DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

My friend has recently employed an electrician to do work for her. I am a little concerned about some of his work and his claims.
1) He was supposed to give her an extra aerial in the loft space but we cannot find it, after giving her the quote her said she needed a booster?, and he has taken the aerial from behind the living room tv under the floorboards and brought it up through the floorboards in her bedroom(she lives in a bungalow). He was told the tv would be on the wall and yet the lead is too short to reach the socket and he also said he would come back and lengthen the lead?
2) Most of her extra sockets have been placed immediately above the skirting boards(I thought they had to now be a certain height off the floor).
3) She purchased an outdoor socket from Aldi which contained an rcd plug. I believed that one end of the wire should be connected to the socket unit and the other connected to this plug. He fiited the socket outside, took the wire through the wall, up through the floorboards near the wall socket and attached an ordinary looking 3 pin plug to the end. When I saw this I asked my friend about the rcd and she said that he had told her it was contained within the plug?
I am very concerned about this individuals work and his claims. How can I be sure that all is right and proper, is there a list of accredited electricians where I can view his details. He has sent her a receipt for payment but it is not an itemised invoice of costs involved. My friend is in her seventies, doesn't want any trouble but I feel she has been taken for a ride by what I see as a cowboy tradesman. He certainly didn't like it when I questioned why he had put a security light on the front of the garage when she was having a light put outside her front door which would do the job and she had said she wanted the garden lit up. His response was "we alsways put them here". Altogether an obnoxious and arrogant individual. Any advise please? Thank you

You need to have the wiring checked by a NICEIC qualified electrician they will assess the work carried out, all professional electricians are a member of this organization

Checking for Cowboy Builders is so important, especially when they are working on the electrical installation in your home. How so many rogue companies are still allowed to trade is besides me,

Telephone your local Building Control they should be able to advise you. Your local Building Control will work for your council and can be contacted through them.

All electrical work (Just about all) has to be done by certified and registered people, the work you have had done certainly does. When completed it need to be certified ie a certificate issued stating that it complied with current regulations. Ask your Electrician which organisation he is registered with and ask him for the certificate of conformity. Check he is registered with the relevant organisation before making a payment. Your local Building Control should be able to tell you what height the sockets should be.

What came of this? Anything? I'm keen to know!

so? all is good?

Sorry late reply I normally only look in electrical section.
1) To split a TV signal to two rooms yes normally some active device is required as often the signal is not strong enough to split. Normally I would use the TV to test, most have a built in signal strength meter and from that you will know if some booster is required. Best method is to boost as close to aerial as you can, so a mast head booster with the power through the coax and either powered from TV or stand alone power supply.
2) Only in new builds do you have to comply with the 350 mm height for sockets, even then it is still allowed to have floor sockets. Only thing is where the socket is mounted you should not have to bend the lead of the plug at a sharp angle.
3) Since he has fitted other sockets then I would assume the whole house is RCD protected? Since 2008 nearly all new sockets where ever they are need RCD protection. This is a problem as also the cable buried in a wall at less than 50 mm deep also needs RCD protection unless special cable is used. The Al-tube special cable is normally only sold by the drum and is very expensive so although in theory you could fit RCD sockets supplied by Al-tube cable in practice that’s not really an option.

So to fit extra sockets easy way is to use a RCBO in the consumer unit if not already RCD protected, if the consumer unit will not take a RCBO then next is use a RCD FCU (fuse connection unit) and run a series of sockets from that. If a lot of sockets are being fitted then swap the consumer unit is the answer.

If I was asked to fit an outside socket in kit from with a RCD plug and the house already had a 30 mA RCD I would not use the RCD plug but would use a standard one. Main reason is 1) no point is having two RCD's of same size and the plug is likely an active type so every time there is a power cut the RCD would trip.