DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad Electricians

Another week and yet another electrical issue located during a Periodic Inspection.  This is the kind of issue we see on  regular basis. When we removed the oven to test the cooker circuit we found two connections to a single spur which under certain circumstances would be correct. Under this circumstance however all is not good, correct or safe. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 416.2.2, 134.2.1, 610.6, 631.1, 314.4, 132.13, 514.9

We were on this site to re-install an electric shower about a month ago. See original article here. We installed the shower but were unable to sort out the electrics due to a issues we located with the previous consumer unit. While testing circuits we found some errors in the house wiring. To be specific the circuit feeding the sockets had been bodged by a bad kitchen fitting job. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Gas Fitters’

Now here’s one we see on a very regular basis and I do mean regular. The gas fitting on the wall has been installed incorrectly and in such a way as to cause mechanical damage to the gas hose when the cooker is withdrawn. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 416.2.2, 134.2.1, 610.6, 631.1, 314.4, 132.13, 514.9

We were on site to re-install an electric shower which was removed a few years earlier. We found both ends of the T&E and it tested true. We had some difficulty running a new water feed and a new section of T&E. While at the consumer unit testing the existing shower cable we found some interestingly poor wiring to everything else in the property. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Kitchen Fitters
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 Reg. 132.12, 526.3, 421.7, 526.5, 411.3.1.1,537.5.1.3, 132.15.1, 132.15.2

I was called to a home last month and asked if I could swap a gas hob and double oven for an electric hob and double oven. They had a proper electrical feed to the kitchen so we booked the job in and returned yesterday. We found the little gem shown below along with a few other issues while carrying out the work to remove the double oven.  So after step one which is always to test the gas supply for leaks before we touch anything. We found no leaks and continued to remove the old appliances.  The hob was installed incorrectly but we managed to get it out with few difficulties.  The double oven however was a different matter. continue

Location: Whitefield, Gtr Manchester, Lancs

Date: May 2009

Description: The owners of this semi detached investment property had a simple request. Could we remove the small kitchen from the back of the property and relocate it to the large front bedroom and then turn the old kitchen into a bedroom. The short answer was yes. When you undertake to move a kitchen however there are many issues to sort out but the main ones are around access/egress, the electrical and the gas. We would have to remove the existing back door from the old kitchen and install a new one to the new kitchen. The electrics were also not up to the job and required an upgrade to the consumer unit and complete wiring of the new kitchen. The gas pipe work also had to be removed and re-routed.

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So I get home after a long day out and pop into my home office so I can register the cooker I installed earlier today. Pretty normal stuff under the CORGI regime.  I tried to input a gas job last week and there was no way to do it. When I called the newly formed Gas Safe Register (GSR) help desk I was told that they didn’t have the software finished yet! They’ve only been preparing for six months. So today I log on and hope that the software is running and I’m in luck. It is. I enter my clients postcode, confirm the address, confirm some other information and then try to enter the job I undertook which was a free standing cooker install. WRONG! continue