Honest Electricians in west London?

[londonflat]

Hi,

I've been scammed by several electricians recently and I was wondering if any of you guys know of any trustworthy, honest and qualified electricians in west london, near wandsworth?

 

[James]

what have been your problems so far?

 

[londonflat]

One removed half of my radio-connected fire alarms, so that i would be dependent on him coming back. He told me that the regulations state that fire alarms have to be 30cm from the wall and they need to be wired together as they are no radio connected. After he left, and took the head to each fire alarm, I could clearly see that they were all already radio-connected!

He also tried saying that it's illegal to have different manufacturer's fuses in the consumer unit. Not illegal, it's just that the manufacturers state you should use their own brand fuses.

Another electrician came out on a full day job to replace the lights. He took three hours 'assessing' then said he would have to come back another day but still charged me for the 'fixed day fee'. He also left a live wire exposed in the light switch.

Another came and said that the only way he could work on the flat is if a full electrical safety report was done firat, because it was 'illegal' for him to work on any apartment before there has been a safety test.

I must have muppet on my forehead or something. That's three electricians I've had the displeasure of doing business with.

All I want is for for the lights in the lounge to be rewired. The existing lights are connected to a dc transformer at the moment and I want AC lights, that require thicker wires.

Also need some sockets installing in a few rooms, some sockets moved a few inches up the wall in the kitchen, a bathroom fan replaced and a couple of other things.

 

[LukeD]

Regulation for smoke alarms are "They must meet manufactures specs for fitting" I am sure this is the ONLY regulation ??

 

[londonflat]

Yeah exactly, he played me for a fool. Charged me for a full day but did nothing. Anyone you can recommend?

 

[DPG]

The electrician was right - only the same manufacturers devices should be used in a consumer unit.

Don't quite understand what you mean with the smoke alarms, might just be me though.

 

[rewireIT]

Charged me for a full day but did nothing.

You say he did three hours assessing? What exactly did he assess? Was he testing and stuff?

 

[mainline]

The electrician was right - only the same manufacturers devices should be used in a consumer unit.

He wasn't right when he said Illegal, and for all we know they may have been the same manufacturer.

 

[DPG]

He wasn't right when he said Illegal, and for all we know they may have been the same manufacturer.

I thought the whole paragraph was what the electrician had said. Having re-read it I now realise it is partly the OP's comment.

I thought that was the point though - that the devices were different manufacturers?

To be honest some of the posts aren't very clear.

 

[Markyd]

Look them up on the national database and report them if you think you have been scammed

 

[Rockingit]

Your first two paragraphs tell me everything I need to know. Whilst I can’t condone any trade removing customer items from site, your first electrician was right. It IS a requirement of the vast majority of alarm manufacturers to install units greater than 300mm from an adjacent wall otherwise air circulation doesn’t work properly (whether they were or weren’t interconnected I’ll have to reserve judgement on as can’t actually see them) and ‘Manufacturers Type Testing’ along with a regulation in BS7671 does indeed specify that all CPD (aka fuses or breakers) fitted into a consumer unit need to be compatible with each other.

I suspect that the reason he/she might have safeguarded coming back to finish later was due to a vibe they got off the OP of being a pain in the arse client or possibly a payments issue. Subsequent electrician/s probably did a runner at the first opportunity when they were fed up hearing the OP slag off the previous one/s.

I’d suggest the OP does some attitude adjustment and then looks up a firm from the Approved Part P database, that’s existed for more than ten years.

 

[Risteard]

Your first two paragraphs tell me everything I need to know. Whilst I can’t condone any trade removing customer items from site, your first electrician was right. It IS a requirement of the vast majority of alarm manufacturers to install units greater than 300mm from an adjacent wall otherwise air circulation doesn’t work properly (whether they were or weren’t interconnected I’ll have to reserve judgement on as can’t actually see them) and ‘Manufacturers Type Testing’ along with a regulation in BS7671 does indeed specify that all CPD (aka fuses or breakers) fitted into a consumer unit need to be compatible with each other.

I suspect that the reason he/she might have safeguarded coming back to finish later was due to a vibe they got off the OP of being a pain in the arse client or possibly a payments issue. Subsequent electrician/s probably did a runner at the first opportunity when they were fed up hearing the OP slag off the previous one/s.

I’d suggest the OP does some attitude adjustment and then looks up a firm from the Approved Part P database, that’s existed for more than ten years.

Not only alarm manufacturers - it's a requirement of BS 5839.

I also don't understand removing life safety systems though before alteration/replacement.