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Vermin control in a new electrical Installation-Old large house

Billy Boy
Hi 

I would like to know if anyone has had the experience to install an electrical installation designed for Vermin control, ie rats, mice, Glis Glis,  etc

We are looking to take on a large house refurb in the country and part of the design spec is to carry out an installation that will protect against Vermin.

So would we be looking at a twin and earth system, or a complete screwed conduit system?

to be clear it is an old house with large old joists so a conduit system would be very hard and expensive.

Is there a risk assessment for such installations? and is there a wiring spec or IET guidance?


Thanks in advance


Billy


  • 0
    I replaced part of a lighting circuit in a loft in SWA to limit vermin damage, but it’s not vermin proof.


    On another job I replaced twin and earth with new twin and earth within the loft of a thatched roof, the insurance company wanted a satisfactory EICR to renew the policy and accepted the repair as like for like, despite not being vermin proof.


    Vermin proof is copper clad mineral insulated cable or a steel conduit system.
  • 0
    i have an old house teeth marks in multiple places. Anywhere the can get access to in fact.


    Rodents will chew any type of plastic material, therefore only metal conduit or MICC as can be described as vermin proof, as Sparkingchip said.


    burn


  • 0
    the level of vermin proofing will not necessarily need to be the same in all places. (wires plastered in walls will not need the same protecion as ones inside a loft or cellar.)


    However, I'd agree for critical bits you are looking at metal containment  so probably conduit, either flexible or rigid, or pyrotenax.

    https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/LFLS20slash10.html

    perhaps


    Anything else may be vermin resistant, but will eventually succumb. Metal trunking is possible, but requires surprisingly great effort to be mouse proof, as they are very wriggly creatures.
  • 0
    Vermin control is required along with regular inspection and testing as well as good installation in the first place.


    I was called out to a installation that was only several years old and should have been installed as TT, however it was not earthed at all and didn't have any RCDs, when the rats chewed the lighting cables in the roof livening up the CPC from the live conductor everything in the house came up to mains potential including the kettle and the taps in the kitchen without the MCB tripping.


  • 0
    That job where I replaced twin and earth like for like the mice had chewed the backs off downlight fittings, it's not just cables they attack I have found them inside customers consumer units and cookers in amongst other places.
  • 0

    the insurance company wanted a satisfactory EICR to renew the policy and accepted the repair as like for like,



     Genuinely interested if this "satisfactory EICR" is an off the shelf item provided to order, or just a turn of phrase, like "sign off"?
  • 0
    I have read, and I find credible, that rodents chew at cables which are in their way. Therefore clipping them on walls or rafters may be an answer - it is one which I have used. The worst thing (ignoring capacity issues) is to bury cable in loft insulation where rodents just love to nest.


    The critters can get anywhere, although I rather doubt that they would get inside a steel conduit system. Any cable which crosses a void is vulnerable.


    Or just get a cat or two. ?
  • 0
    The insurance company wanted a satisfactory EICR, because the first EICR that was issued said the installation had been chewed up by vermin hence it was unsatisfactory.


    Simple rule of thumb, if you can see the copper conductors don’t write a report out saying the installation is safe to use and don’t rely on testing rather than inspection as I have seen conductors stripped bare of insulation that pass an insulation test at 500 volts.
  • 0

    Martin Cook:

    to be clear it is an old house with large old joists so a conduit system would be very hard and expensive.



    Not least because of the difficulty of inserting pipes of any type without notching the joists. No thank you!
  • 0

    The insurance company wanted a satisfactory EICR, because the first EICR that was issued said the installation had been chewed up by vermin hence it was unsatisfactory.



    Okay, let us assume the insurance company request was a "turn of phrase" , like "sign off"?     Some cables - and quite a few if they were in the loft- were replaced. So that would have been installation works. I am not getting the "satisfactory EICR" bit. Is this something that is produced on demand? This is thatched roof. What was twin and earth doing in there- so installed, it being chewed kind of suggests it was not fit for purpose in the first instance.

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