I had been asked to carry out some work to replace ceiling and wall lighting in a lounge as the customer wanted to update the light fittings.
On commencement of works I had noticed that there were 2 fuseboards. While 2 fuseboards are not a rarity, as you would have them supplying different areas i.e. main house and outbuildings [all separate dwellings, independent of main house must have their own fuseboard]. On this occasion it was most unusual as the fuseboards were placed next door to each other and was to purely allow for increased usage in the house. In this instance, the better option would have been to increase the size of the fuseboard and have everything on one board.
The old fuseboard was not RCD protected and the new fuseboard had been fitted with RCD protection. My findings had identified that the circuits had not been protected by the main RCD on the new board and had in fact been wired incorrectly. The incorrect wiring meant that the mcbs [miniature circuit breakers] would not trip in the event of a fault on the circuit. I advised client that this would have to be rectified. While the work was carried out by a 'qualified' electrician, I was very surprised to see this kind of incompetence.
So before I began changing the light fittings, I installed an RCD and rectified the incorrect wiring on the old fuseboard. I then correctly rewired the newer fuseboard so that the mcbs were protecting the circuits.
With the boards now wired correctly the RCDs began picking up the earth faults and were tripping respectively. This was traced back to a faulty old double socket which was disconnected.
If I could advise anyone it would be:
On commencement of works I had noticed that there were 2 fuseboards. While 2 fuseboards are not a rarity, as you would have them supplying different areas i.e. main house and outbuildings [all separate dwellings, independent of main house must have their own fuseboard]. On this occasion it was most unusual as the fuseboards were placed next door to each other and was to purely allow for increased usage in the house. In this instance, the better option would have been to increase the size of the fuseboard and have everything on one board.
The old fuseboard was not RCD protected and the new fuseboard had been fitted with RCD protection. My findings had identified that the circuits had not been protected by the main RCD on the new board and had in fact been wired incorrectly. The incorrect wiring meant that the mcbs [miniature circuit breakers] would not trip in the event of a fault on the circuit. I advised client that this would have to be rectified. While the work was carried out by a 'qualified' electrician, I was very surprised to see this kind of incompetence.
So before I began changing the light fittings, I installed an RCD and rectified the incorrect wiring on the old fuseboard. I then correctly rewired the newer fuseboard so that the mcbs were protecting the circuits.
With the boards now wired correctly the RCDs began picking up the earth faults and were tripping respectively. This was traced back to a faulty old double socket which was disconnected.
If I could advise anyone it would be:
- Please make sure that your work is carried out by a qualified, competent electrician.
- Make sure to check the siret number. This can be done online and will show you exactly what the person is qualified to do.
- If you cannot check the siret, ask for the carte professionnelle. This has all the information on the back of the card including work qualified to carry out.
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