If he has covered the cable runs and his "Qualifying Supervisor" has not yet attended to view such cable runs then how on earth can he sign it off as complying with the Building Regs and the Wiring Regs? He can`t .
If the installation is in England or Wales (Scotland is slightly different) then Local Authority Building Control must be notified in one of two ways
1/ Give 2 working days notice and pay a fee before commencement and allow the LABC to inspect/test as they may wish both during the works and upon completion of the works
or
2/ Use a Registered Domestic Installer (registered with one of the 5 schemes) who will do the works, give you an Electrical Installation Certificate upon completion AND notify both LABC & Yourself via such scheme provider within 28 days of completion.
That is a legal requirement, it is not voluntary it is compulsory so how can he now want an extra fee to comply with a something that has been law since Jan 1st 2005 ?
Ban & and the others are giving you excellent advice.
A Registered Domestic Installer may be a one man band who is his own qualifying supervisor or alternatively a firm might have a few "electricians" and one or more of them might be qualifying supervisors for the firm. If so that means they must supervise the works at all stages including viewing cable runs before they are covered up.
Just to clarify, I am a Registered Domestic Installer (I supervise myself and one part time employee).
I don`t usually encourage folk to withold payment from a contractor for no good reason (i wouldn`t like that done to me) , however I feel you are getting the runaround.
I suggest you withold (his quoted amount) £200 until you receive BOTH an Electrical Installation Certificate and notification of compliance with building regs from a scheme provider or LABC. 28 days is not that long to wait!
Or you might want to seek advice from LABC and Trading Standards whilst the job is in progress, no geniune firm would be offended.
Thanks for the getting involved ebee, in fact thanks to everyone that has gotten involved your invaluable comments and advice have been a godsend & really helped me to get a better understanding of my situation & how unacceptable this fitters conduct has been.
Once they figure out how to share beer over the internet the first round is on me
I am still confused about one thing. Many people have advised that it is up to the fitter to take the neccessary steps to ensure that I get my certification from the council. And he swears blind he will (for £200.00) However now that the cable runs have been covered up without inspection how can he manage to get this done???
Suppose we sort out the money issue and his QS does sign off on his work and within 28 days I get my certificatation from the council would I not still be using a potentially dangerous kitchen or at least a kitchen which may not be up to building regs. Should I not reject any solution he proposes which does not include opening up the cable runs for a complete inspection??
I am gonna talk to the builder once he comes round in about 10 minutes but I don't really know what to tell him should I get him to stop all work e.g. plumbing, tiling, e.t.c. and reduce his argument for payment, until someone can get down and look at the electric work he has done or should I trust him to continue and sort things out??
I really should say that he seems like a really nice guy and I don't actually have any proof that his work is not up to building regulation standard anything that has looked shoddy to me I have pointed out and he has fixed without complaint. This all started when I showed him some MK Grid Switches and he looked at me like I was asking him to turn water into wine! Apart from his cheek maybe I am just being paranoid about his work & if we can sort out this £200.00 issue things will work out...