EICR frequency? Testing faulty sockets! (31)

It's sometimes difficult to determine the frequency for an EICR. The best approach is to use the the correct wording of the report. It's a REPORT on the CONDITION of the ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION at the time of inspection and testing. Many factors are to be considered. When it was last inspected? Is the property experiencing any existing electrical issues? Age of the installation and usage by the occupants to name but a few. Sadly, an EICR these days is quite a vague but also specific document which can draw confusion, panic and reassurance all at the same time. In the private rental sector the feeling of a somewhat mandatory EICR can feel a little forced and unnecessary. I know landlords who run their business at the minimum requirements of the law and frequently add to the race to the bottom. "The cheapest price will do as long as I get a signature". I've had that said to me.
In this video I show an example of some sockets that are damaged and dangerous although not all of them are obvious. Only through inspection and testing can a hidden fault be found. Certainly a general look around by someone far removed from the electrical industry at every change of tenancy, is a waste of time and potentially dangerous?
Electrical saftey regulations to come into force-
www.arla.co.uk...
On the e5 KZbin channel the wizards are talking about the electrical saftey "checks" coming into law-
• Podcast 22: New Electr...
• Podcast 12: EICRs and ...
THIS VIDEO IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT TO BE TAKEN AS ANY KIND OF TRAINING OR EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION. AT ALL TIMES I AM IN FULL CONTROL OF THE INSTALLATION AND THERE IS NEVER ANY RISK TO PERSONS OR EQUIPMENT. ELECTRICITY SHOULD BE GIVEN THE FULL RESPECT IT DESERVES.

[@shifty277]

Enjoyed the conversation at the end - love the 1080p 60 frames per second filming as well everything looks so crisp. Thumbs up.

[@kindkoun]

I once had a tenant from Germany who connected something he bought in one socket in his room. The faulty appliance he used made the MCB tripped, at that time the electric in the property was not upgraded to RCD protected. The upshot of this story is that the silly man thought that the MCB was faulty he manually turned it on and hold his finger on the MCB trying to make it staying on ! I was lucky that he didn't burn the house down but only the ring circuit in his room. We had the board changed and a rewire of the ring circuit. What a lucky escape !

[@johnlavin5736]

Nice vid mate, seen this issue with shutter previously and found the damage was caused by people forcing in euro plugs and acutally seen someone doing it, they pushed down the shutter slide and then inserted the 2 pin plug with (some difficulty). I'm changing more and more as time goes on and really pleased you've covered this in your video.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

yes sir, that was my immediate response... 'european renters'

[@labelectrical]

Great vid again. I asked for more testing vids and thats what you gave. You've now moved to my number one youtube sparky spot. Cheers 👍

[@loosecannon5813]

Those BG boards have been found to have Mcbs/RCDs which can 'miss' the Line busbar, that is when fitting the busbar, if not careful, the mcbs/rcds cage clamp type lower screw when tightened only makes 'casual' contact with the busbar. Worth checking contact is properly made with the busbar.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Also the BG RCD's simply stop working out of sheer spite.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

I learned something here... PFC done with everything connected... makes sense (I've not done any I&T, trained under 15th edition where it was... 'optional' ). I am back into the trade after 20 yrs...and looking to get up to date :)

[@unkleoo]

Average tenancy length is 4.4 years (English housing survey), so while some kind of inspection on change of occupancy is good - doesn't need to be a qualified electrician, just someone competent. Cost benefit analysis doesn't support doing more than that - especially on low risk installation like the example. (all RCD protected) . All 3 duff sockets look like euro plugs forced in, had that before with foreign tenants.

[@unkleoo]

it's this type of sleeved euro plug that does it i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DSkAAOSw7XNbTyiR/s-l640.jpg there is a ridge at the point where the metal end cap goes over the plastic bit - so as you pull it out it catches on a uk socket, cracks it just as seen in all 3 examples - plus slightly bigger than UK pins, so forces the springy bit in socket further apart leading to less good contact when a UK plug used again.

[@elexcel]

Nice video as always. Completely get where you are coming from regarding rentals. I’m trying to push property managers into getting some testing done regularly but up against it. I keep trying!! Take care.

[@mickbitchum4664]

Landlords will have to have 5 yearly EICR's from July this year.... It's a step in the right direction but it will be a race to the bottom as it will be whoever gives the cheapest price for a 'satisfactory' result who will get all the work!

