recent loft conversion

Hi all I recently had my loft converted, agreeing a set price for the whole job ith my builder who came with recomendations by 2-3 friends, good job great finish totaly happy , exept he made up a final payment amount
wich was out of thin air so I refused to pay, and since have had no contact from the builder so i figure he was trying it on. Now then his brother was the spark his own firm hired by his brother (our builder).
now he apparently gave the electrical certificate to our builder but they are both now non communicative, I guesse becos of the unpaid final amount.Can anyone suggest away round this, or if the certificate for our property exists will it have a no I can trace if its registered in someway I dont know, dont fancy Interaction with either of them now. anyhelp will be appriciated,Oh checked with nic and couldnt find the sparks company on thier books if that helps I dont know, thanks..

1) Did he claim to be registered with NICEIC? There are other organisations. Can you find him here: http://www.competentperson.co.uk ?

If he's registered then he should have notified the work within 30 days (I think) to LABC. If he didn't he's breaking the law.

2) How much do you think you owe him as a final payment? Have you tried offering that in return for a certificate?

If they are a member of a scheme then I'm sure that they are not allowed to with hold a certificate as a bargaining chip for payment (it's against the NICEIC's rules any how)..

You can make a complaint to their body,,, however there are procedures...

Firstly you will have to give them chance, if you do not want to talk to them then you should write them a letter and send it recorded delivery ask for them to reply in writing.

If they do not respond or do not send your cert then go to their body's website and follow the complaints procedure. If they are found to in breach of their body's T&Cs then they could be kicked out...

did the loft conversion need building control approval, forget about the electrics for one moment(even though it is important).
Did BCs have to be informed for any other work?
ie. Did the conversion need notify as whole project.

I don't think there is any way that a loft conversion can not need Building Regulations approval....

ban-all-sheds said:

I don't think there is any way that a loft conversion can not need Building Regulations approval....

Click to expand...

If that's the case the whole project should have been overseen by Building cons and I'd assume they would have been involved with the electrical install, so maybe......
BCs have certs

We'll have to wait to see what Bandit says...

ban-all-sheds said:

I don't think there is any way that a loft conversion can not need Building Regulations approval....

Click to expand...

Actually, there is. Our neighbour had it done, its something to do with the position of the extended part with respect to the position of the original part of the house. I dare say a builder may be able to fill in the blanks here.

If it was just a bedroom ( no ensuite, kitchen etc.) it may not need notification.

However, back to the OP:--

How much do you think you owe him?
Be smart, re-establish communication with him to find out a final settlement. Don't roll over and let him have your pants down, but if you withhold payment for a job well done, then you are in the wrong.

The Electrician is obliged to give the certificate to the person ordering the work.
It seems as in this case, as a fixed price for the whole job was negotiated with the builder and he subbed the sparky, then in the eyes of the spark, it was actually the builder ordering the work, not you.

As the person ordering the work, but not the user of the installation, the builder should immeadiately pass the certs to you, but if he feels you have ripped him off, then you've got Bob hope of getting them

If the spark has given the certs to the builder, then he has done his job correctly. Your issue is solely with the builder, not the spark.

There is no unique reference number given to certs and they arn't put on a database, so you will have to go back to the builder to get them.

sorry