My mother lives in an average sized three bedroom bungalow. Saw her today and she said her electricity went of and she called in a recommended electrician. He said she needed a new consumer unit and he could fit one for £300. Anyway, once he started the job he said that the electrical installations in both of the extensions to the house and the exterior lighting were overloading everything and that he would have to fit another box and that would cost another £500. The extensions are simply an extra bedroom and a garage converted into a dining room. Anyway, £800 seems a bit steep, but then I don't really know what it is the electrician is going to be doing as I'm getting this secondhand from my old mum. Any thoughts? Is she being ripped off? As I said the electrician was recommended to her so I don't want to unjustly question or besmirch a reputable tradesman.
- Thread starter Marty2005
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octo0072000
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sounds like a rip off to me get a second opinion
pedrobedro
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Get the electricity board in to check it over, they will probably offer a free safety check and tell you what you need if anything. If the power just went off because of a trip it means it is working as it should and you need to find what tripped it.
Premiershipman
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Realistically he should have carried out a PIR (periodic inspection report) before he started if he planned on replacing the consumer unit.
This would have identified any circuits in or near overload state and highlighted any issues.
This would have identified any circuits in or near overload state and highlighted any issues.
cumbriasteve
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Always difficult to judge the unseen:
The first box was £300 and then does he mean an extra box or an upgraded box for the extra £500 = £800 total....that's a lot of £££££'s for a consumer replacement.
I'm afraid it does sound like one of the 'once in I will find some more work' brigade but there may be a lot more to the work that we don't realise.
The first box was £300 and then does he mean an extra box or an upgraded box for the extra £500 = £800 total....that's a lot of £££££'s for a consumer replacement.
I'm afraid it does sound like one of the 'once in I will find some more work' brigade but there may be a lot more to the work that we don't realise.
wheresmejumper
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300 to fix the first problem sounds okay(without knowing exactly)
500 for an additional one doesnt
500 for an additional one doesnt
madkayaker
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Doesn't seam outrages to me (without seeing the job). Electric board no longer involved after the meter. Get a second option on the job
brightspark
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a 17th edition 8 way split board is the minimum size for an upgrade there only 90 quid . upgrade the earth bonding and your probably looking at 400 quid fully fitted ,even with an extension on that board would be big enough with a few spare ways . realy it would need looking at before u could comment on what has to be done extra to the db
Cheers for that guys. I'll have another chat with Mum. He was recommended by a trusted neighbour so my initial reaction is that he's a decent guy charging a fair price. To tell you the truth, if he's just a little bit pricey that's ok as she got plenty of cash ... I just don't want her spending my inheritance too quickly! 
madkayaker
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You would be surprised how fast prices can escalate with house wiring. I have seen sockets run in 1mm light cable, a socket cable screwed through by a kitchen fitter so every time the old dear put a pan away if it touched the bracket it gave her a shock etc etc. faverate DIY fault is un fused spur off spur etc so the cable is overloaded and potential fire hazzard
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Part P and the "5 week wonders" have got a lot to answer for! 
madkayaker
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Yep and now there mucking up the qualified supervisor ticket with a watered down diploma
the snooper
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that sounds very dodgy to me, does she run a lot of electrical items on these circuits ? you cant overload a circuit with nothing running on it
She's not running anything special. One extension is a bedroom and the other is a garage converted into a dining room. There's just a few sockets and lights. The dining room is hardly ever used and the bedroom has nothing in it which you wouldn't find in the average bedroom.
the snooper
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if there is hardly any electrical items on those circuits then they cant be overloading anything get a second opinion
madkayaker
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If there is an outlet there as standard loads that can be used at that outlet that the electrician must allow for.
Thats diversity. Well it is when you allow a % of those fitted sockets to be loaded / unloaded. If I remember right the sparky can spec the diversity % that he tests it under.
brightspark
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a ringmain can cover an aeria of 100 square meters with as many sockets as u like, that doesnt mean u can use them all though as said diversity must be used.your max load would be 7kw on any ring. i generaly fit 3 ring mains in a semi, one for upstairs socket one for downstairs and one in a utility room as u generaly have a cold fill washer and a tumble dryer running at once . as for the original post whoever wired the extensions may have spured off the ring a string of sockets on a radial and not incorporated them on a ring . only one spur allowed of the ring at any one point . as for the lighting being overloaded the max fuse would be 10 amp for using 1.0mm cable so if it was overloaded it would trip the breaker or blow the fuse without damage to the wiring but as i said it would need to be looked at to comment otherwise its just speculation
