Electrical problems following construction work

Kashkai

We moved back into our house last May bank holiday following major construction work on the house. However since then, we have had numerous problems with the electrics in the house, i.e.

main circuit breaker trips 3 -4 times a week for no obvious reason, e.g. we were on holiday last week and when we came back the power was off again. Now the only thing that had been left switched on was the fridge, which is new and in perfect working order so whats causing the power switch to trip?

several appliances have blown, e.g. our tv (just 3 years old) blew its power supply unit last week and cost €200 to repair. The tv repair guy asked me out of the blue if I had any power surges in the house as its very rare for a psu blow on a relatively new tv.

Half of the new light bulbs I put in last May have blown, thats 8 bulbs in 3 months. IMO they normally last for at least a year.

The fuse in our pellet stove blows once a week even though its switched off and not being lit at present and thus not drawing power. The clock is all thats operating at present so when the display goes blank, I know the fuse has gone.

The alarm is also operating intermittently, i.e. it refuses to arm sometimes stating that a window is open when they are all secruely locked, or else it goes off for no reason.

Has anyone else come across this level of electrical problems and if so whats the recourse. Bob the builder is refusing to fix same until he gets his retention money and I'm not handing the money over until the problems are fixed. So where do I go from here????

muffler

I think you need to contact RECI, the sparkie's regulatory/governing body. AFAIK they will inspect your house for faults - for a fee.

Was the electrician a member of RECI?

You may need to get a copy of the paperwork that was furnished by the electrician to the ESB.

eoghan.geraghty

Dave I'm beginning to think you shouldn't have built on that fairy ring:D
Seriously though, afaik remember you were building an extension so the ESB supply was the same then as it is now so its unlikely the problem lies there.
Was the electrical work certified?
If you contact RECI or ECSSA they can send someone out to test the wiring, I think its 350 euro plus vat.

Stoner

hold on to the retention money whatever you do.

Could be a number of things, sounds like a possible over voltage problem with a possible unrelated alarm issue, but that is just a guess. Anyway regardless if you have retention to hold it means that you went about the development all above board, therefore you are entitled to an Operation and Maintenance manual from the builder for all the installed services, electrically this should contain all the test records for your house and contact details for the electrician involved.

Have the place tested again and see if there is a difference.
Chances are though that you wont be provided with the manuals, you might need a third party to offer an opinion, but I'd have a chat with the builder and let him/her know that you are taking it down that road.

Kashkai

I spoke to our Engineer today and he told me that under no circumstances was I to hand over the retention money to Bob the Builder. The sparks that did the electrical work is a member of the ECSSA. I'd never heard of them, I thought RECI were the only regulatory body for sparks in this country.

The electrician was friendly enough when he was doing the wiring but he also let it be known that he wouldn't do any additional work outside the contract, i.e. no favours or discounts for extra plugs etc. If I called him direct about the electrical problems, he'd say deal with the builder.

My engineer is under the opinion that some of the electrical cables in the attic were probably damaged when the builder had to re-brace the roof as there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing up there with heavy timbers and clod hopping labourers being moved around.

Stoner

Dave ECSSA are fine, you can give them a call too.

To be fair to the sparks he was under contract to the builder and is not allowed to work directly for you, everything has to go through the builder where he is entitled to add 1/19th to the value of the sparks quote. We have all our lads instructed not to take orders from clients, and to let it go through the builder, you would be amazed at just how many people ask for stuff from the sparks and then deny it and wont pay up getting the sparks into sh1t with his/her boss, there is no comeback for the sparks as he/she has no contract with you.

Sounds like you are not the type to do this , but for lots of guys it is once bitten twice shy.
BTW you are in a better position now that all the work was through the builder, if the sparks did work for you without paying MCD (main contractors discount), the builder could say that it was that work, outside of your contract with him that caused the problems.

If i was you ECSSA would be my next call.