I have not been paid, what shall I do

[e-spark]

Hello, I am a self-employed electrician who has carried out work for a pub/club in my area. I did not do a contract. It’s been nearly 2 years and he has not paid me. He owes me over £5000. I tried seeking advice and somebody suggested that I go on-line to claim through MCOL on GOV.UK site. Apparently it is the cheapest option. It says on the online-document, before a claim is made I need to follow an pre-action protocol. The pre-action protocol booklet that I downloaded confused me. Can someone please tell me which steps I can take.

What I have so far,

I have messages between me and him regarding the work.

I have taken pictures.

My Scheme assessor came to look at the work and I have an assessment report to that address.

I have completed an Electrical installation Certificate.

check your insurance, i have legal cover on my insurance and they will go after none payers. As long as you have all the communication details you have a good case.

 

[Deleted account]

What was your plan for notifying building control?

if you are not registered with a registration body and you are doing notifiable works you really should have arranged third party notification prior to works starting.

id also have informed the customer and made it clear this was the case.


a bit of devils advocate here.
im not saying you shouldn’t get paid,
but if I was a customer who has an electrician working for me,
And I find that the domestic works need notifying,
and I find that the electrician working for me is not able to notify because they are not registered,
And they have made no provision for notification.
I would believe I would have legitimate concerns as I would expect notification as part of the works as standard.

 

[brianmoooore]

What was your plan for notifying building control?

if you are not registered with a registration body and you are doing notifiable works you really should have arranged third party notification prior to works starting.

Check the OP's location. There's a clue in his username.

 

[Deleted account]

Check the OP's location. There's a clue in his username.

Northern Ireland. I thought Northern Ireland was part of Uk thus same regs applied.

is it different in Northern Ireland?
are there not registration schemes?
Do you not have to notify domestic?

 

[Mike Johnson]

Inform them that you are going to apply to a Court Bailiff to re-claim your materials, should concentrate the mind a little. ?

 

[Risteard]

Northern Ireland. I thought Northern Ireland was part of Uk thus same regs applied.

is it different in Northern Ireland?
are there not registration schemes?
Do you not have to notify domestic?

They're not UK Building Regulations though - they're different in each jurisdiction. (As I understand it, even England & Wales have differences between them.)

 

[baldelectrician]

Northern Ireland. I thought Northern Ireland was part of Uk thus same regs applied.

is it different in Northern Ireland?
are there not registration schemes?
Do you not have to notify domestic?

I live in Scotland and part P brought electrics in to the building regs (for dwellings) in England / Wales circa 2004.

Scotland has had some form of control for electrics in the building regs since 1959 (replaced by the Building [Scotland Act 2003]), so it is different in other parts of the UK

Back to the OP>
A few points;
Inform him that you are qualified and competent but are not registered with NICIEC / ECA currently
Is the house unoccupied (if yes then there is no cooling off law to apply)?

If it is unoccupied (when the deal was made) then you have dodged a bullet.

In your circumstances I would point out that

• He supplied the materials (re missing consumer unit blanks) and failed to get them despite you letting him know
• You left the main switch off with a wire loop through the isolator (making someone put it only by cutting a wire = using a tool)
• Send him a certificate (unsigned and marked draft as noted earlier)
• Let him know you wish to complete the job and would like the opportunity to
• Let him know you will invoice for time and materials used if he decides against the last point
• Point out this may be higher than the original estimate as he has changed the job
• Send a copy of your grade card which proves your compotence
• DO NOT PHONE HIM
• All communication by email (use letter saved as a pdf)
• Back up with snail mail and proof of postage (not signed for as he can refuse it)
• Remember to charge for things that he has not supplied (rawlplugs / screws / clips etc) - these may be buried in the building structure and let him know you will seek these items back at court if it goes that far. I know of a joiner who got nearly bumped doing a bar and got his money (client supplied materials) when he said he would ask for his wood glue and fixings back- this was holding the finished bar together. Guy paid up quick.

Learn from this and have a contract / terms and conditions

 

[BLBelfast]

Speaking in general terms, and not insinuating anything about this particular case or the OP.
When a tradesman performs unsatisfactory work, you cannot employ someone to do remedial work, expecting the tradesman to pay, without first giving him the chance to do the remedials himself.

Speaking in general terms, and not insinuating anything about this particular case or the OP.
When a tradesman performs unsatisfactory work, you cannot employ someone to do remedial work, expecting the tradesman to pay, without first giving him the chance to do the remedials

What was your plan for notifying building control?

if you are not registered with a registration body and you are doing notifiable works you really should have arranged third party notification prior to works starting.

id also have informed the customer and made it clear this was the case.


a bit of devils advocate here.
im not saying you shouldn’t get paid,
but if I was a customer who has an electrician working for me,
And I find that the domestic works need notifying,
and I find that the electrician working for me is not able to notify because they are not registered,
And they have made no provision for notification.
I would believe I would have legitimate concerns as I would expect notification as part of the works as standard.

Completely understand where you are coming from but as has been mentioned here in NI there is no such registrations needed. If there was I would be registered before trading. Also at no time was anything asked, even if the customer was confused and assumed this as well.

 

[BLBelfast]

Northern Ireland. I thought Northern Ireland was part of Uk thus same regs applied.

is it different in Northern Ireland?
are there not registration schemes?
Do you not have to notify domestic?

Strangely not at all. Obviously if something goes wrong would have to prove competency. We have a huge issue with the bathrooms and kitchen companies doing their own work.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I don't know if you have the equivalent of the "Joint Contract Tribunal" in NI, but the JCT form of contract would be the reference for any Judge/Magistrate/Arbitrator sitting on the case if it came to that, get a copy of the small works form and use its clause's (without reference) when writing to the customer.

As @brianmooooore mentions in post 105 that is a clause in the JCT form of contract.

 

[Deleted account]

Strangely not at all. Obviously if something goes wrong would have to prove competency. We have a huge issue with the bathrooms and kitchen companies doing their own work.

Thanks for the info.
your quote “strangely not at all” is strange indeed.

really surprised by this.

your customer is either thinking what I thought regarding uk and NI regs cross over or he just doesn’t want to pay.

Post 112 @baldelectrician got pretty good advice summed up perfectly.

good luck.

 

[BLBelfast]

Thanks for the info.
your quote “strangely not at all” is strange indeed.

really surprised by this.

your customer is either thinking what I thought regarding uk and NI regs cross over or he just doesn’t want to pay.

Post 112 @baldelectrician got pretty good advice summed up perfectly.

good luck.

Thanks. If he was thinking the same at no stage did he ask till he had to make a final payment and the house was basically complete. Which seems to me like a stitch up. I would also assume if you had genuine concerns you would speak to the contractor instead of just radio silence and refusing to pay

 

[cloverman]

A little off topic here, But wasn't Sparksafe set up in NI to try and clean up the electrical industry with regards to practicing electricians ? Perhaps I mis - understood their intention. Or again was that just a voluntary thing ?

 

[nicebutdim]

From their website:

"Only those Electrical Contractors who complete Pre-Qualification Questionnaires for Government Construction contracts are required to register. The LtP Initiative applies to all appropriate NI Government construction contracts from 1 February 2016."

 

[cloverman]

Thanks ! having reread the topic Risteard mentioned something along those lines for government contracts