- Reaction score
- 230
Hi Ner123ak,
I've just read this thread from start to finish and felt compelled to write my first post. I'm glad you've decided to get a proper electrician in to inspect and test the work, and someone from this forum may well be able to help.
Having been on the other side of the fence not too long ago, I know that part of the issue for people getting electrical work done is that they don't know how to find a decent electrician. Recommendations from others can be helpful but even then, if the person making the recommendation does not know anything about electrical installation work themselves then their recommendations are often based on one or more of the following (worse case scenarios in brackets):
"the price was good" (essential stuff could have been neglected due to ignorance or to cut costs e.g. correctly rated cable or accessories, proper testing)
"the work looked tidy" (doesn't mean it is appropriate for the use it has been put to)
"the electrican was nice and very helpful" (most people are when they want your money)
"the electrican has been working for X years" (I recently saw an advert on a builder comparison website I shall not name where the most popular electrician on there in my area under qualifications said "fully qualified to the 16th edition" - I am hoping that was either unintentionally misleading or just a typo as the 17th edition came into force in 2008 and the 3rd amendment to that has recently been published)
Although these things are important the crucial parts are often missed because consumers dont know what they should be looking for e.g.
1) what qualifications do they have?
2) If it is notifiable work under the building regulations* are they a registered competent person?
Regarding 2), you can find out if the company you have been using belongs to a competent person scheme by searching the company name on:
Home
Unfortunately, this alone will not tell you whether the person that company sent out was competent to do the work they are doing (as from the pictures and what you have told us they clearly are not), but it will tell you which scheme provider you can report them to. Unfortunately, most of the complaints procedures do not guarentee you a lot (and virtually nothing if you've got no contract in place). That said, from looking at the work it looks highly unlikely that the "electrician" that has been to do work on your installation is part of a company that belongs to a scheme anyway (not that the people working for companies belonging to schemes are automatically competent as many on this forum would be quick to tell you, but they are normally a bit better than the work you have shown pictures of implies).
Regarding 1), I'd ask for proof of a level three electrical qualification, and preferably a relevant NVQ. One way of possibly avoiding having to ask this of a load of random electricians is by sourcing an electrician directly from a scheme providers website (and choosing the right option when doing so). For example on the Napit site (NAPIT Consumer Search) you will hopefully get someone with an NVQ if you search using only the electrical certifier option (other Napit members may be less qualified). If you used the NICEIC site (NICEIC), you might want to only get quotes from people who are approved contractors (as you are again more likely to get someone with an NVQ). Again though, this isn't fullproof (unless they are a soletrader) as the qualified person who enabled the company to become an approved contractor may not be the person sent out to you (so ask what qualifications the person coming out to you has). Other scheme providers I am aware of include Elecsa (who are owned by the people that own NICEIC), Stroma and BSI (but I don't know how you go about finding electricians from the latter two or what qualifications they will have).
Hope that helps.
*Notifiable work under the building regulations (e.g. work that must be reported to your local authority building control) includes any completely new circuits or any work - other than like for like replacements - within 2.25m from floor level and 0.6m of the edge of your bath/shower - see here for more detail on the scope of this)
I've just read this thread from start to finish and felt compelled to write my first post. I'm glad you've decided to get a proper electrician in to inspect and test the work, and someone from this forum may well be able to help.
Having been on the other side of the fence not too long ago, I know that part of the issue for people getting electrical work done is that they don't know how to find a decent electrician. Recommendations from others can be helpful but even then, if the person making the recommendation does not know anything about electrical installation work themselves then their recommendations are often based on one or more of the following (worse case scenarios in brackets):
"the price was good" (essential stuff could have been neglected due to ignorance or to cut costs e.g. correctly rated cable or accessories, proper testing)
"the work looked tidy" (doesn't mean it is appropriate for the use it has been put to)
"the electrican was nice and very helpful" (most people are when they want your money)
"the electrican has been working for X years" (I recently saw an advert on a builder comparison website I shall not name where the most popular electrician on there in my area under qualifications said "fully qualified to the 16th edition" - I am hoping that was either unintentionally misleading or just a typo as the 17th edition came into force in 2008 and the 3rd amendment to that has recently been published)
Although these things are important the crucial parts are often missed because consumers dont know what they should be looking for e.g.
1) what qualifications do they have?
2) If it is notifiable work under the building regulations* are they a registered competent person?
Regarding 2), you can find out if the company you have been using belongs to a competent person scheme by searching the company name on:
Home
Unfortunately, this alone will not tell you whether the person that company sent out was competent to do the work they are doing (as from the pictures and what you have told us they clearly are not), but it will tell you which scheme provider you can report them to. Unfortunately, most of the complaints procedures do not guarentee you a lot (and virtually nothing if you've got no contract in place). That said, from looking at the work it looks highly unlikely that the "electrician" that has been to do work on your installation is part of a company that belongs to a scheme anyway (not that the people working for companies belonging to schemes are automatically competent as many on this forum would be quick to tell you, but they are normally a bit better than the work you have shown pictures of implies).
Regarding 1), I'd ask for proof of a level three electrical qualification, and preferably a relevant NVQ. One way of possibly avoiding having to ask this of a load of random electricians is by sourcing an electrician directly from a scheme providers website (and choosing the right option when doing so). For example on the Napit site (NAPIT Consumer Search) you will hopefully get someone with an NVQ if you search using only the electrical certifier option (other Napit members may be less qualified). If you used the NICEIC site (NICEIC), you might want to only get quotes from people who are approved contractors (as you are again more likely to get someone with an NVQ). Again though, this isn't fullproof (unless they are a soletrader) as the qualified person who enabled the company to become an approved contractor may not be the person sent out to you (so ask what qualifications the person coming out to you has). Other scheme providers I am aware of include Elecsa (who are owned by the people that own NICEIC), Stroma and BSI (but I don't know how you go about finding electricians from the latter two or what qualifications they will have).
Hope that helps.
*Notifiable work under the building regulations (e.g. work that must be reported to your local authority building control) includes any completely new circuits or any work - other than like for like replacements - within 2.25m from floor level and 0.6m of the edge of your bath/shower - see here for more detail on the scope of this)
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