Garden Office Wiring Safe Electric Certificate

damorton · 09-10-2022 11:15am #1

Hi all,

I've just bought a garden office and it's been built. I've paid an electrician to run armored cable to a fuse box in the shed, and leave a length of armored cable for the garden office company to wire up the garden office. I've also paid my electrician to certify the connection to the house which is done in the fuse box in the shed after the office is built.

They checked the wiring in the garden office the other day before connecting to the house and have found that the wiring in the garden office is not up to standard and they have now asked for a Safe Electric Certificate for the wiring in the garden office. The garden office company refuse to provide a Safe Electric Certificate.

What do I do now?

Can I legally get a refund on the garden office because they refuse to provide a certificate for the wiring?

Any help with this is appreciated.

kirk. · 09-10-2022 8:02pm

Dunno on the cert but the contractor can't sign off on non complaint work anyhow that's a given

It appears these sheds anyhow are being wired by handymen so no way are they certifiable, not the first time this issue has arisen

See it in a lot of other areas too , bathroom refurbs and kitchen fitouts , handymen instead of a rec doing the work

Sleeper12 · 09-10-2022 9:57pm

An office is a commercial building. I'm not an electrician but I didn't think you had to be a REC to do electrical work in commercial building.

Happy to be corrected but I thought RECI were domestic only

Obviously none of above excuses unsafe work

kirk. · 09-10-2022 10:32pm

The definition would be installation as against building

So it would be a domestic installation with an office out the back would be my interpretation

meercat · 10-10-2022 7:55am

My interpretation would also be domestic and should be certified accordingly

o.p if you contact safe electric you’ll get a definitive answer

let us know what they say.

zg3409 · 10-10-2022 8:12am

The wiring needs to be fixed before it can be connected. If garden office company refuse to fix wiring to standard then bring them to small claims court to cover the cost. Get an estimate to get it fixed and they can pay that or get someone to fix it. Try get a list if the issues with photos etc and why it is unsafe.

kirk. · 10-10-2022 12:07pm

Its been apparent as an issue

Suppliers/manufacturers selling cabins as pre-wired

damorton · 14-10-2022 9:40am

Luckily they have agreed to hire a REC to provide a Safe Electric Certificate and do whatever work is necessary.

Although they did send their electrician to do some work beforehand, not sure what the extent of the work is but they did disconnect the power line and put a plug on the outside of the office?

Either way I'll be getting a Safe Electric Certificate for the office and for the connection to the house, I hope. Will update when it's finally complete.

JL spark · 14-10-2022 1:13pm

Great to hear ,

too many of theses company’s out there doing this work , and no paper work,

meercat · 14-10-2022 2:37pm

That’s fair enough so.

Antenna · 15-10-2022 1:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058266687/garden-office-wiring-safe-electric-certificate

What issues with the wiring were found to be "not up to standard"

damorton · 16-10-2022 11:42am

32amp rated armored cable connected directly to 3x 2.5mm cables running to 3 fuses, 16amp, 16amp, 16amp. No main protective device/consumer box/fuse box.

Blue wire used as live in light switch.

Earth cables running to led spotlights not connected together.

Armored cable not earthed in office.

Spotlights had no fire protection on the back, where installed in "attic" of the office with insulation.

None of the wiring was labelled and was generally untidy.

I'm not an electrician, this is straight off the report, so if you don't agree then call an electrician to learn more.

damorton · 16-10-2022 11:43am

Still waiting on a REC to call, was expecting a call to arrange time last week.

kirk. · 17-10-2022 7:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119751038#Comment_119751038

Main protective device ? There has to be an isolator in shed to switch off , if not that's a major fail

Armoured cable not earthed could be irrelevant too if it's earthed at the main board

Spotlights not fire rated - think that falls under building regulations, don't think that's necessarily a fail anyway

Overall sounds like a disaster DIY job

What it needs is these COs getting fined to put a stop to it

Will mean these sheds cost more though

kirk. · 17-10-2022 8:20am

I presume what's happening here is that the sheds are mostly being connected long after the REC is gone

There's a loophole there leaving supply cables out for sheds and stuff

meercat · 17-10-2022 8:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119751044#Comment_119751044

If the rec(or his employees)didn’t wire this then they’re not permitted to certify it. Chances are that the company doesn’t have a rec to wire it in the first instance and I’d be surprised if a rec would certify it now.

17-10-2022 2:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119754626#Comment_119754626

This is a bit of a gray area. When it is wired it can be considered “packaged equipment”. Therefore some will argue that it is just like any other piece of equipment where the REC simply connects up to it and what happens inside is nothing to do with the REC. I don’t agree with this approach but I seem to spend much of my time dealing with these types of issues at work. We have multiple packages of equipment including completed switch rooms with MV and LV switchgear landing on site that we have to integrate into the site. Some of these originate in other countries which have very different electrical rules. Some are very well built, others are not. None have completion certificates.

kirk. · 18-10-2022 4:02pm

I'm not a REC now but I thought the idea was that the rec got a cert from the shed contractor

If cables are being left out and hooked up after ,well that bypasses the procedure anyhow

You'd think at least they'd have a designer for the electrics, no need for blues at switches and bad labelling and cpcs left loose

18-10-2022 9:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119761150#Comment_119761150

How can it be certified by the shed contractor if it is built and wired offsite? Earth fault loop impedance will depend on the supply it is connected to. A most tests can be carried out, but not all.

10-10-20 · 19-10-2022 3:27pm

I'd assume that a serialised compliance sheet should be provided showing the test applied and values obtained. A bit like if I receive a PDU off a supplier, I'll see the test sheet with values for resistance and earth fault tests applied with a summary as well as the tester's name, etc. But I suppose that stands for nothing unless you have a Safe Electric Cert for the whole installation.

kirk. · 19-10-2022 4:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119762541#Comment_119762541

Ya they can't if they don't connect

I thought this was the procedure in relation to items of equipment like treatment systems that they would be connected by sub contractor supplying the equipment and a cert handed to main contractor

20-10-2022 4:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119765972#Comment_119765972

I wish it was that simple 🙂

I just know from my own work there is no standard procedure. I am working on a large biologics phara project in Ireland at the moment but what I describe is what I have experienced first had over many different sectors for well over a decade. Multiple packages all being connected together on site by multiple mech & elec contractors. We agree on the VDR (Vendor Documentation Requirements) during the tender process (inclusive of electrical testing, ATEX certification, CE certificates etc...) however when the kit lands this has often been ignored. As some packages are single source we have to accept whatever is offered 🤕

JL spark · 20-10-2022 5:05pm

Problem is , you don’t have to be a reci to work commercially,

domestic yes , so anything connected to a domestic installation needs certification

20-10-2022 5:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119771540#Comment_119771540

In reality all electrical contractors working on a large industrial installation can't even tender unless they are properly registered. Ultimately everything is much more thoroughly tested and documented. The problem is that we have to sort issues out on site that should have been boxed off before the kit landed.

kirk. · 22-10-2022 1:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119765972#Comment_119765972

Shed contractor agrees supply needed beforehand ,and connects and hands sub-cert to REC

Ideally i reckon but sure it's all easily bypassed if job is finished and a shed is connected later

What it needs is these co's being inspected and fined

kirk. · 22-10-2022 1:11pm

Probably shouldn't be SWA cables being left out either for unknown stuff to be connected later

Garden Office Wiring Safe Electric Certificate

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