EICR report and £900 remedial work - seems fair?

[josey1978]

Hello, I felt hot sockets in my house.

I called an electrician who said the fuse board was dangerous - just by looking at it. Horrified was the word used. He carried out testing and did some other work.

£120 for the report
£140 for bonding to gas and water services
£80 for T&E cable to front of house
£50 for T&E cable to back of house
£460 for new fuse board
£165 for 3 twin sockets in kitchen

Another report was done a few months earlier and it was satisfactory.

Any comments on this report please?

Thanks.

 

[josey1978]

Thanks, the work has already been done though

Would using a non-calibrated test instrument invalid this report for all intents and purposes?

How can he prove the machine he used is accurate and whether he tested the new fuse board competently?

 

[telectrix]

you should have received an Electrical Installation Cert.after the work was done. this should have details of his test equipment on it, unlike on the EICR. also, itis a condition of his NICEIC membership that his gear is regularly calibrated. my advice is to talk to him first, querying any issues you are concerned about.

 

[WallaceP]

I think having an honest and direct conversation with the electrician would be more positive than going on an online forum. There is a lot that of variables that is hard to cover on a message board.

 

[Zerax]

I think having an honest and direct conversation with the electrician would be more positive than going on an online forum. There is a lot that of variables that is hard to cover on a message board.

I think the OP is just trying to improve his knowledge and understanding before having the conversation that you suggest and will ultimately happen.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Sorry, one mistake above. The original report was also unsatisfactory. There was a C2 for the socket. Nothing else mentioned apart from a recommendation to upgrade the fuse board which I was content to do.

I have emailed the electrician and asked him about some of the things that have been written above and whether he thinks my installation is now safe. I also mentioned the serial number of the test instrument not being recorded properly (it doesn't look like a serial number, more like a model number). I have also emailed him about the socket which is broken and still not replaced even though it was promised by him verbally. I am worried it could deteriorate further.

I have bought this house recently and want it to be as safe as possible. I'm worried that the test recordings may not be correct and also whether the electrician has picked up all existing faults.

His reply to my email was:

Hi Xxxxx
Have a look on niceic website
My company name is
Xxxxx Ltd
We are approved contractor
We do both inspection on domestic and commercial
Never had any issues with insurance, you can phone niceic and ask any questions you want about my company.
Regards


There was no mention of any of the issues I raised. Would it be a good idea to have a totally new EICR carried out by someone competent?

I think it would be a very good idea to have another EICR carried out Josey. The reason being that you are clearly concerned about the EICR you have now (perhaps rightly so) and will remain concerned until you have an EICR that has been written out more professionally.

You clearly have some electrical knowledge so when choosing the next electrician to carry out the report I would quiz them a little before hand on aspects raised in this thread so you can gauge their competence. I wouldn't mind at all if a customer asked me exactly what they were going to get for there money, I would be happy to discuss it in detail.

Expect to pay a minimum of £150 for a decent report, this is based on a 3 bed semi. I charge £175. You would pay more for a larger house/consumer unit.

Good luck and I hope you manage to get some closure.

PS.. You could always look on this forum for an electrician close to you. I'm not saying that everyone on here will provide a very good service but on average I think you are far more likely to get a good electrician off this site than elsewhere as we are all a bit sad and enjoy discussing our trade and how to constantly improve.