NICEIC Certification Scheme NICEIC Complaint? Waste of time.

someconsumer · May 4, 2022

Honestly... I speechless at this story.

The NICEIC have just washed their hands of a valid complaint.

Ever heard of a new build property with 7x C2's, 5x C3's and 6x FI's?
I own one.
2x electricians (both Napit and NICEIC) said major problems including C2's.
EICR produced with pictures - partly because the original electrician was being a nightmare denying everything.

Original electrician did one day remedial... then vanished.

NICEIC complaint raised.

Site visit happened and NICEIC said... no C2's or C3's!!!

NICEIC just repeated verbatim the excuses (and blatant lies) of the original electrician who was there.

outside lights not earthed? Not installed by the electrician. Must be builder.
heating system missing earths? Not installed by the electrician. Must be builder.
tripping system? Old hoover or heating system.
No 2 way lights? Must be the 'smart' switches which just need radio pairing
Thermal damage on a light switch joint? Must have happened during the EICR or someone played with it (yeah right).
Fire rating for spotlights? No habitable room above (er... bedrooms aren't habitable???)
Loose connections? Didn't see 'em (aka didn't look at the ones in the EICR pictures)

WTF?

Don't bother raising a complaint to the NICEIC; they're not interested in customer safety.

Forget the Platinum Promise, it's meaningless. Just promise to pay your fee on time.

Any electricians worried about complaints? Don't worry... they're not interested as long as you pay your fee.

Dustydazzler · May 4, 2022

Be interesting to see pictures of all those C2s

someconsumer · May 4, 2022

Yup a qualified electrician did that and got away with it.

[ElectriciansForums.net] NICEIC Complaint? Waste of time.

someconsumer · May 4, 2022

Nice cable... be good if it was plugged into something.

littlespark · May 4, 2022

There could be a case for getting the papers involved, or your MP.....

What is the actual point of the schemes when there's just as many cowboys registered as there is not registered.
Having the badge on your van actually increases the number of jobs these rogues can do

someconsumer · May 4, 2022

littlespark said:
There could be a case for getting the papers involved, or your MP.....

What is the actual point of the schemes when there's just as many cowboys registered as there is not registered.
Having the badge on your van actually increases the number of jobs these rogues can do

Yup - total waste of time having the badge.

How on earth can this happen in the UK in this century???

LukeD · May 4, 2022

someconsumer said:
Yup - total waste of time having the badge.

How on earth can this happen in the UK in this century???

Neighbour to me has a cowboy builder remove a boiler and fit it back on another wall .Not gas safe registered and zero paperwork. Upstairs smells gas and calls the Gas board. They come and find a tiny leak .But when questioned the owner denied having the boiler moved and the gas board did NOT say anything and just went away as the landlord turned the gas off himself. Now why the council Gas safe or the gas board etc take no action against the owner ? Its a farce . No one is checking and no one is truly bothered .But over stay a parking ticket and you get fined !! !!!

Pretty Mouth · May 5, 2022

someconsumer said:
heating system missing earths? Not installed by the electrician. Must be builder.

Often the wiring for the heating system is installed by the heating engineer.

someconsumer said:
tripping system? Old hoover or heating system.

Many things can cause this, not necessarily the building's wiring. Unless the cause has been identified, you cannot be certain that the electrician is responsible.

someconsumer said:
Fire rating for spotlights? No habitable room above (er... bedrooms aren't habitable???)

Whether fire rated downlights are required or not is complicated, it's not as simple as whether there's a habitable room above. You often get differences of opinion between electricians on this. Usually they're not needed where they don't breach a fire barrier. Typically, for a 'normal' 2 storey house, the plasterboard ceilings aren't fire barriers. Sometimes though, the plasterboard ceiling is needed to protect modern types of floor joist.

This isn't to say you don't have a valid complaint against the electrician, just that not all of it may be his fault.

Do you have a copy of the installation certificate?

Dustydazzler · May 5, 2022

Like everything ultimately it all falls back on the home owners / bill payers shoulders to pay to have the shoddy work port right

Was this way before the Scams and still this way with the Scams

I said 25 years ago when I started out in the trade , Scams are bout making themselves money , and nothing to do with standards or safety

Scams are called Scams for a reason

someconsumer · May 5, 2022

Pretty Mouth said:
Often the wiring for the heating system is installed by the heating engineer.

Many things can cause this, not necessarily the building's wiring. Unless the cause has been identified, you cannot be certain that the electrician is responsible.

Whether fire rated downlights are required or not is complicated, it's not as simple as whether there's a habitable room above. You often get differences of opinion between electricians on this. Usually they're not needed where they don't breach a fire barrier. Typically, for a 'normal' 2 storey house, the plasterboard ceilings aren't fire barriers. Sometimes though, the plasterboard ceiling is needed to protect modern types of floor joist.

This isn't to say you don't have a valid complaint against the electrician, just that not all of it may be his fault.

Do you have a copy of the installation certificate?

Yes I do have the EIC, many electricians have questioned how a lot of the figures are the same.

I suspected the heating system may have been installed by someone else but there's a serious lack of planning if earth's are missing. The NICEIC inspector even acknowledged a lack of planning (wrong number of circuits).

