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how to maintain earths when there is no earth terminal on the light

We were on the Landway in Bearsted, Maidstone just before Christmas to change 3 ceiling lights. What we found above one of them prompted this blog...!

Earth continuity (making sure earth cables are joined the whole length of a circuit) is such an important thing. The earth cable's job is to keep you safe in the event that metal parts that you can touch, in your property, accidentally becomes live and poses a risk to life. A broken earth (or no continuity in the earth) is very like a C2 electrical non-conformance, which essentially means there's an unacceptable compromise in the safety of the electrics and would trigger an unsatisfactory report if an EICR was being undertaken. The physical, practical part of maintaining earths has several benefits:

 

  • your electrics have the baseline safety net that is then built upon with other technical safety systems such as RCD protection and supplementary bonding
  • There's an earth provided for if you want to change accessories such as sockets, switches, and lights, your electrician doesn't have to hunt for where the break is, ultimately costing you more
  • the scientific electrical testing that electricians do when they install new, or change parts, or perform a landlord's certificate (EICR), centres a lot around earthing as a core basis of checks to make the sure the system they're working on, and leaving behind is safe. Not having access to the earth OR having a broken earth will both cost more resources to find and/or fix, ultimately costing you more.

If you experience any of the following symptoms:

  • Electric shock from kitchen taps
  • Electric shock from kitchen sink
  • Electric shock from metal light switch
  • Electric shock from water out of the tap
  • Any many more, in the form of a light buzzing feeling,

You may have a broken earth

Do you live in Medway, Maidstone & the surrounding areas? Feel free to call us on a free quote on:

01634 218 821 (Medway) or 

01622 277 321 (Maidstone)

See more about our emergency electrician services here
See what else we've been up to in Bearsted here

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Why we need to maintain our earth connections