Help needed to review quality of distributer box installation

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Isaac k

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Hi everyone,

I just had my distributer box upgraded to an RCD box, and I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the quality of the work done here. I know that changing these boxes is a nightmare to do, and truth be told our wiring was a mess before, but for the price we payed I don't believe there should be electrical tape and exposed wires coming out of the box. Also you can see the housing for the old night electricity box which they have decided to leave and they also chose not to cover the channel with all the exposed wires. I'm just curious to see what this forum's take is on this work, and if it was worth the £700 I payed for it.

Thanks!

(This is my first post, so if I am in the wrong category I apologise)
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Just read the price... holy cow! I'd have been more like £350 to change a consumer unit (that's 1 day plus materials and the assumption there were no other things that needed attention).

As I say.. have you paid them?

Have you got any paperwork from them in the form of an Electrical Installation Certificate?
 
SparkyChick said:
Only a few words...

Shockingly bad, truly shocking.

Have you paid the person who did this? If not, do not until it is finished to an acceptable standard which that is not!
Click to expand...
Totally agree with SC on this, a total cowboy lash up, hope you haven't paid this bloke yet, although by the tone of post you already have, any certificates issued? was the Herbert who did this registered with any Competent Persons Scheme, NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, STROMA to name a few?
 
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SparkyChick said:
Just read the price... holy cow! I'd have been more like £350 to change a consumer unit (that's 1 day plus materials and the assumption there were no other things that needed attention).

As I say.. have you paid them?

Have you got any paperwork from them in the form of an Electrical Installation Certificate?
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for replying!
No, I have not paid yet as I was fairly confident that this was not good work. The electrition that did the work was self employed and did not issue any sort of paperwork. Any advice on where to go from here?
Thanks for replying!
 
as you have not paid as yet, then do not pay anything. get another sparks to check it over and give you a price to put it right, and estimate on what the job should have cost. then you have a good standpoint to argue with original spark. tbh, that abortion is worse than even a plumber would do.
 
Isaac k said:
Hi, thanks for replying!
No, I have not paid yet as I was fairly confident that this was not good work. The electrition that did the work was self employed and did not issue any sort of paperwork. Any advice on where to go from here?
Thanks for replying!
Click to expand...

For the record... it was not an electrician who did this. It was a chancer who think's he 'can do electrics'.

Do not pay him, @telectrix is spot on, and I would possibly consider reporting him to trading standards as he should not be allowed to do this anywhere else.
 
Isaac k said:
Hi, thanks for replying!
No, I have not paid yet as I was fairly confident that this was not good work. The electrition that did the work was self employed and did not issue any sort of paperwork. Any advice on where to go from here?
Thanks for replying!
Click to expand...
For one don't pay him, is there any way you can check out his registration, did he use a Van or did he use a private car, if a van was used did it have any decals on it saying if he was a member of any Scheme? if he isn't registered I guess your only option would be to go to Trading Standards and take advice from them, good jo you haven't paid up, if you speak to him, ask for an Electrical Installation Certificate EIC (as sparkychick mentioned) as technically the job isn't finished until a cert is issued, good luck, and sorry, welcome to the forum.
 
@Pete999

He is the owner of his company and I recall him saying he is not a member of any scheme. He told me that in Scotland it is not required. I also just looked at his website and it seems to have good reviews, but I don't see any badge or anything.
 
Isaac k said:
@Pete999

He is the owner of his company and I recall him saying he is not a member of any scheme. He told me that in Scotland it is not required. I also just looked at his website and it seems to have good reviews, but I don't see any badge or anything.
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Thanks, the Trading Standards will be your best bet Issac, good luck please if you can let us know the outcome, can you give us a link to his web page?
 
reviews may be from his wife/girlfriend/
Isaac k said:
@Pete999

He is the owner of his company and I recall him saying he is not a member of any scheme. He told me that in Scotland it is not required. I also just looked at his website and it seems to have good reviews, but I don't see any badge or anything.
Click to expand...
reviws mean nowt could be from wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/rab.c nesbitt.
 
OP could always pay my air fare and 5* hotel for me to come up to Glasgow and give a verdict. still have change from the £700.:D:D:D.
 
unfortunately, being an avid viewer of Aircrash Investigation, i will not fly in an aluminium coffin where some spotty young boil in the bag airline pilot sits up front. if i was piloting the contraption, at least if it crashed, it would be my own fault.
 
Isaac k said:
Hi, thanks for replying!
No, I have not paid yet as I was fairly confident that this was not good work. The electrition that did the work was self employed and did not issue any sort of paperwork. Any advice on where to go from here?
Thanks for replying!
Click to expand...
Tell him to either get his butt back and sort it or get someone else to sort it and pay him for the materials only
 
Isaac k said:
Hi everyone,

I just had my distributer box upgraded to an RCD box, and I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the quality of the work done here. I know that changing these boxes is a nightmare to do, and truth be told our wiring was a mess before, but for the price we payed I don't believe there should be electrical tape and exposed wires coming out of the box. Also you can see the housing for the old night electricity box which they have decided to leave and they also chose not to cover the channel with all the exposed wires. I'm just curious to see what this forum's take is on this work, and if it was worth the £700 I payed for it.

