DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

hi there, hoping for some advice?!
im qualifield carpenter been working on new builds past ten years.
had enough off it all and gonna drum up my own work,i have an understanding of most trades and capable. as for electris i rewired my own house,but running cable from socket to socket and back to the board is not exactly rocket science!!!
kitchen installation will be a major part off my work,
1 example/: if i go out to a kitchen,plan it and i look at the fuseboard,if its got a kitchen ring great!! if not is it best to alter the ring? or put a new kitchen ring in?if new kitchen ring do u pull the old kitchen cable sockets up to the ceiling to complete the main ring still? whats best time wise? and cost wise? i will be doing all the chasing out and routing cables thro. i have a couple spark mates who work mon to fri who would come 2nd fix in an eve or a saturday. these sparks are very able,but cannot sign off, how much do you think a part P QUALIFIED would charge to test the work carried out? ive been quoted £130 as long as work is good and no faults. any advice?

As to signing off other peoples work I would say that's not the way to go. Likely anyone doing that will lose their Part P at some point and then your up the creak.

As to kitchen rings or radials there is so many pro's and con's and likely one will swap and change according to kitchen being fitted.

The use of grid switches which can also take fuses but are really too restrictive with very little room to work with means so often electricians have their own personal preferences and I am sure could fuel a debate many pages long.

In a kitchen you have a number of high energy appliances from kettle to dish washer plus oven and hob. Added to that for some reason often one finds washing machines and tumble driers also crammed into kitchens so the load can equal the rest of the house. The only other place likely to use so much power is the bathroom.

So it is no accident that the bathroom and kitchen both require Part P notification and even the well established kitchen fitting firms back in 2004 decided not to bother getting their own personnel Part P registered even though they had done it for years and there was a registration system designed specially for them in the same way as for Gas fitters.

I think in the main it was the charges to be able to self cert which put many off. The equipment required and fees levied for so few jobs per year compared with what electricians do is not really cost effective.

Far better to have a working relationship with other trades people and you do work for them from time to time and they do work for you in same way.