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It's probably not unusual to work this way as it pretty much guarantees you'll get the work done but he could have tested the insulation resistance of the wiring before he started the job and let you know that the insulation of the wiring was failing (that's what is implied by the need to rewire).
Insulation resistance is basically a measurement of the amount of current that leaks from conductor to conductor and it starts to happen when wiring gets old or damaged.
Of course having all your sockets on one circuit is frowned on these days as there are calculations for the full potential load which you are supposed not to exceed, of course with lots of lower power loads these days circuits tend not to get overloaded in the way they would with a 3 bar heater in every room.
You're probably best off getting a rewire but I would talk to another electrician and get a price, this arrangement he's come to with you helps you both but doesn't strictly conform to regulations. He's working on the principle that he's only half way through the job, that's how he can avoid giving you a certificate or condemning the installation. I can understand why he hasn't tested it first but it would have been good to know what you were dealing with before he got started.
If you want to be really cheeky ask him for the IR and Zs values for the circuits he tested.
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You could also pop over to the iet forum and ask the folks there what they think of the situation. You will get a very thorough answer and they will love picking over the bones of this issue.
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Airhead
@amey
So having control unit replaced has kinda opened a can of worms .. the NICEIC qualified electrician who did the job refused to give us the safety certificate after he tested the circuit and found it to be unsafe. He reckons the wiring is quite old (maybe from 80s) and somewhere on the circuit there is a fault. He had to then go on record to send me following email:
If he doesent have a record of this apparently NICEIC can strip him off his license. He has told us that a full re-wire is required within 6 months otherwise the property gets red flagged in the database for being unsafe. If we do it after 6 months there is a penalty. Its about a £3-4K w week-ish job given all wires are concealed.
And
Does any of that makes sense?
I fail at being an adult so so many times!