Browse Forums General Discussion 1 May 09, 2014 12:59 pm Hi all, Just wondering if anyone else has ever encountered a similar situation and what their resolution was... We moved into our house in Perth in September 2010, we're just looking at selling now so have been advised to get an electrical safety certificate to certify we have 2 RCDs and a hardwired smoke detector installed. Our electrician came round this morning and tested everything. Our RCDs weren't tripping at all, and although he managed to do some tinkering with the meter box they still aren't performing up to scratch. He also said that our circuits are wired oddly, with a different ampage something-or-other to what he would normally expect. Plus our oven and evaporative air-conditioning are on the RCD when they don't need to be. And when testing the 2 circuits going through the house, virtually everything is on one circuit, he struggled to find something on the other one. Currently he has gone away and is waiting on advice from his technical people. He was also going to try contacting the original electrician through the details in our meter box. It looks like we are going to need to 2 new RCDs at least to fix the problem. Do you think we can go back to the builder on this? If the electrical work in the house wasn't done correctly logic tells me they should shoulder some responsibility, but we may be fighting a losing battle! What would you do? Our Custom Dale Alcock build in the Village at Wellard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=78620 Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 2May 09, 2014 2:06 pm I would probably talk to the original electrician directly - sounds like they weren't fulfilling their obligations at the time Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 4May 09, 2014 6:42 pm Lex What's RCD? A residual-current device (RCD) some times called a residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB), or just circuit breaker, is the device in you power box that disconnects the power to a circuit if it detects a problem. In the 'Old Days' they used to have fuses but RCDs are more sensitive and trip faster reducing the risk of an electrocution or fire. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 6May 11, 2014 1:58 am I think the builder should rectify. Lex in WA you can only sell a house if it has rcds and fire alarms installed Recently moved to a 60's home in need of some improvement! http://s797.photobucket.com/user/leenii ... ch%20House Old house: http://s797.photobucket.com/albums/yy25 ... loo/House/ Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 7May 13, 2014 6:30 pm Just see if you can find out who signed off the electrical certificates. If you built the house they should have been provided to you. If not the electrical board should have them as they have to submit their certificates I believe. Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 8May 13, 2014 8:56 pm Quote: aren't performing up to scratch. What exactly do you mean by this..? Quote: And when testing the 2 circuits going through the house, virtually everything is on one circuit, he struggled to find something on the other one. I'm an electrical contractor, and I've had people question me on this before. I divide power circuits by expected current, not simply the number of outlets. Outlets in the kitchen and laundry are used by appliances that draw much more power than those in bedrooms and hallways. For example kettles (2400 watts) and dryers (2400 watts) as opposed to televisions (100-300 watts) and mobile phone chargers. To be honest, it doesn't sound like the electrician you had attend clearly explained to you what the issue was. If the installing contractor has used faulty RCD's, whether of a quality brand or not, to replace both should not take longer than 15 minutes at a charge of around $60-80 each. You may be the victim of a sub-standard electrical installation, but if you have used a registered builder with a reputable electrical contractor, the chances are extremely slim. We're a very regulated industry. In your meter board there will be a white rectangle sticker, with the contractors name and a 6 digit EC number. Use this form to find out their contact details http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/energysaf ... earch.html Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 9May 14, 2014 6:18 pm Crazyk, Oddly we don't have a copy of the electrical certificate, we've got the plumbing, insulation and termite treatment ones but not the electrical. I spoke to the builder and they advised what you did - we are able to get a copy from the electrical board. Sparky50, By not up to scratch I mean that the RCDs aren't tripping within a satisfactory time frame when our electrician was plugging his little machine thingy into the sockets and manually tripping them. I'm no electrician so have no idea of the technical terms for all this sorry! Circuits wise, I *think* he worked out all the lights and the smoke detectors are on one circuit and all the electrical sockets and the oven are on the other. We only have basic lightbulbs (no down lights) so don't suppose they draw much power. It's not a huge house so perhaps the other circuit is sufficient to carry everything else. Since my last post I spoke to our builder who asked me to obtain a report from our electrician as to the problems he's found. From there, the builder will likely go back to the original electrician and ask them to inspect their work and rectify any problems. Our electrician also used new RCDs to test everything with no better results. He's tightened all the connections he could in the meter box with still no improvement, his next suggestion was to go up into the roof and check all the connections for the wiring up there. Part of the problem now is we don't know exactly what the problem is to fix it! Will await more from our builder and update later. Our Custom Dale Alcock build in the Village at Wellard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=78620 Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 10May 15, 2014 12:30 am Quote: Sparky50, By not up to scratch I mean that the RCDs aren't tripping within a satisfactory time frame when our electrician was plugging his little machine thingy into the sockets and manually tripping them. I'm no electrician so have no idea of the technical terms for all this sorry! Circuits wise, I *think* he worked out all the lights and the smoke detectors are on one circuit and all the electrical sockets and the oven are on the other. We only have basic lightbulbs (no down lights) so don't suppose they draw much power. It's not a huge house so perhaps the other circuit is sufficient to carry everything else. Since my last post I spoke to our builder who asked me to obtain a report from our electrician as to the problems he's found. From there, the builder will likely go back to the original electrician and ask them to inspect their work and rectify any problems. Our electrician also used new RCDs to test everything with no better results. He's tightened all the connections he could in the meter box with still no improvement, his next suggestion was to go up into the roof and check all the connections for the wiring up there. Part of the problem now is we don't know exactly what the problem is to fix it! Will await more from our builder and update later. Make sure you update this post with the outcome Re: 4 years post build - have discovered faulty RCDs 11May 15, 2014 9:05 am Sounds odd - but I'd say any reputable builder would be worried if his contractors had installed faulty material. Good to see they are having it checked for you. Joe, it depends on your certifier but we are noticing the ones we deal with are really cracking down. So i would recommend you follow your approved landscaping plans to… 4 10853 It seems very clear to me that your contract states that a security account does NOT need to be established so the answer to the builder is NO. If in doubt find a contract… 1 8473 2 31290 |