[@shifty277]

@@mickbitchum4664 At some point eicr's after 1 pop plus remedials should keep the house electrics in good working satisfactory order. Trouble is when tenants meddle with stuff they have no right to.

[@EzElectrics]

The back light on your tester can be turned on permanently in the config menu at the start up of the device.

[@JBE]

I'll have to check that out 👌

[@ToffeeApple]

Borough Councils do an EICR with every new tenant. They even change all the toilet seats!

[@alexacb63]

It's interesting how in rented properties the landlord has to do an annual gas safety certificate, but a 5 year EICR is acceptable. While an EICR every year is overkill, I'd argue one or at least a visual inspection by an electrician should be mandatory on tenancy change...

[@thadgiannetti790]

Have you ever seen the mischief a tenant can get up to in a fuse board?!? It’s shocking!!! They think KZbin is a certification school, and now they’re qualified 🤣 #landlordadventures

[@MrPete1664]

Have to do an eicr on occupancy change or use by law anyway, other than that 5 yearly

[@unkleoo]

@@MrPete1664 no you don't. You're also forgetting that the wiring regs aren't law.

[@alanjones3873]

Wondered why sparks dont use gloves. Car mechanics, painters/decorators,dentists, factory workers, cleaners etc have to wear them all the time to protect their hands from contamination. Mains must cause problems worse than that🤔

[@JBE]

To be honest I do wear them a lot of the time but just not in these uploads!

[@PompeyMatt17]

Also, what's the legal position? Before I had a new CU, I had an old bakelite Wylex rewirable 8 way fuse box which clearly hadn't been touched for decades.

[@leonblittle226]

Moulded plugs have a surprising amount of strength so when they get tripped over or pulled hard especially on a right angle the leverage on a plastic outlet will smash it to bits. With a metal clad it tends to bend the pins on the plug instead. The crappy plugs with a tool free cord grip vs a screw clamp will just let he cable be ripped clean out.

[@thadgiannetti790]

Anglo Fire or by questionable miscreants who were reared in a lurid domicile where it was found acceptable to Un-plug any device with a stout tug on the cord, rather than grip the head of the plug!?!?! And most of them work for me, ....my personal hell.....

[@train4905]

Excellent job sir.

[@JBE]

Thank you Stephen 👍

[@itsjamierawr]

I’ve been a tenant in a lot of different properties for several years now and can guarantee an agent / landlord will go over paintwork, door frames, kitchen cupboards, etc looking for the slightest issue (I once had one try to charge me for “dust” on top of some of the sockets) but it would’ve gone years without any kind of electrical inspection based on some of the most basic issues I’ve found with faulty sockets, lights etc

[@thadgiannetti790]

While domestic hygiene is paramount on their wishlist, most prospective tenants only concern with electrical accommodations will occur after the flat is reduced to a pile of charcoal. And then they will firmly deny the existence of portable heaters.

[@misstakenot9582]

Time-delayed RCD? Unlikely, methinks.

[@Khanjan-si8me]

Thank you

[@Khanjan-si8me]

The best video upload more pls

[@PompeyMatt17]

back in the 90s and early 2000s (when people did their own electrics, like me !) I extended my ring .. ooo er missus... and added some spurs. In 2015 I had a new Consumer Unit fitted followed by an EICR (which was fine thank god).. so the EICR recommends retest in 10 years (2025) but the label on the CU says "Dec '20"...does the actual certificate take precedence ?... take it, it does...cheers !

[@esfae8250]

You should join the e5 group based on your enthusiasm. Make it the e6 group.

[@lloydchristmas8931]

Ah... Then James wouldn't stand out.

[@urbandave1983]

You can tell this guy is very Experienced from how he just knocks the screwdriver into the wall for a makeshift shelf 👍 very informative video though.

[@AndyK.1]

Someone should have got you a box of 6 inch nails for Xmas. Save nailing your tools to walls

[@thadgiannetti790]

Andy Kirwan where do u find 6 inch nails? Is Trent Reznor on discount at Tesco?

