In the UK it is illegal for anyone other than a trained electrician to install, change, move, or update cabling in a house. The simple reason for this is that even the best trained amateur can make an innocent mistake that could lead to disaster. Therefore, even if you’re faced with what you think is a straightforward job, it’s best to call an electrician in to make sure it’s done right.
That said, there are problems related to electric cables that can crop up in the most unexpected places and can lead to fires or serious injuries. This shouldn’t be a reason not to get involved in DIY, but might be a good reason to check out RS Online and make sure that you have the right tools for the job.
The most important tool for any DIY job is an electric current detector. These are used to track cables inside walls, and to make sure that when you’re putting up a set of shelves, you don’t accidentally hammer a nail right through one of the main electricity cables into your house.
These detectors can be purchased relatively cheaply at most DIY stores, however, the cheaper the detector the less likely it is to pick up what you’re really looking for. So be prepared to spend a little bit more to get the job absolutely perfect. Another idea is to run a quick check for where the water pipes are in your house, most should be safely out of the way, but if you have an old central heating system, you’ll need to take special care, additionally, be extra careful when you’re dealing with and around radiators, as sometimes there are extra pipes that you may not have counted on.
Another important tool, or accessory, that might be worth investing in is a good pair of non-conducting rubber gloves. The alternative to this is to make sure that each of your tools have a rubber handle, but you can never be too sure. So invest in a pair of gloves – they won’t be expensive – and you could save a lot of hassle.
The final thing that you need to consider is some sort of circuit breaker, most tools should have one in built, so if anything does happen to go wrong you won’t find yourself with an exploding sander, or something similar, but there’s no harm in having back ups, and they could well stop a small fault with a hand tool blowing out the electrics in your entire house.
Last of all, there’s no harm in making sure that whenever you work you meet health and safety standards that professionals have to abide by. Check out the HSE website for more advice.