Top Tips for Electrical Safety

• Always use an NICEIC registered electrician

• Ensure that they are 'Part P' Approved

• Have your home inspected for electrical safety regularly

• Check your appliances for signs of damage or wear. If in doubt, have them PAT tested.

• If you are a landlord, make sure that you get a Landlord's Certificate for each rented property

• Make sure that all work done meets the IEE regulations

• Lawnmowers, hedgetrimmers etc. should be protected with an RCD

Notes for RCD Consumer Units

Your RCD Consumer Unit is a sensitive device which monitors the electrical system within your home for imbalances which are caused by earth leakage. Earth Leakage happens when live current tries to reach Earth, for example if you touch a live wire or cut through the lawnmower cable! If this amount of current reaches a set level, the RCD unit will trip.

The most common causes of tripping RCDs are listed below:

1. Faulty appliances – particularly washing machines, kettles, toasters and fridges/freezers. It is quite common for these appliances to cause unwanted RCD tripping. However, the RCD is not faulty. It is merely indicating that an appliance is potentially dangerous. It is our recommendation that, once the faulty appliance is identified, it is immediately discarded or repaired by a competent person.

2. Moisture getting into electrical fixtures and fittings will cause an RCD to trip. Again, this is not a fault – it is doing its job to protect you, your family and your wiring. Common culprits are rain getting into security lights and moisture in sockets/junction boxes (particularly in kitchen areas).

3. Intermittent Faults are the most troublesome. The nature of intermittent RCD tripping means that it can be very difficult to identify the cause of the problem. It could literally be anything from a faulty junction box somewhere under the floorboards to an intermittent fault on a freezer. Again, the RCD is highly unlikely to be faulty: it is indicating to you that a potentially lethal fault has been detected and that it has taken action by cutting off the power.

Safety First Electrical always carry out a check on the fixed wiring of a house before installing an rcd consumer unit. This indicates whether the house wiring is likely to be in good enough condition to accept an RCD. We do not test your appliances. However, if there is an intermittent fault (which would have gone undetected by your old box), we cannot be held responsible for unwanted tripping of the box at a later date.

Your RCD unit has been factory tested by the manufacturer and tested by us on installation to ensure that it does not give rise to nuisance tripping. Under the terms of your guarantee with us, we will further test the sensitivity at your request, but we advise you that the unit is highly likely to be functioning correctly. We can under no circumstances be held responsible for a customer’s faulty appliances or intermittent wiring faults (other than for wiring installed by us and under guarantee). Similarly, we cannot cover damaged caused to a system which results in the rcd tripping, as this is outside our control.

GUARANTEE POLICY

Work carried out by Safety 1^st Electrical is guaranteed for 12 months from the time of installation. This guarantee is limited to items supplied and fitted by us, and any connections made by us. It is valid only on production of this guarantee policy and a valid receipt. Any work carried out by a third party is not covered. Work carried out by the owner or other tradesmen which results in problems with the electrical installation is not covered. User-replaceable items, including bulbs and fuses, are not covered. Similarly, neon indicators on switches are exempt. Abuse, damage and rough usage, ingress of water, plaster and other foreign bodies are outside the control of Safety 1^st Electrical and are therefore not covered by this warranty.

Safety 1^st Electrical will visit an installation within 12 months of that installation being finished, under the terms of this guarantee. If the fault is covered, there will be NO CHARGE and the fault will be rectified. However, if the fault is not covered by this warranty – or if there is no fault – there will be an initial standard fee payable of £35.