Ring mains joined

A question in a forum. Food for thought...

Question: Over the past few years, there have been many DIY installations, and many DIY enthusiasts tell stories of how easy it is. But from things they say, there must be many installations where two ring mains have been connected together - where they have simply picked up one end from one ring main and connected the other end to another socket; possibly on another ring, thinking that they are making a ring.

I believe that on testing, we should test that circuits go OFF, with only one MCB off. DIY types may not notice the problem, as they tend to say 'I always just switch everything off'.

Your thoughts please….?

Answer: In short, most electricians - as part of a good practice regime - perform dead testing; that is, testing a circuit for the absence of voltage using products such as a two-pole tester like our T1XX series, or even the SM100 series of socket testers.

Also, I would hope that such poor workmanship would be found as part of the initial visual verification checks, and the insulation & continuity dead test measurements, which should typically be performed before any live measurements.

Any questions???