Evening all, I live in Guildford and I’m currently undertaking a full renovation on my home. Unfortunately I’m in a difficult situation as the electrician that was working on the house is now out of action due to ill health. A shame because we got on well and I learned a lot from him and I hope he recovers soon. Unfortunately I now need an electrician to take over and finish, my electrician was kind enough to write me the below list of things to be completed for my new electrician to have a sense of what needs doing. I’ve spoken with 2 local electricians today and neither of them are willing to undertake the work and sign off another’s work, which I can understand but where does this leave someone like me in this situation? The house hasn’t had a full rewire, mainly a new CU, relocation of a few sockets and changing light pendants for spotlights in the hall and bathroom, about 3 days work so far. Can any qualified electricians offer any advice on what I can do now and would it be unreasonable for another electrician to take over here? Have I been unlucky with very cautious electricians or is this more common than I think it is? We only have the cooker ring working so living in the house is quite difficult at the moment. I can keep ringing round local electricians but am I just wasting my time? Any help or guidance is great at fully received. Tasks to be completed: ⁃ RCBOs to be fitted on final circuits ⁃ Second fix kitchen ⁃ Heating stat is in studwork to right of chimney breast in dining ⁃ Bonding ⁃ Connect heating in loft, was unable to do prior as heating system wasn’t ready ⁃ Investigate switch in kitchen as was moved ⁃ Sort joints out that need doing ⁃ Mirror feeds need bringing out in bathroom - connect spots in hallway and bathroom and extractor - lighting in downstairs wc to be investigated.
You should ask your original electrician to contact his trade body, assuming he is a member of one, to ask for advice. They may be able to help you identify a solution. As we don’t know all the specifics of your contractual situation all we would be doing is guessing on a course of action.
Thanks for your quick response. Unfortunately he isn’t contactable at the moment as he’s in hospital. Might sound a silly question, is there a register of qualified electricians where I might be able to find that out by searching his name or company name? Otherwise I feel like my only option is to cast the net wider and keep calling electricians till I find one that is willing, but with the current high demand, I’m concerned I might be employ someone that ‘needs the work’ and might not be competent.
Try entering the electrician's postcode into this search tool. It will show you which scheme he is part of: https://www.electricalcompetentperson.co.uk/Search
This is a great tool! I’ve searched his postcode but his company isn’t coming up, not even his address, but lots of other local electricians which could be useful. Maybe it’s an old address of his on an invoice or something. I don’t actually know where he lives so can’t be 100% sure.
If he has a limited company you can try companies house : search for company name or his name as a director. That will yield the registered address you can also search on the link above for company name.
I wouldn't have a problem with this, I would start by doing an EICR of the situation as it is at present, then continue the works issuing EICs / MWCs for the aspects I carried out. Done it that way before with no problems, it's just the same as we would do for a premises with no paperwork.
I did think of that but can’t seem to find his.I’ve searched his name and his company and neither brings up the results that I would expect.
Thank you, that is reassuring. From an accountability perspective, as an electrician can you make it known to the relevant authorities what you are and are not responsible for installation wise but are deeming it safe overall? Obviously you can’t see necessarily what an electrician has done before you but surely that’s the situation when you walk into any domestic situation.
I don’t actually have an invoice from him yet as he went into hospital quite unexpectedly. I have told him to let me know what I own him and how I can pay him for the great work he did, but I haven’t heard back for a while now
Tbh if you cannot trace him then he may not be registered at all. I would not rush to pay him just in case your new sparks has to re do the work
Its basically the same as going into a 1990s house to do a load of alterations, but with no existing paperwork. The EICR confirms the status of whats in place and highlights any faults, then the EICs and MWCs (which are only issued for the works then done) confirm everything done is correct. In both cases there are agreed limitations, on the EICR it will state that concealed wiring is not inspected, so I would not be taking liability for work I could not reasonably see. In the end, you will end up with a pile of certificates that confirm the pre existing wiring is safe (insofar as can be seen) and certificates for individual aspects of the installation - whilst not ideal, and messy - it will satisfy any need in selling later on. No one can issue a certificate (ie installation certificate) for the work already done, so short of ripping out and starting again, thats the option you have. It would have been helpful if your spark had given you not only a list, but his notes on test results so far, that would give me a bit more confidence - is he in hospital or has he just done a runner because it was all going pete tong??
something like this? I was with him when he tested it and he talked me through it. He wrote all his result next to the CU, said it was good practice and for future reference. I’m pretty sure he’s in hospital, he sent me a photo from his hospital bed!
As Happy Builder has implied, the maths doesn’t work. Are the rest of his results any more accurate I wonder! He has also written “book values” for TNS and TNC-S too, so he hasn’t a clue what the earthing system is. Not a good start (or end).