Buying A Consumer Unit For An Electrician?

[penguinlicker]

Good afternoon,

I want to change a consumer unit for a new Schneider easy9 and all rcbos. ive got the power company installing an isolator next month so the board can be isolated.

If i know what i want, is it better to buy for the electrician or get him to buy it? am i going to save much money buying the bits myself? ive heard about guarantees, what guarantee don't i get if the electrician doesn't buy?

surely the guarantee is with the wholesaler or manufacturer? and that by fitting and testing, the electrician has verified it's all electrically safe?

im industrial so i'm not part of any scheme so I could do it myself and notify to the council but i'm not sure ild save much if i have to pay the council £200 odd quid to self notify.

Thank you for reading

 

[davesparks]

Speak to the electrician who will be doing it, they will probably be happy with you supplying the CU but will certainly want to check that you are getting the right stuff beforehand.

The worst part about customers supplying materials is them getting the wrong things and having to wait, or come back another day.

 

[Pete999]

Good afternoon,

I want to change a consumer unit for a new Schneider easy9 and all rcbos. ive got the power company installing an isolator next month so the board can be isolated.

If i know what i want, is it better to buy for the electrician or get him to buy it? am i going to save much money buying the bits myself? ive heard about guarantees, what guarantee don't i get if the electrician doesn't buy?

surely the guarantee is with the wholesaler or manufacturer? and that by fitting and testing, the electrician has verified it's all electrically safe?

im industrial so i'm not part of any scheme so I could do it myself and notify to the council but i'm not sure ild save much if i have to pay the council £200 odd quid to self notify.

Thank you for reading

I suggest before you employ an Electrician you ask for his/Her back up policy, most reputable traders will have a guarantee of work and will have protection of the CUs maker, and the supplier to fall back on.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Absolutely, you must get agreement from your electrician. You wont save money as (any decent) electrician will be obtaining materials at trade prices which you wont be able to match.

Also,many sparks have an “I don’t fit what I don’t supply” policy.
This comes from many wasted hours while customer makes another trip to B&Q, or wherever, to get the correct equipment. It is great get out of jail card for the electrician. When something goes wrong he/she can say
“Well, you supplied the blooming thing”. Then it’s your problem.

 

[Midwest]

Good afternoon,

I want to change a consumer unit for a new Schneider easy9 and all rcbos. ive got the power company installing an isolator next month so the board can be isolated.


im industrial so i'm not part of any scheme so I could do it myself and notify to the council but i'm not sure ild save much if i have to pay the council £200 odd quid to self notify.

Thank you for reading

I’m in the curious position of replacing my CU in my new build property. Up until 2 years ago, I was in a Scheme replacing them. So I asked my LBC, if I could fit and get a compliance certificate thru them, with my qualms etc.

After some head scratching, they want me to do the work, then get it ‘EICR’d’ by a Scheme member!

Ive tried contacting a couple of Third Party Certifiers, but no one has replied. Nonsense really.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I’m not surprised.

phone call to plumber
“hello, I used to be a plumber. I was in B&Q last week and bought one of their gas boilers. I have fitted that, could you pop along and sign it off please?”

 

[Andy78]

I’m in the curious position of replacing my CU in my new build property. Up until 2 years ago, I was in a Scheme replacing them. So I asked my LBC, if I could fit and get a compliance certificate thru them, with my qualms etc.

After some head scratching, they want me to do the work, then get it ‘EICR’d’ by a Scheme member!

Ive tried contacting a couple of Third Party Certifiers, but no one has replied. Nonsense really.

When selling a house an indemnity policy that covers lack of BC notification is cheaper than getting it done properly in the first place. You're right. Nonsense.

 

[happysteve]

Good afternoon,

I want to change a consumer unit for a new Schneider easy9 and all rcbos. ive got the power company installing an isolator next month so the board can be isolated.

If i know what i want, is it better to buy for the electrician or get him to buy it? am i going to save much money buying the bits myself? ive heard about guarantees, what guarantee don't i get if the electrician doesn't buy?

surely the guarantee is with the wholesaler or manufacturer? and that by fitting and testing, the electrician has verified it's all electrically safe?

im industrial so i'm not part of any scheme so I could do it myself and notify to the council but i'm not sure ild save much if i have to pay the council £200 odd quid to self notify.

