sanity check for electrical services

[Travis Baldwin]

Hello all, first post but have enjoyed the forum for a while..

I am in Bristol and recently had an electrician do some work on my house - I want to sanity check the way this guy operated.

He did some tasks satisfactorily: Changed a room to a ring circuit, hooked up a second light switch for overheads, sorted out undercabinet lighting. Was about 2 man-days. For this he charged me £ 1300. Is that a reasonable amount.. £80ish/hr?

Second question: there was a wall switch PIR in the hallway he had a look at (was previously installed and stopped working during construction). He said it was wired all wrong, the earth was being used as the negative, and it was super dangerous. He took the PIR off the wall, and left the wires hanging out the wall with waygo connectors on the ends, then left it like that. Is that allowed?! I've been scared to do anything with it.

The last question: he said my fusebox was not up to regulation, after he had done all the work (ring circuit, etc). Said it would be a days worth of work and should be done, due to reg changes. I did not catch exactly what he said was needed but when I bought my house in 2011, this was not flagged as an issue. Is this typical? and if yes, what's a days work roughly go for with an electrician?

Thank you in advance!

Travis

 

[Travis Baldwin]

So I wanted to share an update... I've been in touch with the electrician and he says he won't give me a certificate of electrical work done. He said the wiring is a mess ( which to be clear, he left it a mess ... then the contractor who subcontracted him demanded payment for his work )

This appears like he doesn't want his name attached to what he's done at my house... or perhaps there's something wrong with my electrical system where he shouldn't have been working on it in the first place. I am feeling quite jerked around by this whole experience

I could seriously use some advice here from The Forum: how should I proceed?

When I get back in January the first thing I'm going to do is schedule another electrician to have a look at the work done.

I guess I should probably have a chat with citizens advice as well.

Any thoughts please?

 

[Rockingit]

So I wanted to share an update... I've been in touch with the electrician and he says he won't give me a certificate of electrical work done. He said the wiring is a mess ( which to be clear, he left it a mess ... then the contractor who subcontracted him demanded payment for his work )

This appears like he doesn't want his name attached to what he's done at my house... or perhaps there's something wrong with my electrical system where he shouldn't have been working on it in the first place. I am feeling quite jerked around by this whole experience

I could seriously use some advice here from The Forum: how should I proceed?

When I get back in January the first thing I'm going to do is schedule another electrician to have a look at the work done.

I guess I should probably have a chat with citizens advice as well.

Any thoughts please?

Drop me a DM - I've got a reason to come up to Bristol in Jan at some point (I'm south Somerset) and whilst I don't tend to do domestic anymore I'd be happy to look it over and advise if you'd like.

Money wise you're probably on to a looser if you've paid up already to a third party, but the work absolutely needs certifying - even if the cert is 30 pages of observations about issues.

 

[BiddeldyBwah]

So I wanted to share an update... I've been in touch with the electrician and he says he won't give me a certificate of electrical work done. He said the wiring is a mess ( which to be clear, he left it a mess ... then the contractor who subcontracted him demanded payment for his work )

This appears like he doesn't want his name attached to what he's done at my house... or perhaps there's something wrong with my electrical system where he shouldn't have been working on it in the first place. I am feeling quite jerked around by this whole experience

I could seriously use some advice here from The Forum: how should I proceed?

When I get back in January the first thing I'm going to do is schedule another electrician to have a look at the work done.

I guess I should probably have a chat with citizens advice as well.

Any thoughts please?

Me personally I name and shame these people. Put it out on social media in your area that he's rough and doesn't give the required documentation.

The money is probably the contractor taking £500 or something and giving the rest to the spark.

I've said this before on here and got ripped for it but i'm going to say it again: if you want to get what you pay for never ever let a builder or other contractor arrange electrical work for you. It will rocket the price and they're nothing but middlemen. In this day and age you can go straight to a scheme provider and find your own spark and get him to quote direct.

 

[DPG]

Me personally I name and shame these people. Put it out on social media in your area that he's rough and doesn't give the required documentation.

The money is probably the contractor taking £500 or something and giving the rest to the spark.

I've said this before on here and got ripped for it but i'm going to say it again: if you want to get what you pay for never ever let a builder or other contractor arrange electrical work for you. It will rocket the price and they're nothing but middlemen. In this day and age you can go straight to a scheme provider and find your own spark and get him to quote direct.

