the regulations?
Also the electrician seems to have wired the double oven, the socket for the extractor fan and at least one other socket to the same 20 amp fuse....is this not too much? Should the double oven have its own 20 amp fuse? is it possible this fuse could heat up and become a safety hazard? It's an old house we bought so the fuse box is the old type.
It was a builder we hired so don't even know who the electrician was....

Afaik the regs state that all recessed cable runs should be vertical or horizontal, if not then cable should be in steel conduit.

I would have kept the ovens on a separated circuit from sockets. How do you know there all wired in together?

kranky

Thanks for your advice. The oven and gas hob aren't wired in yet. We only got them fri and have been away all weekend. It was my brother who checked to see what fuse the oven was connected to and there checked all the sockets on the same wall as the oven. They are all wired to the one 20 amp fuse. The oven is 4.4kw and then the socket for the gas hob, socket for the extractor fan and a double socket are all wired to the same fuse. There was nothing on this wall previously so they are all new. But the fuse board we have is very old so maybe this was all they could do? I have an electrician coming tomorrow so we'll see. How much would it be to upgrade the fuse board....roughly?

liam7831

Am I the only one that read .. Doggy Electrician????????

coso1122

your oven should be on a 32 amp breaker at 4.4 kw it is drawing 19 amps this circuit is overloaded

2011

I would insist on a seperate circuit for the oven.
If this was my home the oven would be wired on a dedicated circuit in 6 sq. mm T&E.

gnfnrhead

2011 wrote: »

I would insist on a seperate circuit for the oven.
If this was my home the oven would be wired on a dedicated circuit in 6 sq. mm T&E.

Thats exactly how I've always done it. 6 sq. at least, depending on how far it is from the fuse board.

2011

2011 wrote: »

First of all did you receive an ETCI completion certificate for the work?
If not you are entitled to ask for one, and this can not be an extra charge.

If any new sockets have been installed they must be protected by an RCD and MCB or an RCBO.
Can you identify these items in your board?

I would be interested in answers to the above. Any update OP?

kranky

No I didnt receive a completion certificate. There definitely isnt an RCBO. Im not sure about an RCD and MCB....Im assuming not seeing as it is a really old fuse board. Can you just add these to the board or does the whole thing need to be replaced?

2011

kranky wrote: »

No I didnt receive a completion certificate. There definitely isnt an RCBO. Im not sure about an RCD and MCB....Im assuming not seeing as it is a really old fuse board. Can you just add these to the board or does the whole thing need to be replaced?

Depends on the board, it may be possible to add them in.

At the end of the day you have a right to insist on a completion certificate and there is no excuse for not having the new kitchen sockets protected by an RCD or RCBO. This is very clear in the regulations and has been for well over 10n years.

kranky

Well I guess paying a builder a 5 figured sum isn't enough to get a job done properly!!

2011

kranky wrote: »

Well I guess paying a builder a 5 figured sum isn't enough to get a job done properly!!

Have you thought about how serious the consequences can be if the electrical work is substandard?

kranky

I know. Ill have to get the whole thing looked at. Brilliant timing, just had a new kitchen fitted a week ago and freshly painted. Luckily this builder has insurance.

Stoner

in some cases there are builders who have someone on the books that is also "handy at electrics" this is possibly what you have here, from what I've read and if it's true I doubt a tradesman would do this.