Signing off others work

[Luke105]

So what I have done before is I have designed the install, you put where you want the sockets, I mark out all the chases, I say what boxes I want, I tell you what screws to use and grommets.. You cut all the chases and fit all the back boxes.. I then with you run in all the cables, you do all the capping (I then test), and fill the chases.. If you are competent ill let you do some of the second fixing but leave like the sockets off and ill check before letting you screw them back, then I test and certify, only I do the board...

This can save a lot of money by working with a sparky and I personally don't see the difference between that and having an apprentice or someone work with me..

I have worked with people who have said they have done "part P" and are 17th or 18th edition qualified and they do really basic things wrong like diagonal chases..

Your big danger if you go down the route of building control is if they find any issues or anything they don't like you either have to try and find the fault/fix it or redo parts of it..

The alternative is don't buy the house if you can't afford the house and to make it safe, sorry to be harsh but I am guessing its cheap because it needs things like a rewire... Bottom line though to answer your question no self respecting sparky is going to want anything to do with signing off your work, its just too much risk for basically no reward... Your asking someone to sign to say they designed it, constructed it and tested it and take all that responsibility when they didn't do it... Much better to work with the electrician so you do the grunt work, will still not be cheap but then a rewire will never be cheap, especially with the price of materials at the moment.

I’m happy to do what you’ve said with the chasing first fix, plastering after etc. i would not be running diagonal chases. I don’t know how I’d approach this though with an electrician.

Do I ring one up to come and see the job and explain I want to do the monkey work?

Yes the house was top end of our budget but the road it’s on is way out of our budget…..so taking the rough with the smooth.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Which begs the question what ever happened to 3rd Party Certification ?

Wasn't this the big next thing where you could do a job , ring up a company and for a small fee sign off the job

 

[Luke105]

Going back a few years but after I left my cards in job and went self employed I couldn't be bothered to join a scam initially so paid an old mate who was NIC to notify my part pee work. On one occasion he was away or something and I needed to notify a job so I ran the BC and they passed me around a bit but in the end accepted an EICR and passed the job for no additional fee ( it was a big extension + new board ) so the BC had already been paid by the home owner for the build part of the job.

But back to the OP , if I moved into a new house and it urgently needed a full re-wire I would just do the re-wire ad to hell with notifying it to the BC. Its my house and I will do what I want.

Well that’s another point. The rewire is stopping most the other work being done. So when we get the keys the work does need to start immediately.

I think eicr may be the best option in my situation. Or the board change scenario.

 

[littlespark]

Will the LABC actually check?
Put yourself down as design and construction, your mate as tester. They don’t have to be the same person.

Are you employed as a spark? Is there someone in the company that could help?

 

[LukeD]

Going back a few years but after I left my cards in job and went self employed I couldn't be bothered to join a scam initially so paid an old mate who was NIC to notify my part pee work. On one occasion he was away or something and I needed to notify a job so I ran the BC and they passed me around a bit but in the end accepted an EICR and passed the job for no additional fee ( it was a big extension + new board ) so the BC had already been paid by the home owner for the build part of the job.

But back to the OP , if I moved into a new house and it urgently needed a full re-wire I would just do the re-wire ad to hell with notifying it to the BC. Its my house and I will do what I want.

THis !!! If you are super happy to carry out the work. Crack on and tell no one . When you come to sell etc etc deny touching it .If you need to let , get a EICR done (So any work you do must pass this !)

 

[Luke105]

THis !!! If you are super happy to carry out the work. Crack on and tell no one . When you come to sell etc etc deny touching it .If you need to let , get a EICR done (So any work you do must pass this !)

I think I’ve sorted this now. Someone is willing to design and inspect at 1st 2nd then test and certify.

That will save me some £

Thanks all

 

[mattg4321]

Reality is you can do what you like in your own place to a certain extent as no one will know. Fit your own electrics or gas boiler if you want! How do you know it’s safe though? Do you have the correct test equipment and know how to use it? I suspect not, but I can understand your predicament.

Personally I won’t touch anything that has involved cables run or connected by DIYers. Too much aggro for me.

What I would entertain is customer chasing walls and lifting floorboards leaving me free to do the electrical work. This would probably halve the amount of time I would be on site IF done properly. The reality is that most (not all) diyers cock up the chasing and have no idea which boards to lift and which joists to drill so I can crack on. I would only entertain this type of job on a day rate.

 

[ipf]

But back to the OP , if I moved into a new house and it urgently needed a full re-wire I would just do the re-wire ad to hell with notifying it to the BC. Its my house and I will do what I want.

I'm with you there....but you're a qualified spark. The O/P is in the trade and has some knowledge.
What if any 'informed' diy'er or cowboy does it?

 

[Dustydazzler]

I'm with you there....but you're a qualified spark.
What if any 'informed' diy'er or cowboy does it?

I would suggest they get some assistance from a sparks

In the same way I would suggest they get some assistance from a builder if they were knocking out an internal wall

 

[Dustydazzler]

Reality is you can do what you like in your own place to a certain extent as no one will know. Fit your own electrics or gas boiler if you want! How do you know it’s safe though? Do you have the correct test equipment and know how to use it? I suspect not, but I can understand your predicament.

Personally I won’t touch anything that has involved cables run or connected by DIYers. Too much aggro for me.

What I would entertain is customer chasing walls and lifting floorboards leaving me free to do the electrical work. This would probably halve the amount of time I would be on site IF done properly. The reality is that most (not all) diyers cock up the chasing and have no idea which boards to lift and which joists to drill so I can crack on. I would only entertain this type of job on a day rate.

I would consider doing re-wires again if all home owners lifted the carpets , removed the chip board floora and bashed out the boxes for me in advance

 

[ipf]

I would suggest they get some assistance from a sparks

In the same way I would suggest they get some assistance from a builder if they were knocking out an internal wall

Suggesting and doing are quite different though. With all the crap around it certainly shows they do it.

 

[Vortigern]

Reading through the above I just wanted to add my 2p worth. It may be hard for the OP to see a clear and definite answer to his proposal so I thought I would just chime in. The way it works for Third Party Notification is that the electrician has to design and supervise the work proposed. As the work progresses he must test the cabling etc. to ensure the "dead tests" comply with BS7671. He also must ensure that all specs. are adhered to. On the second fix he must do initial verifications by the way of dead tests then live tests and issue a certificate (EIC) for the work in question.
As a scheme member he must also possess that particular competency i.e. TPN. The schemes I have been with require us to issue a special certificate which they provide. It is quite a pfaff to do this. So your problem is to find a scheme member who has this competency, and then find one who will agree to TPN. The odds of doing that are quite high against it. I like the idea of approaching Building Control Direct as put forward by @James, This is the easiest and most trouble free route. The idea you can just use any electrician is not quite the whole story as you may see from the above.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Any electricians 'can' adopt the job as their own and sign it off as such , but trying to find one who will adopt a job for effectively a stranger won't be easy.

The NIC guy who I used for around 18 months to notify my work for me was an old friend who I worked with for about 6 or 7 years so he would just do the 'sign off' and notify for me for a beer without having to come and see the job

 

[IanDIYspark]

I rewired my house after getting an extension built. Now fusebox, wiring, accessories etc. Got an EICR done by an approved electrician, passed, no issues. Electrician was happy to sign off the work as it all passed to the lated regs

 

[littlespark]

He didn’t sign off the work…. He did a report on the condition of the installation.
Not the same thing as third party certification of an EIC