Thanks!

(This is my first post, so if I am in the wrong category I apologise)
View attachment 45054

View attachment 45055
Click to expand...
Is that supposed to be finished?
 
Wow, I've seen worse but that does make the hall of shame alright..


It’s not up to standard but you’ve got that already, first of all did you get a written quotation for the work ?. find out if he’s registered , ask him if it’s not obvious on his website. (most likely not), I'm sure in Scotland you need to do something similar to Part P of the building regulations( which requires notification to building control in England and wales) ,

Contractually he has offered to do some work for you. It’s not up to a competent standard of workmanship, but legally you have to be reasonable about it and give him the opportunity to correct his work. if he’s not registered as A competent person in Scotland, then I don't think you have any worries, as he’s very unlikely to take you to court to enforce a contract he could not legally fulfil.

do look for a second local electrician to check over his work and quote for repairs.

Your entitled to have the job completed to a fit and proper standard of workmanship and it goes without saying it should be safe as well.

as for the price, it does seem quite steep, but that's not really a point, the price is negotiated at the begin of the quotations, if your happy with it then you accept the quotation, or get 3 different quotations is always good ... we all value ourselves differently, and we have different geographic.

I'm not that familiar with the requirements of Scotland for domestic
electrical work. you can check below for more information.

Guidance on electrical work not requiring a warrant (Domestic) - https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Building/Building-standards/publications/glf2
 
Wow that’s Shocking that’s certainly not been done by an electrician total chancer alright.

Yep up here in scotland you don’t have to be registered with a scheme but you certainly should have paperwork and test certificates.

For that price I would have stripped the whole cupboard, new backing board brand new board all labels and stickered up with certificates to boot
 
Scheme membership aside ........... ALL fuseboard changes should include a full test of the installation and an EIC be issued to the homeowner ..................

If you get an EIC, could you post a copy on here (your and his info redacted)?
 
Were you there when the work was done? The electrician should have spent a good couple of hours (if not longer) going round the entire house carrying out out tests on all sockets and the light fittings/switches. Any idea if any of that happened?
 
shaun1 said:
Were you there when the work was done? The electrician should have spent a good couple of hours (if not longer) going round the entire house carrying out out tests on all sockets and the light fittings/switches. Any idea if any of that happened?
Click to expand...
pigs flying comes to mind.
 
1) Do not pay a penny, that’s a disgrace.

2) If the Cowboy gets argumentative report him to trading standards for doing work well out of his capabilities. Also, link him to this thread on this forum and inpaticular the paragraph below

STOP! You absolute <insert word> You’re completely out of your depth and are doing work that has the potential to cause harm to persons or properties. Go to college, start again.
 
Crikey - that's so bad I'm angry.

No one who's ever spent a few minutes looking at their own CU would think that was the right way do it. I can't see how it's possible the person that did this is qualified, or in fact even trained at all.

I think someone else said you should get another spark to review the work, and then negotiate with the first guy. I'd be firmer though, as he has provided you absolutely nothing of value at all. It's just dangerous and a mess you now have to find someone else to clear up. If he supplied the CU itself then tell him you'll leave it outside for him to collect once a professional has fitted a new one.

I was about to ask if you could take the cover off and provide a photo of the artistry no doubt hidden away in there... But frankly, I don't want to encourage you to go near it until it's sorted.

In fact really don't take it off. I opened one up once to investigate a failed MCB and then realised that one of the screws holding the cover on had cut through a messily routed circuit live. Those are the sort of hidden dangers that cowboys create without even understanding the danger. I also discovered that the MCB hadn't been remotely tightened on to the busbar, which had led to it arcing, then overheating the busbar to the point it had melted the back of the MCB completely. So whoever put it in had essentially created a fire risk and hidden it behind a booby-trapped cover!! :mad:
 
Deuce said:
Crikey - that's so bad I'm angry.

No one who's ever spent a few minutes looking at their own CU would think that was the right way do it. I can't see how it's possible the person that did this is qualified, or in fact even trained at all.

I think someone else said you should get another spark to review the work, and then negotiate with the first guy. I'd be firmer though, as he has provided you absolutely nothing of value at all. It's just dangerous and a mess you now have to find someone else to clear up. If he supplied the CU itself then tell him you'll leave it outside for him to collect once a professional has fitted a new one.

I was about to ask if you could take the cover off and provide a photo of the artistry no doubt hidden away in there... But frankly, I don't want to encourage you to go near it until it's sorted.

