Electrical safety inspection and report - Remedial costs

[Diversity]

Have two flats in London. Just got an electrician to carry out Electrical safety inspections and reports. It cost £145 each property.

The came back with a quote for remedial works....


Property No 1:
To removed existing fusedboard and supply and fit new rcbo fusedboard and rest labour plus Matrials £1'020.00
Matrials cost
Rcbo plus fused board £500
New certificate £70
Labour cost £450.00


Property No 2:
1/new fusedboard plus rcbo £500
2/new certificate £70
3/to join existing cable plus move to new positions also to fit on wooden board to allow cables to pass from behind also installation of new pvc trunking to concel all joint cable etc etc
Labour plus Matrials £1'320.00


My questions are, does a RCBO cost £500, and labour $450? Seems quite high at £1,000+ per property. Does this sound about the right market price, or am I being quoted too high. So just want to check his quotes are fair and above board.

Any feedback, advice appreciated. Thanks in advance

[baldelectrician]

Why do you need a RCBO board?
You could use something like a Hager VML910CO and add 2 RCBO's for a lighting and heating circuit.

I rarely fit RCBO boards due to cost (I do not have one in my own house)
I use Hager- cost below on Screenshot from CEF online (Hager is - in my opinion- the best you can buy) Screenshot (168).png




What make is he using?

[davidmartin_uk]

Yeah thats high. A metal 18th edition fuse box from Tool station is £120. And as above I would ask why you need new RCBO. It should be half of the cost quoted in my view. Get some other quotes in.

[Diversity]

Why do you need a RCBO board?[/ATTACH]


What make is he using?

Thank you for your reply. I'm not sure, he hasn't said. I'll ask him. And he hasn't said what make either

[Diversity]

Yeah thats high. A metal 18th edition fuse box from Tool station is £120. And as above I would ask why you need new RCBO. It should be half of the cost quoted in my view. Get some other quotes in.

Thank you for your reply.

Since I got the inspection and report done by this electrician, am I required to use him to do the remedial works?

Can I show another electrician his report and get them to quote. Or would electricians only quote if they did the inspection and report. Which would cost another £290

[Stew]

Thank you for your reply.

Since I got the inspection and report done by this electrician, am I required to use him to do the remedial works?

Can I show another electrician his report and get them to quote. Or would electricians only quote if they did the inspection and report. Which would cost another £290

In addition only my personal view the govenment clarified that if the fuse board was fitting prior to 18th regs then it does not need to comply with 18th regs, only the regs at the point of fitment, so I would be tempted to get another electrician to take a look at the reports.

Agree with others. RCBO is an expensive way to go,,,personally I would be looking for a very good reason the current boards are not ok.....

All the best Stew.

[darkstar]

What consumer unit is in place at the moment?
It maybe that the current one is sufficient with a code3 on the EICR

[Stew]

Here is the part I refer to

Here is the part - BS7671:2018 Requirements for Electrical Installations was issued on 31st July 2018 and is intended to come in to force on 1st January 2019. Installations installed after 31st December 2018 are to comply with BS7671:2018.

The Regulations apply to the design, erection and verification of electrical installations, also additions and alterations to existing installations. Existing installations that have been installed in accordance with earlier editions of the regulations may not comply with this edition in every respect. This does not necessarily mean that they are unsafe for continued use or require upgrading.”

So you may get a C3 or similar for not having a metal consumer unit but this won't fail the test so I would question carefully why you need new boards.

I think if you took a picture of the existing boards and showed another sparky the reports they may give advice if they would recommend a second eicr.

Equally there is nothing to stop you submitting the report to whoever were the the certiifcate member was elecsa etc and if the report has quoted and failed wrongly you will be entitled to your money back. Make sure the sparky understands the regs,

Just my personal view

All the best Stew.

[JK0]

Just had an estimate of £2404 for mine in London.

[flyingfreehold]

I have a very exacting electrician who would rather eat sand than break the rules but he passed a fuseboard installed in 2017 on the basis that the room in which it was located is fireproofed

[baldelectrician]

Advice here in this pdf
https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.or...-4-issue-4.pdf

[Stew]

I have a very exacting electrician who would rather eat sand than break the rules but he passed a fuseboard installed in 2017 on the basis that the room in which it was located is fireproofed

Not an expert but looking at the regs even if the room was not fireproofed it probably should not have failed anyway, I don't see an ealier fuse board breaking the rules.

Looking at the doc above which seems quite varied, it even shows old rewireable fuses with a highlight that it's a problem only if the fuse carrier is present which suggests that old CU's are fine.

And it mentions only if unsatisfactory connections are found on a CU would it be a C2.....

The whole ECGR seems to come down to the persons interpretation of the regs it seems and a lot is down to the install.

I am sure this will all come out in the wash with many clarifications and updates,, as far as I see it's due to be passed in June and not yet approved as it stands with many bodies having oustanding queries as to it's implementation..... I like the bit I've seen about the contractor needing two years experience which suggests it's experience that counts as to what is safe and what is not.

Only my personal view

[baldelectrician]

In Scotland you do not have Part P (scheme that lets non time served people in to the electrical industry), to a large degree.

Here you really have to be time served and then get your approved electrician status- for example you need to achieve what is called ' Approved Contractor - or 'full scope' status.

That is one reason that a Greenfell calamity is less likely up here - Scotland banned most of that types of cladding here in 2007.

I digress- the Scottish Government have an excellent pdf on landlord requirements for electrics in rental properties- see link

It may be a good idea for others to take a look and compare.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/el...ed-properties/

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/conten...appliances.pdf

[Diversity]

In addition only my personal view the govenment clarified that if the fuse board was fitting prior to 18th regs then it does not need to comply with 18th regs, only the regs at the point of fitment, so I would be tempted to get another electrician to take a look at the reports.

Agree with others. RCBO is an expensive way to go,,,personally I would be looking for a very good reason the current boards are not ok.....

All the best Stew.

I'll ask the electrician. Thanks

[Diversity]

What consumer unit is in place at the moment?
It maybe that the current one is sufficient with a code3 on the EICR

Not sure, I'll try to find out