Off peak supply and on peak in one board

[Andy™]

it was an emergency job

so go back in a week or so with the correct board and fit it then

 

[newfutile]

Both consumer units were damaged and falling off the wall, as a housing association we use tendering so nothing would get done for many weeks.
i seem to be getting a lot of criticism here for what is advertised as the uk friendliest forum, i asked for advice yet many replies we not helpful at all.
the proper dual tariff board is the same just with 2 main switches and 2 neutral bars, i have purchased another neutral bar.

 

[Andy™]

my main job here is inspection and testing and auditing contractors.

so if one of your NICEIC contractors done this, would you accept that work or get them to re do it?

 

[Andy™]

Both consumer units were damaged and falling off the wall, as a housing association we use tendering so nothing would get done for many weeks.
i seem to be getting a lot of criticism here for what is advertised as the uk friendliest forum, i asked for advice yet many replies we not helpful at all.
the proper dual tariff board is the same just with 2 main switches and 2 neutral bars, i have purchased another neutral bar.

so you don't have any procedures in place for emergency works to be carried out at short notice?

 

[newfutile]

I don’t make policy here i just have to make the best of a bad job.
this forum is awful and i wont be coming back here much.
the idea of a forum is to promote friendly discussion and offer opinions .
i did the best i could as a temporary repair while I research and consider the best permant repair

 

[binky]

I don’t make policy here i just have to make the best of a bad job.
this forum is awful and i wont be coming back here much.
the idea of a forum is to promote friendly discussion and offer opinions .
i did the best i could as a temporary repair while I research and consider the best permant repair

We are not privy to your circumstances and can only comment on what you tell us. As it happens you have had a lot of good advice and suggestions as to how to correct your mistake from some very professional electricians, to whom this is basic stuff. Learn from the comments. If you really want to see what unfriendly looks like, post the same question on the Screwfix forum.

 

[Andy™]

i did the best i could as a temporary repair while I research and consider the best permant repair

quick temp repair you've just got to do what you can with what you've got. but you should have also been well aware that it was the wrong board and will need replaced with the correct one as soon as practical, instead of asking how to bodge the existing board you have

 

[UNG]

I don’t make policy here i just have to make the best of a bad job.
this forum is awful and i wont be coming back here much.
the idea of a forum is to promote friendly discussion and offer opinions .
i did the best i could as a temporary repair while I research and consider the best permant repair

It is a tough old world out there and the current rush for qualifications over experience is becoming more prevalent as is the need for covering your ass in the world of litigation

After looking at all the posts in this thread in some ways you made a rod for your own back in not fully explaining the situation you found yourself in initially

Some background as to why the work was needed at such short notice would have helped better assess what you did as to replace two CU's as an emergency repair is unusual and may have given a bit more perspective on the job and the decisions you made

A lot of experienced people have made comments which may to some less experieced be unfriendly but are made from many years of experience of being in similar situations. Reactive maintenance and repair can be quite pressurised especially if you are up against time constraints or the limitations of suppliers stocks and can lead to decisions which are made in haste and when analysed later add to the experience and change the way it is done next time

Some of the comments you have made certainly suggest there needs to be some policy change by your employer to avoid similar issues in the future and have a clear procedure for reactive maintenance works

Can I suggest you post the timeline of events regarding this job and open a discussion on how others may have tackled the situation to expand your knowledge and maybe help you go back to your employer with some suggestions on how future policy for similar situations may be formed

 

[newfutile]

The job was not planned or scheduled in any way, I just happened to notice that one of our employees who lives in one of our flats had a 2 dangerous faults, in which both consumer units were very loose on a plasterboard wall,also a cupboard built around them was falling off and putting pressure on the boards.
To further complicate things there was no isolator,ukpn and niceic have stated because it's a red solid link it's down to the BNO (which is probably us), I have fitted a 3 pole isolator here as the second neutral splits after this in a Henley block,I have also sealed the red cut out.
There was also no (RCD) Residual Current Device on sockets likely to be used outside. I had to make a decision on what to do immediately

 

[Andy™]

The job was not planned or scheduled in any way, I just happened to notice that one of our employees who lives in one of our flats had a 2 dangerous faults, in which both consumer units were very loose on a plasterboard wall,also a cupboard built around them was falling off and putting pressure on the boards.
To further complicate things there was no isolator,ukpn and niceic have stated because it's a red solid link it's down to the BNO (which is probably us), I have fitted a 3 pole isolator here as the second neutral splits after this in a Henley block,I have also sealed the red cut out.
There was also no (RCD) Residual Current Device on sockets likely to be used outside. I had to make a decision on what to do immediately

and this raises even more questions... you say housing association. so why do you have an installation with no RCD protection? why has this not already been checked previously and dealt with? how many other properties do you have that have not had an EICR / remedials carried out?

what was the cause of the boards being loose? is ti something that should have been noted on a previous inspection that has been missed or dodgy cupboard fallen & damaged them / other?

then there is the isolator. why do you (the housing assiciation, not you personally) not know what wiring you are / are not responsible for?

i would also expect a housing assiciation to have some stock for unplanned work like this. maybe not a 2 supply board unless you use many of them, but at least a few basic consumer units and fit one for each. or even a company card and go grab something from a wholesaler or even toolstation / screwfix

or even some all round band, posible that lashing it back to the wall to secure it as a temporary fix will work until it can be replaced with something suitable at a more convenient time

id say manglement at your company may be a bigger issue than all this

 

[Murdoch]

There was also no (RCD) Residual Current Device on sockets likely to be used outside. I had to make a decision on what to do immediately

Not sure I agree with the urgency as there are millions of homes without RCD protection in the UK

A loose CU should have been secured temporarily and then a proper fix be costed and agreed.