S-Plan Central Heating Installation Question

[RayPooley]

God loves a tryer, but still wrong and to draw a comparison between rewiring a house and heating controls is laughable.

Laugh away.

But you seem to be overlooking an important point here.

This installation was originally installed by someone with all the accoutrements of what YOU would deem to be a "competent" service provider. I'm not sure what those accoutrements entail. A van with a trade name on the side? Trade organization membership and emblems on the doors? Companies House registration? Is that your yard stick?

Ok. A bit naieve in my experience

What I know about this installation is that this was the case when this system was initially installed.
A subcontractor to the main building contractor. A part of larger project.

And yet here we are. An "incompetent" like me sorting the problems out. Right?

But at the end of the day an EIC will be a listed requirement on the job spec.

Any tradesman who doesn't wish to sanction their own work need not apply. Nor will their application be considered
without such an agreement.

So I guess that would rule you out.

 

[Murdoch]

So come on Ray, come clean about your involvement in this because you can't be claiming to be a CPS registered spark can you?

 

[RayPooley]

So come on Ray, come clean about your involvement in this because you can't be claiming to be a CPS registered spark can you?

The owner is an old friend of mine. Known her for 43 years.

She's spent £130K in two years on home refurbishments. Attached is a an extract of an email I received from her.

It's a shame that people end up feeling this way when they go out of their way to procure credentialled service providers so that they don't end up in these circumstances. But this is where she finds herself with painful regularity.

So excuse me if I roll my eyes when people start preaching about competency registers. You can't teach competency in a classroom.

So she turns to her old, reliable friend Ray, the Engineer, for advice when things go wrong as they so often do.

Case in point. The old friend Ray always come up with a solution.

Now as far as I'm aware you don't need to be on the competency register to intervene and offer advice to anyone.

Or to buy a copy of the BS7671 IET Wiring Regulations and On-site Guide, read it and adhere to its recommendations.

But if the job I have described is not notifiable work, as you claim, then there is really no reason I can't do it myself.

It's 46 connections between 7 devices. You really think a mechanical and electrical engineer can't handle that?

The fact is that I want the work to be certificated whether Building Regs Part P requires it or not. So that she can have
some form of certification of works. to staple to her EICR.

 

[Murdoch]

^^ you brought up the Part P business and your understanding of the use of EICR's and EIC's is suspect too.

Your starting point is really to look at the EIC that the contractor gave to your friend ........

 

[RayPooley]

^^ you brought up the Part P business and your understanding of the use of EICR's and EIC's is suspect too.

Your starting point is really to look at the EIC that the contractor gave to your friend ........

That's ok. You can have the last word.

 

[Murdoch]

That's ok. You can have the last word.

Thanks.

So this comes under the minor works scope - so as long as you have calibrated test equipment and can issue a MWC then crack on

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink

 

[RayPooley]

Thanks.

So this comes under the minor works scope - so as long as you have calibrated test equipment and can issue a MWC then crack on

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink

An aside.

See this attached? Tell me what you think of it.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Looks fine and nicely clipped

 

[RayPooley]

Looks fine and nicely clipped

Really? Do you know what it is?

 

[Murdoch]

those are a 2G socket and a 45A isolator with a built in 13A socket

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Cooker point with 1g appliance socket normally for a kettle but depending on the oven / hob can be used for that

 

[RayPooley]

those are a 2G socket and a 45A isolator with a built in 13A socket

Ok. Put simply it's a cooker isolation switch.
What's missing from the picture is the UTC freezer that lives in front of it and normally weights about 60 - 70 Kg fully laden.
You can see the other two fridges one either side.
So, in a crisis situation requiring isolation of the cooker, like a fire for example, where it would be advisable to turn off the power to the cooker before using a fire extinguisher you would have to remove the freezer in order to gain access to the isolation switch.
Do you think that's a good idea?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Mcb/ rcbo also this would of tripped before any electrical fire

But consumer unit

 

[Murdoch]

Ok. Put simply it's a cooker isolation switch.
What's missing from the picture is the UTC freezer that lives in front of it and normally weights about 60 - 70 Kg fully laden.
You can see the other two fridges one either side.
So, in a crisis situation requiring isolation of the cooker, like a fire for example, where it would be advisable to turn off the power to the cooker before using a fire extinguisher you would have to remove the freezer in order to gain access to the isolation switch.
Do you think that's a good idea?

No it’s not a good idea to position an isolation switch there BUT there is nothing in BS 7671 that says you can’t do it

Yes the regs are written that badly

 

[RayPooley]

Mcb/ rcbo also this would of tripped before any electrical fire

But consumer unit

What? A burning chip pan on a cooker is going to trip an MCB/RCBO/RCD?
Oh. That's ok then. What do we need an isolation switch for then?
Better let the IET know. Been doing it wrong all these years.