Electric shock from shower recently installed

Bass Reeves

Bass Reeves wrote: »

If they have done a botch job once they will botch it again. He paid 9k for a new bathroom looks like they are cowboys. Not all cowboys wear cowboy gear some wear suits and sunglasses without the hats. The plumber bling faulty materials they f@@king supplying the materials.

Can I ask Bass, is 9K high??? we did think so too. It's a small bathroom about 2 x 3mtrs.

SortingYouOut

Jesus, you're absolutely blessed you or your wife didn't get fried.

Company should be investigated, that's cowboy tactics there.

Looks like the pre-recession shoddy work is back with a bang, there's that much business out there that some don't mind cutting corners.

2011

rusty cole wrote: »

Can I ask Bass, is 9K high??? we did think so too. It's a small bathroom about 2 x 3mtrs.

Not my area but if I was paying an average €1,500 per meter squared to get my bathroom renovated I would be expecting something pretty spectacular.

Lackadaisical

I've had similar nonsense myself that resulted in a bathroom having to be refitted 3 times in 5 years. The disruption alone is worth going legal over.

The electrical safety aspect should definitely go to the the CRU and RECI. If they did this in your house they could continue to do it and ultimately are putting lives at risk.

I would have no qualms about reporting it and going all the way legally.

Part of the reason that Ireland had such poor standards of fit and finish and people pulling stunts like this is we are far too polite about it most of that time.

Bass Reeves

rusty cole wrote: »

Can I ask Bass, is 9K high??? we did think so too. It's a small bathroom about 2 x 3mtrs.

Sounds very high but did you price around. Best way to get these sort of jobs done is buy everything youself. But it sounds a of a cowboy job if the plumber did the tiling, plumbing and electrical work. After a good tiler you should see no flaws in the job. But doing a job like that it depends on a varity of things.

Was it an upstairs bathroom or a ground floor one. Did both over the last 6years. Ground stairs old Bathroom ware removed, floor under new shower area removed to get slope for shower floor and to reconfigure piping from under old bath. Wall channeled for piping for and control unit and new shower head. Tiler did the tiling and sourced a plumber. I used my own electrician who installed low voltage lighting. Seperate pump installed to power shower. Glass panel used no shower door.

In the upstairs shower room we used a shower base but used waterproof boarding under tiles and installed concrete board behind shower area. It was a power shower that was fitted.

2.5-4K should do any shower room that size depending on what tiles and ware you buy.

hufpc8w3adnk65

We’re these lads local and recommended too you?

highdef

rusty cole wrote: »

They actually took out our instant electric shower which was 9.2kw I think and replaced it with another electric one which requires you to turn on immersion, again one of the many things they did without prior discussion. The switch for this is in our attic now, so we have to go up there to turn it off if say we were on holidays..

I know this is slightly off topic but why do you need to kill the power to the shower before leaving the house for an extended period of time? I can't imagine the shower using much, if any electricity when it's not being actively used.

Both my showers always have power going to them.

MrMac84

MrMac84 wrote: »

We’re these lads local and recommended too you?

We asked around alright and these were actually one of the more reputable ones if you can believe that. I'm waiting to see what I should do first, I may have a drink tonight and a chat with the lads to see. I owe ye all a pint at this rate so cheers for that.

The plumber did not do the tiling, that was done by their Tiler, the plumber did absolutely everything else, radiator, sink, shower etc.
Sure the instructions on the slate shower tray said, Tray must be stored horizontal to prevent warping. They had it in my shed standing up for two weeks. I told Safe electric and they mailed me instructing me to report them to the CRU for illegal works ASAP.

kirving

highdef wrote: »

I know this is slightly off topic but why do you need to kill the power to the shower before leaving the house for an extended period of time? I can't imagine the shower using much, if any electricity when it's not being actively used.

Both my showers always have power going to them.

Given their power consumption and the fact they spray water everywhere, it's best no to rely solely on the little switch on the front of the shower to control power when you're away.

