Hard wired smoke and heat detectors.

[Vanquishbrit]

Hi hope someone can help?

My dad needs electrical re-wiring done to his entire house. The house is in bad repair, and no electrical work has been done on his house for over 35 years.

He bought battery smoke alarms recently, but is being told by local electrician that it's mandatory to hard wire smoke and heat alarms in his own private house.

There is no price costing parts or labour breakdown on the electricians quote just total price.

He said its mandatory to hard wire smoke and heat detectors in his house, I this correct what this electrician is saying?

 

[Pat H]

There is no legal requirement to have any fire or heat detectors in a normal domestic residence unless it is required due to building regs (ie has a loft conversion)
It is however sensible to do so. Most folks go with normal battery powered non linked alarms but a wired linked (or RC) system works better.

 

[Vanquishbrit]

Thanks Pat H,

I appreciate having some one else point of view.

Electrician who is going to do re-wiring work is quite pushy, saying it's mandatory to have hard wired electrical smoke and heat dectectors in my dads private house that is being refurbished.

The electrician said if my dad does not have the hard wired smoke and heat detectors installed when he does the re-wiring then he is not prepared to do the job as it's mandatory to have them fitted

 

[davesparks]

How many quotes did you get for this job?
It sounds like you've chosen the wrong one out of the bunch!

 

[davesparks]

The electrician said if my dad does not have the hard wired smoke and heat detectors installed when he does the re-wiring then he is not prepared to do the job as it's mandatory to have them fitted

So just use a different electrician, preferably one who doesn't try to con you in to having unnecessary work done. It's entirely possible that this guy believes that he is telling the truth, there's a lot of people who believe gossip in preference of actually reading the rules.

 

[Vanquishbrit]

Thanks Dave sparks...a family relative put him in touch with my dad. My dad is elderly, lives on his own and is easily lead.

He has quoted my dad £1900 for re-wiring old 2 bedroomed terraced house.

The quote seems cheap and pretty good, but looking through the quote he has added things that my dad doesn't want.

There is no cost breakdown or any parts or labour costing, just the total price and brief list of what he is doing in each room such as 3 double sockets and centre light etc.

I tried to check his company out online...I could not find anything.

I sent him an email, asking for a break down of costings on the quote for parts and labour and information on his company.

He says he does not need to advertise anywhere as he comes highly recommend by lots of people and is doing this favour for my dad, as a family relative recommended him.

He became abrupt when I was asking him for price cost breakdown and then said that the smoke and heat detectors are mandatory and if my dads does not agree to having them done, this electrician won't re wire my dads house.

This is the only quote my dad has got, I told him to get a few other quotes , but as my dad is quite elderly in years he struggles and is easily lead, which is why I have stepped in to try and help him out

 

[Toneyz]

I think con is a bit strong ,have to have a metal C.U. but not smoke detectors you say the quote is cheap what cost could you put on some ones life (god forbid ) get further quotes from other electricians you have a breakdown of what he has allowed for, does he belong to a scheme,3rd party or direct LCBC I think a lot of electricians doing rewires do this as standard now (some have even posted about putting emergency light by C.U.)

 

[Vanquishbrit]

All I know about the gentleman is he is registered through Elecsa and is Part P certified.

 

[Toneyz]

So what is your issue with this electrician on the face of it he is given your dad a good price as you said I am sure that the relative would not recommend him if he was no good what things do you think are not necessary ?

 

[Des 56]

I only ever worked via from referrals off other people,if a spark needs to advertise then either his work is not good enough to rely on this means or he has not been in the game long enough for referral work to sustain him

If I were asked for a detailed breakdown of a estimate,I would not do so,an overall price would be my stand and it would not interest me one bit if the customer required such,I would consider the recommendations he has been given as evidence of trustworthiness that the figure was reasonable

As far as Smoke alarms are concerned,as stated by others, they are not compulsory,however,they are highly recommended
The spark either has wrong information and is misguided or he is a con man trying to generate income

 

[bigspark17]

I think this electrician being branded "conman" is very harsh! I agree unless BC spec interlinked smoke alarms then they are not compulsilary on rewires. But for the life of me canot understand why people quible about such a simple life saving device. They are interlinked so if one goes off they all go off and alert the whole house they are mains powered with a battery back up & for £25 a head (plus labour & wiring) ish is rediculous not to put in. If i went to look at this job & the customer was adamant on not having them i would seriously think about not getting back with a quote! If theyre skimping on this what else will they skimp/ cut corners on!

 

[Andy78]

I strongly recommend hard wired smoke detectors on a rewire. I stop short of saying they are mandatory though as that is misleading. This does not mean your electrician is trying to con you though, he may be just ill informed.

On the face of it he is right that he is doing you a favour at that price, that's cheaper than my minimum price for a rewire on a 2 bed house. If the house is occupied while the rewire is going on then I would say it is ridiculously cheap.

 

[Octopus]

Whilst its NOT a requirement, common sense would say have them fitted......

 

[Pat H]

I'd find a new electrician. He's incorrect that its mandatory and if he's wrong there were else may he be wrong.
If he'd said he'd only do the job if they are included because that's his choice fair enough. But to mislead or be mistaken is different.

 

[Dave the spark]

£1900 for a 2 bedroom occupied house rewire, including a full smoke detection system is a great price.

What are you hoping to find in a breakdown of costs? Could understand you asking for that if the price was unreasonable but as it stands it is not.

He might be wrong regarding the legal need for them but even if you take them out of the equation that price is still very good.

Think of them as being a free addition to what you are paying for.