Mattg4321

I had a similar situation. Both sides had already done the same thing. An obvious plot. One pollock neighbour in one of the ‘new builds’ (by now a couple of decades old) kicked off and got his mate the councillor to call it into committee. Said councillor had his councillor mates refuse it. Didn’t even give a reason at the meeting. Said one would be provided at a later date by the planning officer. Same planning officer had already recommended it for approval, but then had to make an argument against it to the planning inspectorate at appeal. Pillock neighbour is lucky his house didn’t mysteriously catch fire.

Try and get the neighbours onside. May not be possible, but will be a huge help. If someone kicks up a stink and puts pressure on the planners and/or gets a local councillor to call it in to committee it makes things much more difficult. Have a look at national and local planning framework - neighbourhood plans etc and try to comply with them. Focus on sustainability and being environmentally friendly.

Not too far away from you in West Sussex (albeit on the border with East Sussex). We used Peter Ranier at DMH Stallard, although regrettably not until the appeal stage. I think we would’ve had permission much sooner if we had. His team demolished the planners arguments against our application. There’s no other word for it. I think it was about a 40 page dossier with no stone left unturned. Cost was about £3-£5k, 5 years ago I think. Not sure what the cost would be if used from the outset. No harm in asking, although I’m not sure what area these guys cover. He and his team have represented Brighton & Hove Albion a few times I think (with some extremely contentious applications). Anyone whose services are employed by Tony Bloom is very unlikely to be poor at what they do!

Use a good planning consultant if you think gaining permission could be awkward. It usually is, especially with back garden builds. I know because I have done it! Neighbours will possibly kick up over it. Whereabouts in SE?

You could always run Ev ultra cable

Singles would need containment- way more work than swa. Meter tails could be buried in a wall deeper than 50mm or covered with thick steel plate. I wouldn’t do it though. 3C SWA won’t work, as there are 3 phases and a neutral. 4C and a separate earth is the way to go.

SWA is the only way to do this right imo.

In relation to the line conductor, yes.

Find someone ripping out a kitchen!

You need to derate the cable based on the installation reference method

17k for a staircase to the loft? 2.6k for carpet in the loft? I know this is London but wtf. Some of those figures seem way out there unless you’re going seriously high spec.

Has he got time to book in to have his brain surgically removed before May though?

Sounds extremely familiar to me. Total shysters some local councillors ime. The councillors (all one party) unanimously refused it. Some clearly had not been to site/didn’t know where it was judging by comments. Local councillor spoke against it, neighbours who put him up to it didn’t show up. Says it all really. We even had the support of the planning officer. Who then had to argue it should be refused when it went to appeal. Ludicrous really. Needless to say we won at appeal, very nearly also winning compensation from the council.

That last paragraph is the key one. I was considering leaving the trade a few years back, as even in the south east the numbers were starting to not really stack up. It’s been much improved the last 5 or 6 years and rates are roughly back where they should be/used to be now imo.

You find a lot of people work themselves into the ground trying to keep up with the admin of running their business. These people usually jack it in after a few years and go and work ‘cards in’ for someone else - much less stress. People complain that tradies don’t get back to them quickly enough, or at all. I like to think I’m better than most at that, but it’s bloody hard work keeping up with a constant stream of emails/text messages/invoices/estimates etc etc. That’s without actually doing the job itself! £200 a day is nowhere near enough to run a successful business these days. Certainly not as an electrician. The overheads are too high. Be earning minimum wage when all the hours are taken into account. My business (just me and apprentice and only 1 van, no premises) costs well into 4 figures a year just to service the fixed overheads. I’ve got quite a good deal on the van too as it was pre covid.

Not forgetting that you’ll also need to ‘notify’ building control to comply with part p, re the electrical work. This can be costly if you’re doing it yourself. A registered company can notify it themselves. A diyer will have to get a 3rd party/the council in to inspect at various stages.

It all depends on a lot of things. It does sound perhaps a little high. I’m guessing it’s not 4 sockets and a centre light in each room though?!

Nearly right Nick 😃 Since the 18th edition came into force, the requirement has gone from ensuring all wiring on escape routes is protected against premature collapse, to just ‘all wiring’. It now applies everywhere, including data/telephone/tv cabling.

If they do, they find somebody else to do the work next time.

You’re not alone. That post could’ve been written by me, almost word for word. It’s all about trust. I’m nearly always cheaper on my day/hourly rate than if I price.

Looks like BG, although a failed switch doesn’t usually cause MCB/RCD to operate. Points more towards damaged cable or perhaps even pinched cable behind switch. You need to turn the power off and unscrew the switches to start with. Make sure all lighting circuits are off - there may be more than one in a 2 or 3 gang switch.

Assuming it was working before, either a damaged cable or faulty switch.

Largely I agree with you that that is the best approach and what I do. You won’t be able to argue it ‘needs’ or ‘must’ be done though. The reality is most people don’t. You’re free to interpret the regs however you like, as is everyone else. Here is some guidance from IET. As ever, clear as mud. I asked my NIC inspector last year what his thoughts were. He said plastic clips above plasterboard ceiling is acceptable to him. The electrical designer could deem it appropriate to rely on the plasterboard ceiling to provide fire protection to the wiring system in order to prevent premature collapse. However, many influences should be considered such as building size, complexity and evacuation time. https://electrical.theiet.org/bs-7671/faqs/cables-and-fire-protection-faqs/

The regulations don’t make specific mention of exact scenarios (such as behind a plasterboard ceiling), only that they must be protected against ‘premature collapse’. It’s generally accepted that above a plasterboard ceiling plastic clips would be fine, however it might be good practice to fit metal. Have a look at this efixx video. There was also another one where someone from the IET was discussing it and gave the same opinion (against someone from NAPIT who was suggesting metal clips might be required). In practice most people do not use metal fixings above plasterboard currently from what I’ve observed.

That wiring all needs ripping out and start again with a real electrician. It’s a total mess. Cables run out of safe zones, cables that will cause problems with plasterboarding and plastering. Cables run to positions that seem implausible. However the cables don’t need metal clips as a poster suggested above. As long as they are above a plasterboard ceiling, this would be enough to stop them from ‘prematurely collapsing’. Having said that, it’s not a bad idea to fix them securely with something metal anyway. You need to seriously consider getting shot of everyone who has contributed to this disaster of a job imo.