Advice wanted - unhappy with rewire

[Sarah123]

Hi all

Hoping I could get some independent advice on here. We've just bought our first property and had to get a full house rewire on the property (3 bed semi). Our electricians had finished the work within 2 days (2 electricians working on it). When asked when they were coming back, they said they didn't need to come back for a second fix as they'd finished it all. As we didn't know any better, we assumed all was fine and paid up because that said they wouldn't give paperwork till payment was made.

Since then, we have had a few issues. Our plasterer has been really surprised at the poor standard of work - they have had to plaster around all sockets and spotlights in kitchen.

1. The holes made to put in the sockets are generally quite a bit larger than the face of the external socket casing.
2. One of the sockets had a loose wire that was not connected when the plasterer was plastering around.
3. Another socket melted the builder's plug (smoke coming out as well), but didn't activate the trip switch.
4. An armoured cable they put in to light the garage is coming out of the consumer unit and through the floorboards in the bedroom in front of (rather than behind) the skirting board.
5. No paperwork 3 weeks after despite chasing him for this before everything else happened.

Would really appreciate any feedback as not sure if these are common or we really are within our rights to be taking this further? We tried contacting the electrician a couple of days ago, but he's not able to come till Monday evening, but his general response is telling me that he's blaming the plasterer's work.

Thanks!

 

[telectrix]

true.we don't have the whole story.

 

[Spoon]

Questions I would like answered?

1. How much was the quote?

2. What checks did you make prior to engaging with this particular contractor?

I'm with @spark 68 on this......

1. What do you expect the general public to know about pricing of jobs...
If one quote was 1 grand and another was 3 grand then you would be looking at the first one, as the second one may be trying to rip you off..

2. Again, what checks do you expect the general public to know to do...
Usually get a friend to suggest someone is good is good enough for most.

 

[Nigel]

I would suggest that most people that do not know what they are talking about would ask for at least three quotations for work. How could anyone make an informed decision without a comparative quote? If this particular contractor was £1500 when the other two were around £3k and the customwr chose to go with the £1500 option I think that is relevant. I am not saying it is ok to rip someone off but I am saying that expectations of work quality will be linked to the price paid.

Again I would also be asking if they are insured, competent, do they hold any qualifications etc. I would not want my boiler change being carried out by anyone not able or not willing to provide this most basic of information.

Furthermore it says a lot about a customer if price was the only thing looked at when looking at these things.

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

 

[spark 68]

Not always, the cheapest quote may come from someone who is good but may be just starting out and/or small and will do an exemplary job, othoh you could get someone whom is basically taking p**s and charging high and sending shall we say "operatives" out and charging premium rates.
Seen it done.

 

[Toneyz]

i'll tell you the answer as soon as i work out how to open the fridge door from inside. brrrrrr. it's cold in here.

One constellation is I bet you have some cold beers in there.

 

[KEV 1 N]

Well it’s debatable whether the loose line conductor would have shown up on testing.
I used the term Proper Testing for the benefit of the OP who may not understand terminology like Initial Verifacation which if carried out properly (Proper Testing) WOULD have found that poor termination.

 

[spark 68]

You got a disagree because testing would have not likely shown this up, proper inspection might have.

 

[Spoon]

If this particular contractor was £1500 when the other two were around £3k and the customwr chose to go with the £1500 option I think that is relevant. I am not saying it is ok to rip someone off but I am saying that expectations of work quality will be linked to the price paid.

When I was having my ceilings plastered over I got 4 quotes. I went with the second cheapest. They did a great job.

Again I would also be asking if they are insured, competent, do they hold any qualifications etc. I would not want my boiler change being carried out by anyone not able or not willing to provide this most basic of information.

Why would the general public be asking for insurance, competence & quals.... They expect that the electrician will have all the relevant stuff to do the job, otherwise they would not be doing it.
Yes, this is not always the case in real life, but it's what they would expect.

 

[Nigel]

When I was having my ceilings plastered over I got 4 quotes. I went with the second cheapest. They did a great job.



Why would the general public be asking for insurance, competence & quals.... They expect that the electrician will have all the relevant stuff to do the job, otherwise they would not be doing it.
Yes, this is not always the case in real life, but it's what they would expect.

Because they should actually give a damn about people doing work in their house that could, if not done correctly kill someone.

 

[Andy78]

When I was having my ceilings plastered over I got 4 quotes. I went with the second cheapest. They did a great job.

I do similar with plasterers but go for the second least inebriated. There's a fine balance of special brew intake required to achieve a perfect finish.

 

[KEV 1 N]

You got a disagree because testing would have not likely shown this up, proper inspection might have.

Yeah I said it’s Debatable, and yes I should have said “Inspection and Testing” . At the end of the day they’ve obviously not did the tug test when 2nd fixing and the result is the line cable came out when the socket was disturbed.
I’ve tested numerous ring circuits and most are usually ok, but there have been a few with “open” continuity on either line, neutral or earth or even all! Some with significant difference between line and neutral or earth eg N = 0.65ohms but live would be say 200ohms! Obviously not open, but a slight touching contact at some point in the circuit.

 

[buzzlightyear]

The cables should still have something over them, capping, tube or the like

yeah ,like what a bandage .LOL.

 

[spark 68]

I agree, if humans were infallible then we would not need to T&I

 

[KEV 1 N]

I agree, if humans were infallible then we would not need to T&I

TBH I’d be very surprised if ANY T&I was done to this job, and if it was they’d probably used a bingo machine to come up with the numbers!

 

[Rpa07]

But we don’t know that!

TBH I’d be very surprised if ANY T&I was done to this job, and if it was they’d probably used a bingo machine to come up with the numbers!

This thread should have been started 1/2hr before the spark was due to pop around to see the OP Sarah!
We’ve done what we normally do and fuelled the situation! Will we ever learn ?