Reply With QuoteIs it covered by NHBC?
So we moved into our home around 4 years ago, and bought it new. We’ve had a little electrical trouble. Over Christmas, the electric underfloor heating packed up, and when it was getting fixed we found it had been wired wrong and the thermostats were linked to the wrong pads, so we paid for it to be re-wired.
Now fast forward and the dishwasher packed in last week, but it was just a fuse. But when changing it, the fuse/ breaker sockets for the kitchen electrical items (all above the oven and away from appliances and wires in a cupboard) had been labelled incorrectly. So when I changed the fuse it then blew up the washing machine because I was inadvertently changing the wrong fuse. Washing machine is now dead according to our electrican who I called out so he could work out where everything was going.
One bout of installation incompetence I could have maybe dealt with, but two from the original builder seems careless. After this period of time do I have any legal comeback against him or is this something I just need to take on the chin? Advice appreciated!
Is it covered by NHBC?
You've got a 10 year warranty on a new build AFAIK
It’s covered by NBC not NHBC and the excess is 1500 so it is useless!
Contact the original House Builder ASAP and make them aware of the issues and ask them for some comfort in providing a new survey (EICR).
Subject to the Electricians findings, I would then ask for reimbursement of your costs.
Reinforce the fact that you are concerned with the safety of the electrical installation.
B
No help for you but a similar story here. In 2011 we had a new build sports hall. All very lovely apart from the electrics and I don’t recall a single system that had been wired properly. A surveyor told me this was not an uncommon problem for a number of reasons...
I’d have thought if you contact the builder, they will hide this emotion but I bet they think “not again”.
Odd that changing a fuse would ‘blow up’ a washing machine.
Seems all to common.
Helped a friend install new light fittings in his new build when he first moved in.
Found 3 out of 12 lights were not connected properly & one switch which was wired completely incorrectly & kept blowing RCD.
Electric underfloor heating systems are quite well known for not being as robust as a wet system, so they do have a limited life span.
Changing a fuse would not cause a washing machine to blow up, so I think there must have been a fault with the washing machine before you did anything with the fuses.
By fuses, I assume you mean that you reset the MCB switch? 'Fuses' haven't been part of standard electrical installations for many years.
Unless a sparky takes your place to pieces and retests every connection to make sure it is all as it should be, they will be relatively limited with what they can test for, which will generally be to test if it is safe.
I would think it is unlikely that you could have any claim against the original builder after this period of time, as they are quite likely to say that you have been fiddling with their installation now anyway, leaving you to 'prove' a case against them.
Take it on the chin and get it re-tested by a decent spark to make sure it is safe.
By 'fiddling', all I have done is change a couple of fuses and move the stickers on the power switches so that they correspond to the correct appliance... it's hardly a re-wiring job...Originally Posted by Maysie
Thanks - might be worth trying!
It was a comment simply based on what you wrote in the original post?
well I tried to take it on the chin. Ordered a new machine from AO
They refused to install it because of the way the builders had installed strip LED lights on the plinths underneath the integrated appliances/ cupboards, rather than on the underside of the cabinets. So that's either a few hundred more on remedial work or I guess a small claims case? I just cannot fathom what the original electrician was doing?!
"Change fuses"? Do you mean you changed fused in appliance plugs or changed MCB's on the panel?
So we have appliances with wall sockets that are pretty much inaccessible. They are the kind without on/off switches The builders in their wisdom put further electrical switches to kill power/ change fuses above the oven, then we have the circuit breaker under the stairs.
I changed fuses above the oven, which is how I blew the washing machine fuse, because it's just a set of 8 labelled switches and fuses. And the washing machine/ dishwasher were mis-labelled.
Sounds like they are fused spur switches. I put them in (when ok to do oneself) for fridge, dishwasher etc.
Don’t see why you’d need eight though!
Having googled - yes that looks right.
Washer
Dishwasher
Oven
Microwave
Fridge
Freezer
Warming Drawer
Hob
That should make 8!
Morning Ian,
Can I ask if you have a copy of the part P installation certificate?
It’s not uncommon for the washing machine and dishwasher to be marked in reverse as it’s wired up prior to the appliances going in and they can be fitted in either config.
I’ve seen some of these switch banks I call them (fused spurs all together) were you can switch the covers over to easy fix the mixlabelling.
Anyways back to what I know, there’s no way changing the fuse can blow the machine unless there was an underlying fault and this time instead of tripping out some part/component gave in before the RCD saved it.
Also as for plinth lighting and given I install 3-4 integrated appliances a week any situation where there is plinth lighting you have to just work around it, sometimes there’s enough slack to pull it out of the way but other times I’ll have to tape the wires to the floor to stop them snagging and wind the feet up and move over the wiring, winding down the feet and the do the same with the rear feet, bit of a PITA but very common.
Will say that’s the only downside with using the likes of AO, Currys etc thier installers will walk away from anything that’s not straight forward and trust me my integrated installs with have one or two things to work around.
Just noted you stated the electrician said the WM is dead, is/was he an appliance engineer or how did he confirm it was dead?
Also what make of WM was it?
Interested in how he could confirm anything without taking the appliance out which he couldn’t of done if AO couldn’t to do the removal/install?!
Last edited by pitbull666; 16th August 2018 at 09:13.
Agree, disagree, agree, respectively!
The devices in the consumer unit whether MCB/RCD or old school fuses are there to protect the fixed wiring from overload which would cause excessive heating, damage and possible fire.
The fuse in the appliance plug protects the appliance and the shared supply. So to some extent there is a crossover of purpose but in essence that’s what each protection device protects.
I’m not an expert but courts will nearly always come down on the side of the consumer. They’ll never accept an argument “you prove my installation was faulty”. That’s my view anyway.
Get it all tested, well worth it.
Could it not just be a case of the WM being faulty and the mislabelled fuse caused confusion hence changing the fuse didn’t blow the machine it was just already faulty?
It’s not uncommon for a machine to blow the PCB after repeated fuse/MCB resets if there is an underlying fault!
Catch21 MCB/fuses are just for circuit protection but the RCD’s are to protect us.
This is exactly my point, but in reverse.
There seems to be very limited proof that that the wiring was faulty. The OP can hardly just turn up at court with a statement saying that 'Your Honour, my wiring was faulty as my washing machine blew up and my underfloro heating packed up after 4 years, so now I want some compensation'.
Courts are there to view the case for and against and then take a view of each side of the case in the eyes of the law. The law may be biased towards the consumer as you allude to, but the OP would still need to prove that something was actually wrong with the wiring, which would likely cost more in reports and invasive investigations (let alone legal advice costs) than just getting the thing fixed.
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