Hi, we've a rental and just had the EICR check done. Carry out Electrical Installation Condition Report on Two Bedroom Property - One additional circuit. This check cost £160.
Came back unsatisfactory ...
Rectification works required following Unsatisfactory EICR - Supply and install new 18th edition, metallic, consumer unit, with integrated RCBOs and SPD, to both on and off peak supplies. (One unit)
The quote is £1k for the above and to issue a new EICR. I've no idea and obvs want it done properly, is it reasonable?
Cheers
Oh the good old cheap EICR and tell them they need a new fuse board cos it’s not up to current regs game. What’s wrong with the board at the moment? As to say if it’s expensive it depends on your location and how many circuits etc. oh and they shouldn’t issue you with a new eicr, they should give you an installation certificate which will cover for 5 years
Son had similar done 6 months ago, similar size of property
Less than £600
Post the relevant bits of the EICR report. As Mark says, unless there's a problem the consumer unit can be "old".
The other bits, SPD, RCBO, etc are just window dressing. You'll have to try hard not to include them now
Is this helpful ...
1 - C3 No SPD protection for cables crossing external/internal zones 0/1 (telephone lines, TV coax, external circuits on ground and roof mounted plant etc). No LPS installed. See Regulation 534.1.
2 - C2 RCD protected socket-outlet circuit wired in single insulated conductors without the protection of a required enclosure such as
conduit or trunking. See Regulation 521.10.1. C2 Location: Throughout
3 - C2 No 30mA RCD protection provided for upstairs lighting circuit supplying a bath or shower location. See Regulation 701.411.3.3. Location: Bathroom circuit
4 - C3. No RCD protection to any circuits Location: Consumer unit
5 - C2. Excessive hole to the left side of consumer unit - Unit does not meet minimum IP requirements Location: Consumer unit
6 - C2. Cooker Not RCD protected with a socket outlet
7 - C3. Cables installed in a prescribed zone at a depth of less than 50 mm without required RCD protection. See Regulation 522.6.202. Location: Throughout
8 - C3 No RCD protection to lighting circuits
9 - C2 Supplementary bonding conductors not installed where bath or shower is present. See Regulation 701.415.2. Location: Bathroom
And out of interest, what's a reasonable EICR charge. When I looked around the range seemed to be £80-200. Firm I used got great reviews on Checkatrade/Trustpilot, and were really good to get it organised ... haven't got a recommended local firm sadly.
I would get another electrician to check it if I were you. sounds to me like an over zealous assessment to drum up work. I am not an electrician
I've recently had a price of £1000 to replace 2 old consumer units.
5 bed house [a couple of extensions over the years hence the two CU] and two extra circuits for outbuildings.
So your quote sounds quite a lot given the house size.
RCDs didn't make an appearance in regs until the early 90s, I think, and then only in a very limited way.
RCDs have grown to cover more and more circuits since then.
SPDs are much newer, during the last few years.
If it's an old installation then it might be perfectly ok, although I would get the supplementary bonding looked at.
Glue a bit of plastic over the hole in the box. It might be that a cover has dropped out.
How old is the property/installation? Given that it's a rental I'd ask them to explain in greater detail.
Cost isn't a guide to a good EICR, it's the number of limitations that render it pointless that count, first link found https://www.ies-edinburgh.co.uk/news/understanding-eicr-limitations/
They are applying regulations retrospectively to the installation with most of those, so should be coded c3 which isn’t a fail, if coded at all. The exceptions are numbers 2&5 which I’d code c1 as as they pose significant risk to the tenant.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t get the board changed so there’s rcd protection as you have a duty of care to the tenants and it will make the installation safer, but that would go in the recommendation section on the cert, but you haven’t got too. This also covers the electrician if anything does go wrong and the landlord tries to pass the buck!
I charge £40 per circuit for an eicr, which prices me out of most but that’s ok as I don’t like doing them as I find it boring, but that give you time to do a proper job and rectify small problems there and then
Given it's a rental property you do really have an obligation to fix this. To not have any RCD protection at all means that the existing installation must be pretty ancient.
I'd get a second quote but to be honest that consumer unit does need dragging into the 21st century. Once RCD protection is in place most of the other elements cease to be a problem.
Just had something like this done a few weeks ago. Old 5 bed that was originally one house, then split in two and now one again and because of this I had two fuse boxes ...... Yes the old bits of wire type of fuse box. Cost 800 for testing the wiring, putting it into a single consumer unit and tidying up the mass of random crap on the wall. Took a whole day and this was about 45 minutes north of Aberdeen as depending where you live will likely have an impact on price.
Double post
I think i paid my brother in law £500 20 years ago for a consumer unit, so it doesn’t seem crazy
TBH, I'd get the CU replaced regardless. A rental property needs to go above and beyond the minimum IMHO. If it was my own house apart from a couple of issues pointed out above I'd tell them to jog on.
As a general rule you can't retrospectively apply current standards.
I got a quote of 1200 for the same job. 2 bed flat, London rates tho. Same electrician passed it last inspection. Eicr was 190.
Safety issues so no issue paying, it's the law and rental rates have increased.
Quick edit, the 1200 included a few other upgrades so your 1k is probably comparable
4 says no RCD protection to any circuits but 2 complains about an RCD circuit? Or does that circuits have sockets that house individual rcds?
Thanks all, much appreciated. It is 20+ years old as been there since we bought it as a young couple! Def want it to be up to scratch. Have got another electrician looking at the quote, he's agreeing and disagreeing with elements, but says in principle that if it's an old CU then replacing is the way to go ...
And we're in north Kent so London-ish pricing applies.
But helpful just to feel it's a reasonable quote.
I asked the electrician working in my house what he d charge for the metal consumer unit, 700 but that's in nw. 1k for London seems the going rate.
I had mine replaced while having my car charger fitted.
The fuseboard part of the job was 800 quid on
And it sounds like the one removed was in better nick than this one at 15 years old a plastic split RCD unit replaced with an individual RCBO and surge protection unit - pulling my 3 sub boards into the main board
2 - C2 RCD protected socket-outlet circuit wired in single insulated conductors without the protection of a required enclosure such as conduit or trunking. See Regulation 521.10.1. C2 Location: Throughout
No one has mentioned number 2. That says the cables are single cables, not twin and earth. If that is true, it would mean a full rewire. You need to calrify what that means, as it is not clear at all - it says 'throughout'. Doing a report is fine, but if it isnt clear, there's no point in even giving it to the customer, as they wont understand it. I'd be inclined to think it is a single socket outlet that has been wired in single cables for a short run, but that seems very unlikely, domestic electrical work is almost always done with twin and earth cable.
Consumer units (fuse boxes if you like) are pretty cheap, probably about £1-200 for a small simple house. But then there's the labour to fit it.. As part of a larger overhaul /house re wire it's not much really.
For example something like this.. It's probably overkill for a flat /small house and it's only 200