Would you finish another person's work

[MrNotaSparky]

Hi all been reading on this forum for a while and you all seem a friendly bunch I am a DIY enthusiast (Hate that) but it is what I am been messing or medaling around with electrics since I was a kid should really have studied it and took up the craft anyhow hi all. I do have a question Is asking an electrician to make good the ends at a DB on a circuit already in place, no points for guessing who installed it!! to commission and certify the said circuits albeit not all of his own work an acceptable thing to do?? Thinking that my tender for this business would be laughed and scoffed at I thought I would ask you guys first and If you were to take on the work would the fact that the bulk of the work was in place (assuming it was up to scratch and followed regs) dramatically decrease your quote?. Dave (NotaSparky)

 

[Ed Evans]

Very important. A good friend of mine is VERY competent and in the process of wiring his son's large property extension, over quite a time period. I get a regular call to go round and check, thoroughly, that everything is up to scratch.

Sorry, but if he is competent why can't he do this himself? This is a question not sarcasm.

 

[ipf]

Sorry, but if he is competent why can't he do this himself? This is a question not sarcasm.

Basic. He's not qualified to....in HIS and my opinion.
Who's going to provide, complete and sign the completion certificate.
The word 'competent' can be used in many ways. A 'competent' DIYer is not a 'competent' electrician. It depends what you're competent to do.
I'm competent to do a fry up but I'm not a cordon bleu chef.
If you're gonna do it, do it right.

 

[pc1966]

The word 'competent' can be used in many ways. A 'competent' DIYer is not a 'competent' electrician. It depends what you're competent to do.

It sounds like his work is like a good aprentice - able to do the work to a high enough standard where instructed, but not able to specify/test it.

But you also get cases where is is simply one of being approved (i.e. officially recognised) for sign-off even though the person doing actually has the knowledge/experience/tools to do the work.

In all cases the simple solution is to find someone who is competent to sign off and get them involved early on so they are comfortable that they can sign off on the work as they know it meets an adequate standard of design and implementation.

Just last month I paid £600 for a service/MOT/related repair on my car. So the sort of amount discussed here for a CU change and related testing is nothing unusual and simply a reflection of the skill and effort involved.

 

[MrNotaSparky]

Very average prices for a consumer unit upgrade and full inspection. I'd be charging you about £600-700 for both of those services combined. That would be before any remedial work if needed. That price would be what I charged any customer so would not be inflated through any DIYer tax you may have suspicions of.

My advice would be to get three quotes and choose the one you get the best feeling of getting along with. It would be my advice to be totally honest upfront about your work as covering it up usually leads to more time spent getting to the nub of things.

Many thanks Andy78 appreciate the advice.

 

[Zerax]

A 'competent' DIYer is not a 'competent' electrician.

IMHO... I think competent is competent, regardless of whether you're working in your own home doing it, or earning a living doing it.

Often the difference is down to how quickly you do it... I'm competent to build a brick wall, but it would take me all day to do what a professional bricky would do in an few hours !

 

[MrNotaSparky]

All may well until you come to sell the property. Buyers solicitors always require proper certification of any electrical work and (particularly) and work that requires notification. ie new circuits, new consumer units and electrical work in certain areas (bathrooms etc).
They will want to see that the work has been correctly notified to the local authority.

Thats where you will come under the scrutiny of an official body, and the law (notification of some electrical work is as much a legal requirement, as installing a gas boiler).

There are rumours of a purchaser being able to buy some sort of insurance indemnity policy in cases where installation work has not been properly documented, but I'd run away from a house where the vendor had such a cavalier attitude.

Now, I'm going to declare an interest here. To be a trained electrician and to carry out, and notify works I went to night school for three years while trying to keep another job going, underwent further training for design and testing, I pay hundreds of pounds a year to a competent persons scheme as well as having to keep some very expensive equipment calibrated and certified as such.

I have no truck with DIYers who want to find wrangles round the correct way to do things.

I whole heartedly agree with you Taylortwocities, but the difference between you studying to be where you are now and me is all I want is one of YOU guys to look at what has been done so far examine the process involved getting there which can all be seen and examined finish the ends when installing a new DB and certificate I if I were one of the DIYers looking to find a wrangle around the correct way of doing things I would have done it by now without coming here or putting out my tender for an electrician. No offence intended.

 

[ipf]

IMHO... I think competent is competent, regardless of whether you're working in your own home doing it, or earning a living doing it.

Often the difference is down to how quickly you do it... I'm competent to build a brick wall, but it would take me all day to do what a professional bricky would do in an few hours !

What if a person is competent to install but NOT competent to use electrical test equipment correctly due to lack of knowledge or comprehension. It's something that occurs, on numerous occasions, within the trade.
People can carry out tasks well but that doesn't mean they understand exactly what they are doing.

 

[Zerax]

What if a person is competent to install but NOT competent to use electrical test equipment correctly due to lack of knowledge or comprehension. It's something that occurs, on numerous occasions, within the trade.
People can carry out tasks well but that doesn't mean they understand exactly what they are doing.

I meant competent to do 'Task A' whatever that is... so I'm comparing apples with apples. But yeah... I agree... often people wrote learn the technique to do something (the 'How') without knowing the 'Why'... but this can happen whether you're qualified or not.