Thank you for reading

If I supply parts and fit them, if there is a problem under warranty then I will remove and replace, at no cost to the customer.

If the customer supplies the parts and I fit them, then if there is a problem under warranty and the customer needs me to attend to safely disconnect/remove whatever it is that's broken, I will charge for my time to do so.

If you are electrically competent to safely remove and replace components (like RCBOs) that later fail under warranty and sort it out yourself, and test the replacement units, then crack on; otherwise, you're likely to have to pay either the original electrician, or a new one, to do so for you.

If I'd originally fitted things the customer had supplied, I'd be happy to attend and if the fault was due to poor workmanship on my part then I would of course replace for free.

On the other hand, if you're happy with the above, and your electician is happy with you supplying the parts, then it might work out well. I sometimes advise customers to supply their own materials, for instance if they're VAT registered (I'm not, so I have to pay VAT on parts and pass this cost on to the customer, and I can't issue a VAT receipt so they can't claim it back) - or, for certain items, I prefer to buy from my local wholesaler, who for certain things is more expensive than you can buy them on-line... but I don't want to buy certain stuff on-line, due to the faff of if it fails. So I pay over the odds, but benefit from great local, in-person service. If the customer is up for the potential faff of dealing with an internet supplier if things break under warranty, and also pay me for my time to disconnect/reconnect, and they judge that this is worth saving a few quid for, then I say crack on

 

[Dustydazzler]

When selling a house an indemnity policy that covers lack of BC notification is cheaper than getting it done properly in the first place. You're right. Nonsense.

last time I checked an indemnity policy for missing certification is about 60 quid

so very much cheaper than going the 3rd party sign-off route

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

last time I checked an indemnity policy for missing certification is about 60 quid

so very much cheaper than going the 3rd party sign-off route

I know somebody who rewired his whole house, didn't notify it. When they sold they bought an indemnity policy through the solicitor. Cost around £75... Think he did alright there.

 

[Midwest]

As has been said many times before, these indemnity insurances, only protect the buyer from enforcement action from a LBC. They do not protect the buyer for the cost of rectification of works, nor any any claim on other insurance policies, should the works cause damage to the property.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I know somebody who rewired his whole house, didn't notify it. When they sold they bought an indemnity policy through the solicitor. Cost around £75... Think he did alright there.

I know someone who did something similar for an entire self build extension, no planning , no regs no nothing...
100 quid indemnity and the house sold without a hitch

 

[pirate]

It's time to tell people that an "Indemnity Policy" is NOT the whole answer!
The indemnity does not cover what most folks expect. Sadly, the providers are aware that the lawyers rely on them for a quick fix. An unsafe installation might kill you, but the insurers may pay for remedial work, but they won't compensate for the loss of life.
Lawyers have become lazy...well, some of them, anyway.
There is a problem here. If there is no certification available, then a proper inspection is the way to go. OK, it's a few hundred quid...so what? If you are paying hundreds of thousands for a house, you must insist on a proper inspection of anything which lacks the correct paperwork. Frankly, a seller should pay for this, or be prepared for the buyer to have the inspection carried out and deduct the cost from the price.
I'm not going to go into this in detail, but just say that the legal system works on making things happen, without any concern for what the final effect might be. Get the sale done, get paid, move on. Very few indemnity polices cover what you think is covered. That's a fact.
Remember how many people move in to a new house and spend thousands on new kitchens and bathrooms, but care not how robust the electrical installation is. I would never accept an indemnity policy to cover lack of certification for electrical work, nor for gas installation work. Yes, I would accept a policy for unauthorised extensions and alterations, because safety is not usually an issue on these matters. However, note that policy providers will usually insist that you have NOT made enquiries of the LA in those circmstances. The correct way is to ask the LA for a ruling...the so-called "Letter of Comfort". Yes, I will accept that, because the LA will never renege on those unless there is a fundamental problem which was concealed from them.
There are particular circumstances where an indemnity policy is perfectly acceptable, but these circumstances relate to the validity and, crucially, marketability, of the title to the house, and NOT to its electrical and gas installations.