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Paul Electric
How to check your household electrics
Checking your household electrics
One day I have no doubt that an electrical inspection report on a home's wiring will have to accompany every conveyance, but in 2011, as before, the words on the Estate Agent's blurb ‘not inspected' will continue to fall sadly short of being useful, and all homes will continue to be sold without an electrician's certificate of Inspection and Testing endorsing the electrical system.
One step at a time though – perhaps in the near future, if a certificate isn't available, buyers will be able to assume that remedial work is needed to bring it into compliance, and they can decide whether or not to go ahead with the purchase.
If you are a Landlord renting out a property, or a hotelier, for example, such certificates have been needed for some time, but traditionally homes have always been sold without any comment on the electrics. Many a pair of pliers has been welded together by unexpectedly live cables, and cases of earth leakage have resulted in electrified walls becoming live and lethal. Our workplaces are meant to have their circuits tested every five years by a registered electrician, and every ten years is recommended for homes, but how many of us have actually followed that advice?
Checking out existing electrics
There is no substitute for using a qualified electrician to inspect and test the system, but you can start the process by looking at the general condition and making notes yourself. Begin with the meter cupboard and the consumer unit. To help you, a checklist is given below, and the results should help you form a view of the system and its health in general. You can tell a good deal about the state of the circuits simply by looking. The checklist will enable you to assess the general condition of the installation, but you will need the services of a fully qualified electrician to fully test and inspect it.
Visual inspection checklist
- Fuseboard and meter – general condition
- Is equipment fixed securely to the wall?
- Is the equipment dry?
- Are any parts of it broken or damaged?
- Fuses (fuseboard) with the power switched off
- Are the fuseholders, fuses and circuit breakers intact, complete and not broken?
- Are the correct fuses and circuit breakers fitted?
- Before the advent of the MCBs in the 1980s, fuses were fitted to colour coded holders, or a unique size for their current rating, e.g. 30Amp – red, 5Amp – blue etc
- Cables
- Do they appear to be in good condition and undamaged?
- Do they appear to be connected? Check that none are loose or hanging free
- Fuseboard
- Is there a list of circuits within the fuseboard (perhaps inside the cover), and if so, is ot complete? Are the fuses to the circuits identified?
- Circuits - General
- Are cables clipped to the walls, floor and ceiling joists in attics, and the void beneath floorboards?
- Is wiring safely located away from accidental damage and children?
- Has a residual current device been fitted to any external supply, or in general at the fuseboard?
- Lighting
- Do all lights work?
- Are the ceiling pendant flexes above the lampholders in good condition and not scorched or frayed?
- With the ceiling roses and lampholders unscrewed, are all the wires connected and sheathed with insulation (no bare wires)?
- Are the switches, lampholders and ceiling roses complete and undamaged? Even those used in the 1970s may be brittle and easily cracked
- Are the switches fixed properly and do they operate positively?
If your visual inspection indicates any problem, are you are unsure of the safety of your system, you must immediately contact a qualified and experienced electrician, who will carry out a proper inspection.
Paul Carr is a qualified and very experienced Part P registered electrician, with over 15 years in the trade. He is based at Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Visit his website at http://www.paulcarrelectrical.co.uk
About the Author
Paul Carr is a qualified and very experienced Part P registered electrician, with over 15 years in the trade. He is based at Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Visit his website at http://www.paulcarrelectrical.co.uk

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