A bottle of shower gel falling off a shelf or a shower curtain falling down could potentially hit the switch and not be noticed for days or weeks.

Sleeper12

BrownFinger wrote: »

How do you even **** up a shower so bad that you get a dart off it anyways ?
Its 3 wires ffs

Most likely L N E look fine in the shower. Had he tested with multi meter after installation he would have picked up on the bad Earth. Most likely the bad Earth is in the spur or the trip switch rather than the shower itself.



If they did the whole bathroom I'd be wondering if the pipes & rad are earthed. I saw a new house extension over the weekend with a wall light switch inside the bathroom, the rad had no earth, wall light above the basin was connected with a connection block (no coffin box used) & left in the bathroom. He also installed a new electric shower from scratch & moved another. Id be worried that he used a connection block when moving the shower instead running a longer cable. Builder did all work himself. Tiling, plumbing, carpentry, electric etc. She still owes him 4K. I'm suggesting she keeps that till the work meets wiring standards

Sleeper12

rusty cole wrote: »

Can I ask Bass, is 9K high??? we did think so too. It's a small bathroom about 2 x 3mtrs.

It sounds high but I have seen people spend that on the bathroom fittings alone. On an Aqualisa course about 10 years they showed up a rain shower head (just the head) that cost 1000 sterling plus VAT. I kid you not.


By reporting these, the plumber will most likely be brought to court, fined & face a possible jail sentence.


https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/contractor-convicted-after-his-work-created-fire-threat-at-south-dublin-home-1.3730426


https://www.thejournal.ie/fake-electrician-fined-1760533-Nov2014/

Sharp MZ700

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Most likely L N E look fine in the shower. Had he tested with multi meter after installation he would have picked up on the bad Earth. Most likely the bad Earth is in the spur or the trip switch rather than the shower itself.



If they did the whole bathroom I'd be wondering if the pipes & rad are earthed. I saw a new house extension over the weekend with a wall light switch inside the bathroom, the rad had no earth, wall light above the basin was connected with a connection block (no coffin box used) & left in the bathroom. He also installed a new electric shower from scratch & moved another. Id be worried that he used a connection block when moving the shower instead running a longer cable. Builder did all work himself. Tiling, plumbing, carpentry, electric etc. She still owes him 4K. I'm suggesting she keeps that till the work meets wiring standards

OT but are all rads required to be earthed in bathrooms now? Out of the game 15 or more years.

Sleeper12

Sharp MZ700 wrote: »

OT but are all rads required to be earthed in bathrooms now? Out of the game 15 or more years.

I'm not a sparks but afaik rads in bathroom with copper pipes need to be earthed as do the pipes under sinks & baths. I'm happy to be corrected here

We had one bathroom light and when they replaced the ceiling with PVC and then put in 4 LED lights in our attic. They changed the shower from an electric shower to a power shower. They put in a new light switch for a mood light under the vanity unit. I believe the RCBO should be 10 amps and they have it at 40 amps.
They have the switch spur for the shower in the attic not the landing. There's no terminal boxes on the lights in the attic, just 4 lumps of black tape.
The mains cable has no earth sleeve. small connectors in the attic are 13 amps and should be 3-5 amps. Is there any way they could say oh we didn't have to touch the fuse board so it's ok?

They came out to fix all the hard grout in the corners which was cracking after a few weeks. They said they'd use silicone and put there best guy on it as it's rework...see picture attached. now consider the before and after. and the after is rework!!!!!

Risteard81

Bass Reeves wrote: »

All RECI need to investigate is if the company was using/letting workers who were uncertified carry out electrical work.

They would also need to ascertain just how dangerous it had been left in order to aid any prosecution. (Although the installer could be prosecuted also for carrying out Restricted Works without being a REC and for acting in a manner likely to suggest that they were a REC without being one.)

