MCS certifier for DIY Solar PV installation?

[spread-tee]

Yes I agree these documents are not legally required to sell the house, you can purchase an insurance to cover the purchaser against any future liability. That doesn't alter the fact that I am signing a legal document declaring certain works are safe and compliant with building regs. As such if it turns out to be a pile of shit muggins here will be in court trying to explain. WTF would I do that for someone trying to get work done on the cheap, because that is what it is in a lot of cases??

Desp

[NoraBatty]

Just because you have an MCS certificate, does not mean your system is safe.
I have just had Joeboys electrician reccommendation round to quote my system as he finally has some time. thanks for that!

However. My MCS certified ASHP that i have spoken about, and my MCS certified Solar install, has just been quite literally condemned by him, as unsafe, bordering on dangerously unsafe.
He spent 2 hrs looking over every aspect of the install, bar the plumbing side, and has told me to get an NICEIC investigator round as soon as possible.

Once accredited, very little checks are done on quality being installed. Installers issue the certificates themselves, and although there is recourse, it does not stop dodgy installs at all.

[resybaby]

Ex Corgi reg'd gas fitter.
Gave it up when Gas Safe came along as other interests/work that i preferred.
In 15 years i had the sum total of 2 formal Corgi inspections, that was all.
And one of them i "failed" because i didnt put a 5 pence 'dont put clothing/towels in this airing cuboard" sticker on a door.
I kid you not. The inspector was a pillock of the most aloof idiotic kind possible. Obviously massaging his statistics.
The other inspection, the inspector spent more time examining and discussing my clients motorbike than inspecting my work.
Also asked literally hundreds of times to sign stuff off id not installed.
No way hosay.

[spread-tee]

Hi Resy, I too nearly jacked CORGI in the latter years, however when Gassafe took over it did change quite a lot for the better, still plenty to criticise but hey, my last ACS is behind me now and it is just a matter of time before I give it all up.

Nora, of course there will sadly be unsafe work out there despite having the proper certificate, installers doing that are digging their own grave and should be rooted out and penalised. I would bet those dodgy installs are a pretty small minority when done by accredited installers, by far the majority of hookey work is done by cowboys which is a far harder issue to address. Sadly a lot of people out there pour scorn on paperwork and officialdom, and are far more interested in getting a cheap job done, until something goes wrong then their tune changes and they whine "why didn't they do something". Fuck 'em, Personally I'm not getting involved in trying to save their bacon anymore.

Desp

[NoraBatty]

Nora, of course there will sadly be unsafe work out there despite having the proper certificate, installers doing that are digging their own grave and should be rooted out and penalised. I would bet those dodgy installs are a pretty small minority when done by accredited installers, by far the majority of hookey work is done by cowboys which is a far harder issue to address. Sadly a lot of people out there pour scorn on paperwork and officialdom, and are far more interested in getting a cheap job done, until something goes wrong then their tune changes and they whine "why didn't they do something". Fuck 'em, Personally I'm not getting involved in trying to save their bacon anymore.

Desp

I worry for all of the people these cowboys have also installed systems with.
This was on an eco grant for the previous owner of the house.
By what i have seen from these installers, they are so busy with eco grants that they must be churning installs out to maximise profits.
Yes that then gives added recourse but only if you know about the issues.

I am actually in quite a good position tonight so not in as bad a mood as i would have been .
I had plans to rip out the plumbing as i knew it was not good. My dad was a plumber and it rubbed off on me, and i know relatively what to look for.
I was happy to rip it out rather than go down the complaints and chasing them to fix it route as then i get exactly what i want, and know its not been bodged.
As it stands, the only work on the system i have done to date, is fixing leaks, or bypassing seized pumps that were completely unneccessary to begin with. I have been too busy to start.
The electrics, to me, looked fine.
Im not an electrician so that comes as no surprise.
I like to think of myself as relaticely competent, and no doubt would have eventually found the same issues myself had i taken on the project myself, or killed myself finding them.
I had not actually touched the consumer unit or inverter to do anything yet. Only looked. But it has all been boged, and dangerous, let alone other basic standards missed or ignored apparently.
The same as the solar on the roof.
Had he not come round, i likely would have started on the plumbing this week, and voided my guarantee.
I have had NICEIC confirm today that making my plumbing system safe, will not void the guarantee.
And there is no way i am turning a blind eye to the plumbing now, knowing that the entire install is beyond any level of competence.

Lucky, but how many people have these guys installed, and how many people now have death trap houses and absolutely no idea.