[@gr328]

Love that trick with the screwdriver :-)

[@Phillsedd49]

You would have to EICR whilst tenants are in Insitu to see how power is used, extension leads etc

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Pull the main fuse if you are confident it is safe to do so. Do a bloody risk assessment. (althou that can be problematic... fairly modern Grey cutout on a board, but connected to a very vintage PILC... colleague pulled the fuse with gusto... and the 60 yr old backboard fell apart and thank got the pilc didn't crack lol)

[@ningis21]

I always write on EICR's a time for the next inspection with the words "OR change of tenancy or properties use, whichever is sooner" (making a note of the tenents details for my files) ...that way you're covered if a change of tenancy occurs and the previous tenant has wrecked the gaff.....The original / old EICR cert. is now defunct....and a new EICR cert. is required to ensure the new/next tenants safety. This is, after all, in the landlords and my, best interests. I even do this on new installs....in case they sell up...and all the electrical damage they may have left is still suposed to be ok and in a good state..under my old cert.

[@supersparks9466]

That’s a good idea but my view is an eicr or installation cert is only valid on the day of the test, after that you don’t know who is fiddling with it, bit like the mot

[@donnierobertson3088]

Nice

[@chrisb4009]

Taking the change of ownership to the extreme what do you do with a holiday let or even a hotel room?

[@thadgiannetti790]

Chris B place title to the property into a holding company set up in an Eastern European country...thank me later

[@MrKwelsh]

You need to be authorised to pull main fuses. OP-3 Authorisation for Scottish Power.

[@cavendishelectricals]

Not for long... 29th June 2023 😁dcusa-cdn-1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/08143430/Authority-Decision_DCP-394.pdf

[@kylepeace3252]

Hello, great videos, thanks for sharing your work. I’m looking for a bit of advice on who to use for professional indemnity insurance if you can recommend anyone?

[@thadgiannetti790]

This beard game is strong 💪🏻 💪🏻

[@Blitterbug]

Definitely, definitely the old trick of forcing Euro plugs in by opening the safety shutter with a screwdriver. Bloody chavs. You can clearly see the scoring in the line & neutral plastic sidings from non-UK plugs. The plate cracks are most likely from forcing the bloody things in so hard.

[@leebutterworth7465]

looks like someones bypassed the water meter from the stop tap

[@stuartbrown2567]

Hi good video once gain. I just have one comment to make about pulling the main fuse, I had to call the DNO out o change the main fuse when he had fished he did not reseal it I asked him why and he tole me they don't do it anymore. He said because so many different company's going and don't seal them. Whats your thought on that?

[@muzikman2008]

I changed a socket front after someone's poor kids head hit it and smashed it in half! Ouch 😭 lol..

[@JBE]

Wow! Yeah I see a lot of tenants breaking sockets intentionally or ignorantly.

[@petersutton587]

If you don’t have a proving tester can you put you multimeter probes into the socket and turn on just to prove they are working.

[@johnoreilly7052]

I always pull out the main fuse

[@thadgiannetti790]

john oreilly on the first date? 🤣

[@cumberland1234]

Back in the internet dialup days I once saw a foreign guy in a phone shop wanting to know if he cut the middle bit off his computer modem's telephone plug (telephone side - not mains) will it work if he plugged it into a shaver adapter plug! I told him to buy a UK modem. I don't know if he took my advice or if he blew his computer up.

[@michalczamara2210]

Hi. We always fight for safety did someone understand us.

[@mathman0101]

Electricians know what to do.....errrr ever heard of brain fog - it can affect anyone even the most experienced one of us that’s why safety is paramount and PPE can help to reduce risks- but risks can never be eliminated. Electricians can succumb to bad habits. Thinking before doing is a good motto....

[@lloydchristmas8931]

Faulty Towers would of been a good title sir. Nice beard. 🤔

[@thadgiannetti790]

Lloyd Christmas cuts to him thrashing an Austin 1100 with a tree branch.....resume video

[@Blackf1ngers]

Is that water incomer a lead pipe?

[@thadgiannetti790]

Black Fingers a layer of mineralisation occurs on the inside of lead pipes, effectively isolating the water from leachable lead. Left undisturbed it doesn’t represent an imminent threat, until the water treatment facility reduces the ph, but that usually only happens in low income areas of the US, #conspiracytheory

[@jamesdaly4040]

Would you go round with a torque screwdriver to check db connections as required by regs or is this s code c3

[@tresslerj1985]

First.

[@lloydchristmas8931]

Damn you're fast!