electrician not turned up

[sparkwright]

Yes, based on what we have been told, simply cut the loop, and fit the sockets - brown to L, blue to N, earth to E.

You will need green and yellow sleeving on the bare earth wires.

Connecting up at the original socket is another matter.

I assume there are two old cables?

Is this a 32 amp ring circuit?

You see, if it is a ring circuit, the new wiring has to 'extend' the ring, which means at the existing socket one has to join one old cable to one new cable.
And then connect the other old cable to the other new cable directly to the socket terminals.

You will need to do a continuity test on the old cables to see if it is a ring, if it is a 32 amp circuit at the consumer unit.

EDIT. You mention plasterboarding was done - if those cables behind where the base units go got plasterboarded over, that's not great - as they are probably not in safe zones and so could easily get drilled through - as I think Eric and others have indicated.

 

[ericmark]

One has to ask ones self why any electrician would pay out to be a member of "My Builder" in the main it is because the electrician has not built up enough of a reputation as a good electrician to get enough work without it.

It may be he has only just gone as a sole trader after years working cards in, but can also be because not one will recommend them as there work not good enough.

So if on "My Builder" then there is a good chance not that good, to be a domestic electrician one has to in real terms be a scheme member, and so anyone wanting an electrician only has to look on the register of scheme members.

To my mind being on "My builder" is more a reason to not use them. But one would assume the "My builder" would say which scheme member the electrician is a member of, so you can find the scheme provider and ask them for help.

 

[Aragorn84]

One has to ask ones self why any electrician would pay out to be a member of "My Builder" in the main it is because the electrician has not built up enough of a reputation as a good electrician to get enough work without it.

It may be he has only just gone as a sole trader after years working cards in, but can also be because not one will recommend them as there work not good enough.

So if on "My Builder" then there is a good chance not that good, to be a domestic electrician one has to in real terms be a scheme member, and so anyone wanting an electrician only has to look on the register of scheme members.

To my mind being on "My builder" is more a reason to not use them. But one would assume the "My builder" would say which scheme member the electrician is a member of, so you can find the scheme provider and ask them for help.

Finding good trades is next to impossible i find.

Many, including yourself i'm sure, will suggest that i take recommendations from people who have had work done.

Except, general members of the public arent really up to the job of actually properly surveying work done, and knowing if its done correctly.

Thus if a spark arrives on time, the installed fitting appears to work and doesnt electrocute you, and they left the place neat and tidy afterwards, they get a glowing review, regardless of how competent the work actually was. It could have wires routed dangerously, improper OPD/RCD selection, shoddy terminations etc etc, and the customer never sees any of that.

 

[JohnW2]

Finding good trades is next to impossible i find. .... Many, including yourself i'm sure, will suggest that i take recommendations from people who have had work done. .... Except, general members of the public arent really up to the job of actually properly surveying work done, and knowing if its done correctly. .... Thus if a spark arrives on time, the installed fitting appears to work and doesnt electrocute you, and they left the place neat and tidy afterwards, they get a glowing review, regardless of how competent the work actually was.

Exactly - as you say, it's next-to-impossible, for all the reasons you give.

'Personal recommendations' are obviously the best bet - but, as you say, they are pretty meaningless unless they come from people who have an ability to assess the quality of the actual work done, and hardly any members of the general public come into that category.

I suppose the 'lay recommendations' are a start. If someone 'fails' in relation to punctuality, reliability, tidiness and pleasantness etc., then I think one has good reason to assume that their actual work might be questionable - so best steered clear of. I would also tend to agree with eric that those who feel the need to use the on-line 'recommendation sites' should perhaps be avoided (for the reasons he gives). Although that is undoubtedly to a good few tradespeople who use such sites, I'm sure that eric is right in saying that many use them for reasons which should make one wary.

Beyond that, I really don't know any answer. Some of us here have the ability to assess some of a tradesperson's work ourselves, but we are a fortunate and small minority. Much of the work done by these people will not be looked at by 'an expert', let alone 'formally inspected', for years (if ever!) - so one will rarely know how well (or correctly) it has actually been done, unless something goes wrong.

Kind Regards, John

 

[markyyyyyy]

The exact reason i started doing DIY was because MOST tradesmen are ****e in terms of communicating, turning up on time, finishing a job and giving detailed, written quotes. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but they're like gold dust. My experience of getting trades involved in my kitchen project (sparky and plasterer) makes me pleased i do most of it myself now.

 

[JohnW2]

The exact reason i started doing DIY was because MOST tradesmen are ****e in terms of communicating, turning up on time, finishing a job and giving detailed, written quotes. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but they're like gold dust. My experience of getting trades involved in my kitchen project (sparky and plasterer) makes me pleased i do most of it myself now.

It's sad, but much the same here - I do as much as I can myself (unless it's too much a matter of 'hard labour', or requires skills which I simply don't have), for many of the reasons you give, and have (I believe!) become relatively competent in relation to a wide range of activities.

There are, of course, plenty of excellent tradesmen out there, if only one can find them and, over the years/decades I've been pretty lucky on many occasions - but, in the more distant past, I've had enough 'contrary experiences' to convince me that, whenever I can do something myself, I'm the person that I most trust to do it!

Although not intended for such a purpose (introducing tradesmen and customers), forums like this do, of course (for those of us with some understanding) serve as a means of getting a pretty good handle on the competence and attitudes of the tradespeople who are 'regulars' here. There are certainly a good few electricians ''here' who mI have come to 'know' very well over the years, and who I would be very happy to use or recommend (and a few that I wouldn't!). However, that is largely down to the fact that I know enough to be able to make a reasonable judgement, something which is not the case for most of the general public - with whom I therefore sympathise.

Kind Regards, John

 

[denso13]

MOST tradesmen are ****e

That's a bit of a sweeping statement which won't really find favour with the tradesmen answering your queries on here!

 

[markyyyyyy]

That's a bit of a sweeping statement which won't really find favour with the tradesmen answering your queries on here!

You haven't quoted the part where I say I'm sure there are many good ones out there... Much like the ones that will be on here helping others.

 

[JohnW2]

You haven't quoted the part where I say I'm sure there are many good ones out there...

... and, as you know, I said exactly the same. However, as I think we are all agreed, the real problem (particularly for Joe Public) is in identifying them.

Kind Regards, John