Re-wiring a terraced house

[Anonymous]

Is it possible to carry out some or all of the work required to re-wire a house, getting supervision from a qualified electrician i.e. calling in from time to time and then making the final connections and providing any necessary certification on completion? I am renovating a small terraced house and want to go down this route to save money!
I was thinking that maybe I could at least bring down some of the cost by carrying out laying of the cable runs, fitting boxes etc without actually making the electrical connections myself (after speaking to an electrician of course and asking him what was required). In other words, carrying out most of the labour part of it, which would surely not require any special knowledge or skills? My electrician would then come in and carry out the skilled part of the job? This is my theory anyway, correct me if I'm wrong!
Thanks for any advice!
_________________
Andy Ryder

 

[Anonymous]

Andy

Under the new regulations (Part P) you can still re-wire the house yourself, but you must give advanced notice to your local Building Control Department. After the work is finished you will have to get it checked out by a competent person (approved electrician).

 

[Anonymous]

no,. im afraid your wrong, if you notify your local building control they will inspect on completion, not a certified electrician (it will be but not one you choose or have any say in what so ever)

that is, if your local council is going this way, although part P says this is a way and they must make provision to carry it out, the ODPM can not force the BCO to carry out this, and so, many are insisting you use a certified electrician last time i checked anyway (mine is one - dacorum )

the way id play it, if somone offered to do any of the wiring its a no can do because i dident install it so cant put my name on it....

however, nothing to stop you cuting chases and lifting the floor....

if the property is empty of everything...i.e. bare floors, no carpets/furnitue you can nock about a grand off on a std rewire even without you cutting chases, doing chases you will probrably only get about 100 off/ some may even add more because of the hastle of having "unskilled" labour, i.e. your not doing it all the time so arnt as fast as them and may hold them up!

if you go the bco rouite...if your local do it then everything you do has to be to BS7671 and beleve me...thats going to be hard, as it contradicts itself many times.

whats your area?

 

[Anonymous]

I live in a small town called Tyldesley, near Wigan.

 

[Anonymous]

ooooh, someone within 30 miles of me.

 

[Anonymous]

If they have to call in on you at various times its gonna be more, not less. Why not read up on uk.d-i-y and learn how to do the lot yourself.

Or have them pencil lines on the wall marked with the cable size, you install all the cables, they come back and connect them all up.

NT

 

[Anonymous]

because installing cables is part of the electrical instalation and so can not be certificated! no one can sign it off for him so it would be a waste of time, money, cable and effort for him.

he would be better off chasing the walls and lifting the boards and then offer to be there on the day to clear up (that will save you money - its the longest part of the job!) and put everything back together(another time saver)
you will probrably end up drilling rows of holes but if your rewire was going to cost say 3000 then
clearing up,
making good(putting floor down, plastering chases ect ect)
labouring
cutting chases and lifting boards before hand

then id say you could easly look at 2000

but be warned, its back breaking work, and you must be up to it for all the day and all the time your needed (just like a labourer they would employ) many of the people we let help out by doing work start at 8 am with us and then cant do any more by about 2-3 pm!!!

 

[Anonymous]

OK Thanks to everyone for your comments!

Much appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

Someone could do the whole install themselves then get it inspected and passed via the local council, no? Refusal to test is often a way of keeping work to oneself methinks. Sometimes its reasonable, but by no means always.

NT

 

[Anonymous]

Quite.

Plus, what is the point of periodic inspection reports?

The tester will not have done the installation, but should be able to check the safety of the wiring and make recommendations for improvements where necessary. Otherwise, what would be the point of PIRs?

I'm not a professional plumber or electrician, and yet I've had the council check and pass my installation of an unvented hot water system. Paid the fee, got it checked, no problem.

Well, I did have to explain how the system worked to the inspector, as he'd never seen one before.

 

[Anonymous]

"because installing cables is part of the electrical instalation and so can not be certificated! no one can sign it off for him so it would be a waste of time, money, cable and effort for him"

What's the point of PIRs then? If the condition and safetly of the installation cannot be verified unless you installed all the cables yourself, what would be the point of periodic inspections?

There's no reason that competent DIYers cannot do a perfectly good job of rewiring, providing that time is taken to learn and understand the regs and the work is carried out carefully.

Of course the work should then be inspected and only passed if fit.

Part P would seem to be excluding competent DIYers (and there are some of us around).

 

[Anonymous]

I've followed this thread with interest as I was faced with similar issues as the poster. In the end I had all the works done through a builder, and it saved me some of the hard work of some prepratory DIY (chasing out, lifting boards etc.). I apid £4000 plus VAT for a 4 bed largish Victo terrace, including a new kitchen ring. I had got 3 other quotes, and this seemed to be good value for updating the 'lifeblood' of the house to safe standards and for peace of mind.

One concern that I hope the savvy electricians in the forum can answer: as 6 sparkies worked on it, and a different electrician will do the NIC report, I've been told all I'll get is a PIR, not a certificate for a full rewire. Is this acceptable, or should I insist that the builders get all the sparkies to sign an NIC certificate instead?
Helena

 

[Anonymous]

sounds like you didn't get value for money.