ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION CONDITION REPORT. LIMITATIONS.

If you don't look under the floorboards, how could you possibly see the nail holes and rodent damage to the cables? Provided the terminals stayed a hair's breadth apart in that little horror, who would know?

P.S. If you have AFDDs, they might have to stay at least a couple of hair's breadths apart.

And perhaps underfloor smoke detectors eh. Chris? I2R heating.

Z.

Is it April the first.  Where do you stop. 

Gary

if ii is not found on inspection - and a cost -effective inspection is always going to be limited at some point- unless you more or less rewire, and that introduces another prblem of errors/damage due to excessive dismantling and re-assembly.. then it will stay in service, no worse than if the inspection never happened, until it either stops working and fails open or short circuit, or causes another problem such as an electric shock or a small fire. As generally these last two are luckily rare, the balance of probability is in favour of not worrying too much.

This example has reached melting polyethylene temps - perhaps 150-180c but presumably apart from the pong did not ignite anything in particular  beyond a casual singe?

Mike

If I suspected foul play under the floorboards and uncovered that little bundle, I would then ask myself the possible cause. However, If when making a routine inspection, including having a jolly good old sniff, I would have passed this one over.

"I would have passed it over"

What do you mean Legh. Left it as it is?

It may have started a fire and then the customer may have "passed over."

Z.

"...until it either stops working and fails open or short circuit, or causes another problem such as an electric shock or a small fire."

So a small fire" is o.k.is it Mike?

Where the horror was located it may have caught fire to dust and other dry fine combustibles.

This horror may not be detected by our normal methods of testing. That concerns me.

Z.

I assume you're being this hysterical Zoomy to try and stimulate a "healthy debate"!

So a "small fire" is o.k.is it Mike?

In  a word, YES, -  and I'm not being provocative here, there really has to be a small residual risk we accept or we cannot use electricity. In the same way every time I drive there is a small risk of a fatal car accident - now I do my best to avoid one of course, and I have so far, but I cannot guarantee zero failures either on my part or the parts of others.  Now that wiring is bad, and as it overheats. potentially dangerous, but short of X-raying every cable route, you cannot inspect to see if there is something like that without dismantling and rewiring the building for each inspection.

I agree the experienced eye/nose often decides to look into something on a hunch and that pays off, but there we tend not to record the occasions where nothing is found and now we are late to the next task.

Mike

We do not normally inspect cables hidden under floorboards, concealed in walls or in roof spaces.

Although these days, the inspection should include "other electrical equipment in accessible loft spaces" - which presumably would include terminal blocks. Presuming of course anyone knew they were there to be inspected,,,

   - Andy.