In fact really don't take it off. I opened one up once to investigate a failed MCB and then realised that one of the screws holding the cover on had cut through a messily routed circuit live. Those are the sort of hidden dangers that cowboys create without even understanding the danger. I also discovered that the MCB hadn't been remotely tightened on to the busbar, which had led to it arcing, then overheating the busbar to the point it had melted the back of the MCB completely. So whoever put it in had essentially created a fire risk and hidden it behind a booby-trapped cover!! :mad:
Click to expand...
Did the homeowner/tenant have good life insurance sounds more like an assassination attempt than a CU install
 
MFS Electrical said:
Did the homeowner/tenant have good life insurance sounds more like an assassination attempt than a CU install
Click to expand...

It was my mother in laws! I think it was the chap that did their extension about 15 years ago that put it in, or some chancer he slipped a few notes to..

It's not even the first time though. I found a screw through the live in the backbox of a socket in a new build I had moved into. Just people leaving way to much excess cable inside boxes and then scrunching it all in as they close it up, thus setting their trap...
 
Bag of rubbish!
Did he do the top CU also as it looks like a plastic? box?

Is it a flat or house and is that a separating wall? It might have need a building Warrant.
 
Isaac k said:
Hi, thanks for replying!
No, I have not paid yet as I was fairly confident that this was not good work. The electrition that did the work was self employed and did not issue any sort of paperwork. Any advice on where to go from here?
Thanks for replying!
Click to expand...
I doubt he was an electrician....
 
Pete999 said:
For one don't pay him, is there any way you can check out his registration, did he use a Van or did he use a private car, if a van was used did it have any decals on it saying if he was a member of any Scheme? if he isn't registered I guess your only option would be to go to Trading Standards and take advice from them, good jo you haven't paid up, if you speak to him, ask for an Electrical Installation Certificate EIC (as sparkychick mentioned) as technically the job isn't finished until a cert is issued, good luck, and sorry, welcome to the forum.
Click to expand...
Horse?.....
 
anthonybragg said:
This is the problem with Electrical Trainee/boil in the bag electricians they do all the academic side ok and have a limited practical experiance from the booths think they are a electrician get a job and are out of their depth through lack of (practical) experiance.
Click to expand...

Not all of us :)

I racked up lots of practical experience of all sorts of building and electrical work before I climbed out of my office cubicle. But, from my personal experience, you're largely on the money.
 
anthonybragg said:
This is the problem with Electrical Trainee/boil in the bag electricians they do all the academic side ok and have a limited practical experiance from the booths think they are a electrician get a job and are out of their depth through lack of (practical) experiance.
Click to expand...
Pete, there have been many posts over the last few days from you that the spelling has been worse than mine.
 
Unless I am mistaken scheme membership isnt required in scotland but it is till notifiable is it not?

As for the price, he is a con artist, Would be a maximum of £400 at Bath prices.

As others have said do not pay him, let him try to take you to court for it, no judge would award him the money if they see that pile of S**T. At very least you would get somebody else to put it right and take the costs of that off what he is demanding.

Needs reporting to trading standards. hopefully north of the border they do something.
 
Gavin John Hyde said:
As for the price, he is a con artist, Would be a maximum of £400 at Bath prices.
Click to expand...

It's worse than that. The OP could have just watched some youtube videos/read a book and with a small amount of care achieved a better result!! I'm not suggesting people do that... But it's hard to imagine there is anything more dangerous in the trade than a person who literally doesn't care, and has no standards whatsoever. To the point they can't even be bothered to try and hide the shitty mess they left behind.

I still really wanna see the mess inside the unit though.... :eek::confused:
 
Murdoch said:
I wonder if any of our Glasgow based members could spare the time to go and do a little onsite onsite inspections on this?

If it was on my patch I would certainly make time!
Click to expand...

You know what - if any read this, or anyone else flags/tags them, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if a local spark with half an hour to spare thought it might be interesting (potentially hilarious) to go for a quick sniff around.

If nothing else I suspect they would get a job out of it too. It's also the only safe way that cover is getting removed so we can all finally see the extent of the travesty beneath.

Could we have a whip round and just pay a local chappie to go take a look? :D
 
Gazthesparky said:
Wow that’s Shocking that’s certainly not been done by an electrician total chancer alright.

Yep up here in scotland you don’t have to be registered with a scheme but you certainly should have paperwork and test certificates.

For that price I would have stripped the whole cupboard, new backing board brand new board all labels and stickered up with certificates to boot
Click to expand...
i wouldve polished it as well for that price...
 
anthonybragg said:
This is the problem with Electrical Trainee/boil in the bag electricians they do all the academic side ok and have a limited practical experiance from the booths think they are a electrician get a job and are out of their depth through lack of (practical) experiance.
Click to expand...
You'd be bang on the money except that poor excuse show little academic knowledge either. Not a lot going for this fellow to be honest.
 
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