But if the work is replaced there will be absolutely no evidence of them having illegally carried out any work, so without an admission from them it would completely torpedo any case against them.

Tuco88

What is needed to join RECI, Becasue I often see Plumbing and those "property maintenance" vans with reci stickers...

Definitely not qualified Electricians in most.

Reisers

I have noticed a lot of issues with 3rd party meter installations .

They're connecting at the DB and connections not good enough.

Aldo seen an advert lately for installers and it didn't seem to be a necessity to be an electrician

2011

Tuco88 wrote: »

What is needed to join RECI, Becasue I often see Plumbing and those "property maintenance" vans with reci stickers...

Definitely not qualified Electricians in most.

I would think that if one employee within a company is a qualified electrician that would be sufficient for that company to join RECI.

I think the bigger problem is that some electricians just don't give a sh!t. They just create one disaster after another remaining largely unchecked thanks to self certification. An electrician that is contentious will produce good work whether they are with RECI or not.

Sleeper12

Tuco88 wrote:

What is needed to join RECI, Becasue I often see Plumbing and those "property maintenance" vans with reci stickers...

There are two types of property maintenance company. It can be a one man band. A handyman. Or it can be a campany that employs different trades. Also some plumbing companies employ an electrician. RECI on a van doesn't mean the plumber driving it is RECI. It should mean that a RECI will carry out all reci work

2011

Sleeper12 wrote: »

It should mean that a RECI will carry out all reci work

That is what should happen, it is open to abuse.

killbillvol2

So have you reported them?

alta stare

2011 wrote: »

That is what should happen, it is open to abuse.

In my line of work i have seen at first hand and i have come across dodgy electrical work carried out by electricians, non reci and reci. Some people just dont care. Also a big problem is the amount of lads doing electrical work when they aren't even electricians.

Seanieke

alta stare wrote:

In my line of work i have seen at first hand and i have come across dodgy electrical work carried out by electricians, non reci and reci. Some people just dont care. Also a big problem is the amount of lads doing electrical work when they aren't even electricians.

The all encompassing "Builder", that has always worried me.

alta stare

Seanieke wrote: »

The all encompassing "Builder", that has always worried me.

Yeah there are many of them around alright.

killbillvol2

killbillvol2 wrote: »

So have you reported them?

I have not reported them yet. I mailed safe electric and got a reply within hours.

The reply is as follows

If the electrician who did the work is not registered then you will need to report them to the CRU for illegal works. You can fill in the illegal works form on our website here.
To have the works certified you will need to go through a change of contractor. You can find all the information relating to that and the application form on our website here.

I am actually now worried about the plumbing as we've had to put 2 ltrs of caustic down since the installation, the so called HIGH FLOW outlet seems very very slow to me. If the tiling was shyte, and the electrics are bad, what's the bloody plumbing like... was this so called plumber even that!!!
should he have a cert also??

Sleeper12

rusty cole wrote: »

should he have a cert also??

No. Only a RGI cert for any gas works done

anacc

If there was voltage on the earth, enough to give a shock anyway, shouldn’t the RCBO have tripped? Don’t all electric showers have to be protected by an RCBO?

Sleeper12

anacc wrote:

If there was voltage on the earth, enough to give a shock anyway, shouldn’t the RCBO have tripped? Don’t all electric showers have to be protected by an RCBO?

It's a power shower. I'm betting 3amp spur connected to the 6mm where the pull cord switch was in the attic for the old electric shower.

Phil.x

Ive seen this before and it was a shed socket which introduced a voltage onto the earth and back into the board and shower.

Bruthal

anacc wrote: »

If there was voltage on the earth, enough to give a shock anyway, shouldn’t the RCBO have tripped? Don’t all electric showers have to be protected by an RCBO?

Voltage on the earth will only trip the RCD if 30 milliamamps or more flows to earth rather than back on neutral. A decent shock can still be less than 30ma. So a floating earth becoming live may not trip an rcd.