Finding an electrician?

[EmmaT]

I need to find an electrician who's not going to rip me off or tell me I need the whole house rewired...

Basically, we need some double switches looked at - as I suspect they're a DIY job from previous owner (and based on the things we've uncovered so far, I don't want anything to do with their attempts at electricity). They aren't proper double switches as you can only switch the light on from one switch, but off from both (if you see what I mean), and one doesn't work at all. We also want to find out getting some sort of outside light fitted. The fusebox is still the old sort with fusewire.

a) is any electrician going to touch this without insiting that everything is brought up to 'today's standards'
b) is it going to cost the earth?
c) how do I go about finding someone who's not going to take me for a ride? is there an association/qualification? Any recommendations in Godalming/Guildford area?!

 

[Penners]

Personal recommendation is probably the best way of finding someone honest.

When I was looking for a builder, I asked the planning department of our local authority if they could help. They said that they weren't allowed to recommend anyone, but they were happy to let me see a list of builders and tradesmen who they had used repeatedly for their work.

You might try this and see if they'll help. And when you're talking to electricians, make sure they know who gave you their name. They won't want to mess their nest with the local authority.

I'm not an electrician, but I don't think the existence of rewireable fuses in your consumer unit is, in itself, a reason for a major updating exercise. Besides, if necessary these can always be replaced with plug-in mini-circuit-breakers.

 

[NT]

I need to find an electrician who's not going to rip me off or tell me I need the whole house rewired...

Basically, we need some double switches looked at - as I suspect they're a DIY job from previous owner (and based on the things we've uncovered so far, I don't want anything to do with their attempts at electricity). They aren't proper double switches as you can only switch the light on from one switch, but off from both (if you see what I mean), and one doesn't work at all. We also want to find out getting some sort of outside light fitted. The fusebox is still the old sort with fusewire.

a) is any electrician going to touch this without insiting that everything is brought up to 'today's standards'

of course, no problem there

b) is it going to cost the earth?

no!

c) how do I go about finding someone who's not going to take me for a ride? is there an association/qualification? Any recommendations in Godalming/Guildford area?!

I dont know, can do my own work. But if you report back here what they say and recommend, we can dissect it mercilessly to see if theyre trying to pull one or what they say's fair and sensible.

If someone does say a complete rewire is needed, I'd at least listen, if sceptically, as there have been occasional cases of terrible goings on behind modern fittings. There was one rewire recently where lead sheathed cables from the 1930s were still in place and supplying modern fittings. Rare though.


NT

 

[Pford75]

I would ensure that any electrician you contact is NICEIC registered. You can get a list of local ones from the NICEIC website.

If someone from this body recommends a rewire - I would think long and hard about this. From a cost perspective, you don't want to decorate etc. and find you need to rewire in the near future.....and from a safety perspective, this is one area where I personally 'trust the professionals'

Finally, you need to be aware that any works undertaken will require 'Part P' certification by the electrician - ensure that you get this......if they can't won't give it.....I wouldn't trust their work

 

[EmmaT]

Thanks guys. Have found someone local from NICEIC website, so will report back in a couple of weeks when he's been and had a look.

Hoping that double switches can be fixed without taking walls apart! Obviously if a total rewire is suggested then we'll seriously have to think about it, but the cost could be a major issue!

 

[thiambal]

I would still shop around extensively amoung the NICEIC chaps. I think registration for some of them is a licence to print money. I had quotes from 5 NICEIC chaps for a job and quotes came in at, £1000, £700, £600, £500 and one did not bother quoting. Needless to say we went with the £500 chap. Worth shopping around though!

 

[NT]

Some work comes under part p, some doesnt.

Most domestic electricians generally ignore part p, and this does not mean they should be avoided. PP is pretty heavily criticised, and jumping through the hoops is unlikely to give any safety benefit. It is useful if you plan to sell, but in no way a necessity.

NICEIC does not constitute a badge of trust in my own mind fwiw.


NT

 

[Penners]

NICEIC does not constitute a badge of trust in my own mind fwiw.

I don't think any professional qualification, institute or guild membership is ever that. You'll always get a few people who are members of everything, and still shysters.

There are crooks in every occupation... some of them even hold annual conferences in major northern cities.

 

[Pford75]

There's always a few bad apples in any organisation. I do speak from experience though, we had some 'issues' with an NICEIC registered contractor and complained to them...they helped mediate and resolved the problem....wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

As for Part P - my father is a conveyancing solicitor and has more than 10 examples of sales falling through due to lack of PP certificates since the regs came in.

Note also - it is a civil offence to undertake electrical works and not get them certified (you can have your own work certified by Building Control at your LA).

Speaking as a father whose children have both been electrocuted by previous owners bodged electrics, I get really frustrated at those that choose to ignore this legislation. We all expect owners of listed buildings to get LBC, but some of us feel free to ignore other bits (such as PP) which we don't agree with.

Sorry for the rant - but it's something I feel strongly about

 

[NT]

quote="Pford75"

> There's always a few bad apples in any organisation. I do speak from experience though, we had some 'issues' with an NICEIC registered contractor and complained to them...they helped mediate and resolved the problem....wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

Why would you have been unable to use an arbitration service without NICEIC? Or have a qualified 3rd party report, or the various other options.


> As for Part P - my father is a conveyancing solicitor and has more than 10 examples of sales falling through due to lack of PP certificates since the regs came in.

Most houses that change hands today are not upto the latest electrical regs, let alone having the latest bits of paper. Over 50% of domestic electrical installs have no paperwork of any kind. This does not normally cause sales to fall through, but I quite accept theres always the occasional buyer naive enough to say no based on a house not meeting all the latest 'requirements.'

When a person buys a used house, they normally buy it as seen, with any faults or disputes relating to the property. It is the buyers responsibility to have any surveys or searches they wish done, either before purchase or after. When a buyer refuses a house on the grounds that it has no PP certification, yet fails to undertake any survey of the electrical system, one has to wonder what is going on, and consider the possibility that either the buyer is not very clued up on the process, or possibly has in reality another reason to pull out, such as having overstretched themselves financially, leaving no budget for after purchase expenses (a not unusual problem).


> Note also - it is a civil offence to undertake electrical works and not get them certified (you can have your own work certified by Building Control at your LA).

No its not.


> Speaking as a father whose children have both been electrocuted by previous owners bodged electrics, I get really frustrated at those that choose to ignore this legislation. We all expect owners of listed buildings to get LBC, but some of us feel free to ignore other bits (such as PP) which we don't agree with.

Do you perhaps mean shocked rather than electrocuted?

Why do people assume that Part P offfers a safety benefit? Not everything in this world is what it says on the tin. P P has been discussed in considerable depth on uk.d-i-y since well before its inception, and the concensus is that it will cause a few deaths rather than prevent them. There are good laws and bad ones, PP is taxation law being sold as being about safety when it isnt.

The fact that fewer than 1% of diy electrical work is notified, and the fact that most domestic electricians have been so bold as to simply ignore the part p business both say something. Sure there are always cowboys, but this has gone way beyond just cowboys. It is one of the very few laws that has been roundly rejected by most of those supposed to practice it.


> Sorry for the rant - but it's something I feel strongly about

I totally understand that. I've had a close call from electrical work myself when i was a youngster, and certainly dont condone carelessness or foolish practice. Part p would not have made the least difference safety wise.

The various regulations and laws surrounding electrical installations in Britain today are some of the best in the world. Regrettably this does not make them perfect, and there are a few known weak areas, Part P being one of them.


NT