This is a 4 storey modern house, we were in the ground floor kitchen with bedrooms above us and a second floor above that.
Yes noticed there's a difference of opinions, but a dismissive "no habitable rooms above" comment from the kitchen does not inspire confidence. Interestingly the EICR also found no CPC continuity on the downlights.

I am amazed how little accountability the electricians actually have here.

UNG · May 5, 2022

someconsumer said:
Honestly... I speechless at this story.

The NICEIC have just washed their hands of a valid complaint.

Ever heard of a new build property with 7x C2's, 5x C3's and 6x FI's?
I own one.
2x electricians (both Napit and NICEIC) said major problems including C2's.
EICR produced with pictures - partly because the original electrician was being a nightmare denying everything.

Original electrician did one day remedial... then vanished.

NICEIC complaint raised.

Site visit happened and NICEIC said... no C2's or C3's!!!

NICEIC just repeated verbatim the excuses (and blatant lies) of the original electrician who was there.

outside lights not earthed? Not installed by the electrician. Must be builder.

heating system missing earths? Not installed by the electrician. Must be builder.

tripping system? Old hoover or heating system.

No 2 way lights? Must be the 'smart' switches which just need radio pairing

Thermal damage on a light switch joint? Must have happened during the EICR or someone played with it (yeah right).

Fire rating for spotlights? No habitable room above (er... bedrooms aren't habitable???)

Loose connections? Didn't see 'em (aka didn't look at the ones in the EICR pictures)

WTF?

Don't bother raising a complaint to the NICEIC; they're not interested in customer safety.

Forget the Platinum Promise, it's meaningless. Just promise to pay your fee on time.

Any electricians worried about complaints? Don't worry... they're not interested as long as you pay your fee.

Maybe you need to elevate the complaint to the body that gives the NICEIC it's accreditation to operate

Complaints and Appeals

UKAS welcomes feedback from its customers, stakeholders and the end users of accredited services. If you have any suggestions as to how UKAS might improve its services, please get in touch.

www.ukas.com

It would be interesting to hear how they respond

Pretty Mouth · May 5, 2022

someconsumer said:
Yes I do have the EIC, many electricians have questioned how a lot of the figures are the same.

I suspected the heating system may have been installed by someone else but there's a serious lack of planning if earth's are missing. The NICEIC inspector even acknowledged a lack of planning (wrong number of circuits).

This is a 4 storey modern house, we were in the ground floor kitchen with bedrooms above us and a second floor above that.
Yes noticed there's a difference of opinions, but a dismissive "no habitable rooms above" comment from the kitchen does not inspire confidence. Interestingly the EICR also found no CPC continuity on the downlights.

I am amazed how little accountability the electricians actually have here.

4 storey I would expect probably does need fire rated downlights.

Post a redacted copy of the EIC here, we can take a look at it for you

snowhead · May 5, 2022

Is this a new build built by a national housebuilder or by a local developer and did you pay 1 single payment to them?
If so your complaint and retribution is with the company you paid the money to.

It then doesn't matter whether the electrician, landscape gardener or painter missed out the CPC and created the C2's etc it's for the person with whom you had a contract and who received your money, to sort out.

If it went to court you can't pursue the trades as you didn't employ them.

If however it was self build or you paid trades individually then it is your problem to deal with.

Does it have NHBC cover, they're probably just as bad as any other trade organisation but the more bodies involved the better?

UNG · May 5, 2022

Dustydazzler said:
Like everything ultimately it all falls back on the home owners / bill payers shoulders to pay to have the shoddy work port right

Was this way before the Scams and still this way with the Scams

I said 25 years ago when I started out in the trade , Scams are bout making themselves money , and nothing to do with standards or safety

Scams are called Scams for a reason

The scams have supported the electrical industries race to the bottom for a number of years now aided and abetted by the training companies and examination bodies add to that the changes made to the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification last year that has done little to improve the situation the industry finds itself in

You have to wonder from what is seen on here what the real world figures are for poor workmanship with regard to installations, EICR's etc and how much goes unnoticed and unreported leaving installations in a potentially dangerous state

HappyHippyDad · May 5, 2022

It's all a bit confusing. When I last had my Napit assessment they were very thorough. in fact, before that when it was Stroma, they were also thorough but Napit were very thorough. It does sound like they are not interested in complaints though.

I can't understand why they act professionally when it comes to yearly assessments, but not so with complaints regarding shoddy work.

If this is your home and you are still concerned about the safety of it, I would continue asking questions on here until you feel you have more knowledge about what exactly is wrong with the house (backed up by regulations) and then take it to UKAS (or whatever the body was that was mentioned in an earlier post). Frustrating for you though and I hope you get to a position where you are happy with the house.

NICEIC Certification Scheme NICEIC Complaint? Waste of time.

someconsumer

Dustydazzler

-

someconsumer

Attachments

someconsumer

littlespark

-

someconsumer

LukeD

-

Pretty Mouth

-

Dustydazzler

-

someconsumer

UNG

-

Complaints and Appeals

Pretty Mouth

-

snowhead

-

UNG

-

HappyHippyDad

-

News and Offers from Sponsors

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

YOUR Unread Posts