earth bonding to water

[Hemant007]

I agreed to pay 150 to do the test and fix errors for labor upto 4-5 hours,
Total 1 hour was spent.

 

[binky]

the electrician quoted £150 to do the EICR test and minor fixes as it will take around 4-5 hours,
however he finished the test in less than 1 hour (he checked CU, some sockets and switches) and now asking me to pay 150, he also quoted 200 plus material to fix the errors including earth bonding to water pipes.
I do not feel good and while I respect all professionals, I feel I am being ripped off !

Ask him to produce the EICR before paying the £150.

 

[Murdoch]

£150 foot a 1 hour EICR

Did he arrive on a horse?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I agreed to pay 150 to do the test and fix errors for labor upto 4-5 hours,
Total 1 hour was spent.

A few points spring to mind....

Have you been given an invoice with an itemised cost breakdown? If not ask for one?

On the one hand £150 for up-to 4 or 5 hours work sounds very reasonable.. (e.g. 4hrs @ £37.50 or 5hrs @ £30.00 per hour)..

But on second thoughts your profile states you are in London? in which case it sounds a bit cheap to my untrained eye??
I am in the Midlands approx 30mins/45mins from the centre of Birmingham.. My charges have been a minimum of £45.00 per hour for quite a while now.. (especially since all the fuel/heating/food costs have been escalating over the past few years!!). So for half a day, {4hrs}, I would be looking at £180.00 to make it economically viable.

Is this electrician a member one of the various electrical trades bodies? NAPIT / NICEIC / ELECSA etc..?
If yes, tell them you want to verify with their trade body how long a typical EICR should take?
As the Electrical Safety Council Guidance suggests 3 to 4 hours for an average property.. see link..
https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.o...ns/how-long-does-it-take-to-complete-an-eicr/
And 1 hour suggests a full inspection and test has not been carried out, so you should not need to pay for a full EICR!
(EICR's can have extent and limitations agreed where a full EICR of all circuits is not practicable.)

Also say you want to verify how the water pipes supplied via an incoming plastic pipe can be considered extraneous? Ask what additional tests they carried out? As industry standard guidance suggests that it is a myth to require bonding in such circumstances.. e.g. Best Practice Guide 4.. https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/media/mi1oqkur/best-practice-guide-4-issue-7-1.pdf

Top of page 23 where common myths are highlighted..


I would suggest you thank them for their work so far.... Offer £75.00 for the 1hour labour, once a copy of their EICR has been received, And remind them that EICR's are to assess the condition of an installation and not for additional work generation!
So any remedial work that is needed will be appointed to a third party..

What was the reason you requested an EICR? Selling / just bought a property..
Or still living in somewhere that has not been checked for a few years?

 

[Captain Kirk]

No copper pipes need to be "earthed" at all as you suggest - service pipes cannot be used for earthing -
Some copper pipes will need to be "bonded"

Consumers gas pipe only, main CH heating & Flow and structural metalwork need to be "main bonded"

Insulated water pipe inside the property does not need to be bonded until it joins to copper pipe. The bonding does not apply to service pipework outside the property - it is pipework insde the property which is liable to touch - this includes under the floor if the underfloor is accessible for maintenance. If copper pipe is connected to the consumers side of the stopcock it should be bonded

Other copper pipework throughout the property may require cross bonding, local or supplementary bonding to be assessed and tested by a competent elecrician.

.The 15th edition IEE regs required everything that did not move to be bonded - if it did move bind it just the same - this led to metal window frames and fireside tongs and pokers also being bonded.

The 16th Ed was a complete reversal and required insuation as opposed to bonding - i.e kitchen sinks to be insulated from metal pipes and taps and not presenting a hazardous large area of bonded metalwork.

The biggest [point of contention was could earth clips be connected to pipework under the floor in bathrooms etc to prevent unsightly exposed wires and clips - the requirement at that time was that the power company inspector had to see the bonding without lifting flooring, disturbing fabric or testing.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

No copper pipes need to be "earthed" at all as you suggest - service pipes cannot be used for earthing -
Some copper pipes will need to be "bonded"

The Op actually asked if they need to be "Earth Bonded" not earthed..

which for a question in the DIY area is quite a reasonable description of the problem they are enquiring about..

The posts makes no suggestion that they are looking at using copper pipes to earth the installation..??

A load of historic info about earthing and bonding used in the 15th edition and/or 16th edition is probably irrelevant to a DIY post and has limited constructive input to the OP's question...

Especially when we have been working to the 18th edition since 2018!
Simple and short: If it is NOT extraneous it does not need bonding!