Just because a member is part of a scheme does NOT mean he is any good or will do a good job!! Many people get caught out like this.

 

[Travis Baldwin]

Drop me a DM - I've got a reason to come up to Bristol in Jan at some point (I'm south Somerset) and whilst I don't tend to do domestic anymore I'd be happy to look it over and advise if you'd like.

Money wise you're probably on to a looser if you've paid up already to a third party, but the work absolutely needs certifying - even if the cert is 30 pages of observations about issues.

Mate, that would be really amazing and I'd be happy to pay for your time. Will send you a DM

Regarding the futility about the payment made already - not it's not really about the money. I just want a certification if that's what'd normally done. And a clearly documented account of what he did under my hardwood floor, for anything in the future that comes up.

 

[Travis Baldwin]

Me personally I name and shame these people. Put it out on social media in your area that he's rough and doesn't give the required documentation.

The money is probably the contractor taking £500 or something and giving the rest to the spark.

I've said this before on here and got ripped for it but i'm going to say it again: if you want to get what you pay for never ever let a builder or other contractor arrange electrical work for you. It will rocket the price and they're nothing but middlemen. In this day and age you can go straight to a scheme provider and find your own spark and get him to quote direct.

The spark went on and on about all the tests he has to take to get certified each year... the changes in code, etc. Doesn't that mean he's accountable to some larger organization if he leaves a job a mess?

 

[Spoon]

So I wanted to share an update... I've been in touch with the electrician and he says he won't give me a certificate of electrical work done. He said the wiring is a mess ( which to be clear, he left it a mess ... then the contractor who subcontracted him demanded payment for his work )

Just to be clear, the cert you should get is purely for the work the electrician has done.
If he has changed a circuit to a ring then he should have tested it to see if it's ok. Same goes for the changes to the light circuit.

 

[Travis Baldwin]

Just to be clear, the cert you should get is purely for the work the electrician has done.
If he has changed a circuit to a ring then he should have tested it to see if it's ok. Same goes for the changes to the light circuit.

Ok, Understood.

This certification / documentation of what was done is going to be important if any issues come up in the future, and for any later work. Right now it's left a mess that I have to deal with.

--- So another question ---


So what's to keep an electrician from refusing to give any documentation (especially once he's paid)... and if he does give documentation, what's to prevent him from leaving out issues, especially if they were out of sight (like under a hardwood floor)?

 

[BiddeldyBwah]

Just because a member is part of a scheme does NOT mean he is any good or will do a good job!! Many people get caught out like this.

I didn't say it meant that - we all know it doesn't - just pointing out that getting various people to give you quotes directly instead of letting a middle man do it would be cheaper. A scheme provider is one way OP can do this. Recommendations is another. Finding reputable companies on trustpilot is another. And so on.

 

[BiddeldyBwah]

The spark went on and on about all the tests he has to take to get certified each year... the changes in code, etc. Doesn't that mean he's accountable to some larger organization if he leaves a job a mess?

Was he a member of a scheme like NICEIC or NAPIT?

 

[Travis Baldwin]

Was he a member of a scheme like NICEIC or NAPIT?

I do not have that information but have his name.. is there a way to look up members?

 

[BiddeldyBwah]

I do not have that information but have his name.. is there a way to look up members?

I'd call them and ask.

 

[Travis Baldwin]

Drop me a DM - I've got a reason to come up to Bristol in Jan at some point (I'm south Somerset) and whilst I don't tend to do domestic anymore I'd be happy to look it over and advise if you'd like.

Money wise you're probably on to a looser if you've paid up already to a third party, but the work absolutely needs certifying - even if the cert is 30 pages of observations about issues.

Hi Rocking it.. any chance I could ask you to pop by my house if you're in Bristol? Would sincerely appreciate your assessment of the situation.

 

[Rockingit]

Hi Rocking it.. any chance I could ask you to pop by my house if you're in Bristol? Would sincerely appreciate your assessment of the situation.

Sure, I'll pick up where we left off in our DM's

 

[baldelectrician]

You can look the electrician up online

Competent Persons Register | Home

Competent person schemes (CPS) were introduced by the Government to allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations.

www.competentperson.co.uk

Also you can look up the NICEIC directly at Homepage NICEIC - https://www.niceic.com/