Electrician walked off job, need completion certificate

[dpblack]

I've been doing a pretty big refurb with full re-wire and loft conversion, all under building regs etc. but I've run into an issue with my electrician. He's family (my wife's cousin) and fully qualified etc. but family ties have been a bit strained in the past couple of weeks with other issues. We had a bit of an argument cause he wanted to run new earth bonding in just after I've laid all the new floors (tiled/hardwood etc.) and I wasn't chuffed that he's raising it now just as the job ends rather than 12 months ago during the rebuild. Also as all the pipework, including the supply is plastic, I was a bit dubious about the need to bond the pipework. Long story short, he's walked off and doesn't want to do anything more on the job but says I can go through the books with one of his other electricians wand wants £600+VAT to test and complete the job.

This feels like a total rip-off. I've already paid him £400+materials so far and everything (apart from the earthing issue) is done and fully compliant to all standards. For that sort of cash, I could get the whole place rewired again! But as far as I can see, I'm stuck as I don't have the installation completion certificate and I can't get a mortgage without it. Anyone got any advice? I don't think that I can get another electrician in now as they'd not have been there since first fit so might not be happy to take over someone else's job. Do I just stump up £800 and go grovelling to him?

Any advice welcome. Plymouth area if someone wants the job.

 

[eddieed]

Can you get Building Control to certify. They are currently at mine certifying the garage installation.

It cost £300, the issue you may have is that they want to inspect first fix, but if you can tell them it was done by an electrician or you have photos they may be OK with that. They basically check the installation and then do all the testing that your spark would have done.

If you can get a full rewire for £600 then you are doing well! It would cost £500 to have a new consumer unit installed here!

 

[dpblack]

Sadly I wasn't preparing for him flouncing off site. I know he took pictures of the first fix but the chances he'll give them to me are pretty much zero.

I guess the wiring work was relatively cheap on the rebuild as there were no walls to chase (all re-boarded) and all the floors were up already. Like I say I've only shelled out £400 (cash) thus far on labour plus a few hundred on consumer unit, cable, sockets, back boxes etc. I'm not sure I want to get Building Control in on it though as I don't want to jeopordise them signing off all the other work.

I do suspect he's got me over a barrel though.

 

[eddieed]

Sounds like he has you over the barrell then.

You are very unlikely to find an electrician that will sign off the work as when they do they are saying they have completed the whole installation themselves and therefore liable for the whole lot.

It requires a different certification to be able to test someone elses work!

Even if you pay the £600+vat you will have had a cheap job so on this occasion just bite the bullet.

 

[dpblack]

Fairly depressing news.

Being honest, it's not really the cost that's bugging, it's just being forced to suck up to a guy who acts like such a massive d!%k. If there was ANY other way at reasonable cost, I'd take it. Seriously, he's done so little on the job, barely gave it any attention and was never available for weeks on end, the thought of him pocketing even more cash and making me beg him to return just makes me sick.

 

[jj4091]

Ask your building inspector, you may have already paid for the electrics to be inspected as part of the fee for the whole project.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I would bite the bullet and rebuild your relationship with your wife;s cousin.
At £400.00 thus far, even if it were a small property, you had it on the cheap.

With the additional £720.00, getting a full rewire for less than £1200 is chip as chips!

But you have a problem pride before a fall or humble pie!
Then you still have you main bonding issue.

 

[dpblack]

£1,200 is just the labour cost... it isn't a big place and it was stripped back to brick and joists everywhere. He's only been on-site for about two days in total. He laid out the cable runs, got the builders to do all the work through joists and put in all the back boxes etc., he came back and wired the switches/sockets and consumer unit. Of all the trades, he's definitely been the worst to work with and done the least work for the most cash.

Can't believe how easy it is to be held hostage for a compliance certificate... you really don't have many options this late in the day.

 

[swampy2]

£400 (2 days labour what i charged) for a big refub and loft conversion.

 

[dpblack]

Swampy, I agree and I think £400 cash was fair enough for 2 days labour in Plymouth.

What would you charge to add earth bonding (seemingly at random) to the CH pipes (that don't need it other than the copper lengths at the boiler that are already cross bonded) and kitchen sink and then do the final tests to complete the install? £600+VAT? That seems a bit steep and I feel like I'm getting shafted

 

[swampy2]

I dont know if your getting the gist of my post, surely the labour was more than 2 days?.

 

[dpblack]

Seriously it wasn't complicated. If there are no ceilings or plasterwork, you can get the cabling routing/layout done in a jiffy. He got the builders and the chippy (who he also upset with his crappy attitude) to do most of the work for him. The only thing he took most time over was the consumer unit but even that was only an afternoon/evening.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Sound like a tosser to me!

 

[jonez]

This is a mess but there has to be a way forward. In the first instance I'd level with your LABC and see if they'll accept you signing off on the work yourself. You seem to have a good understanding of the technicalities and depending on their interpretation of 'competent person' they may accept your declaration.

There are other threads on here which discuss this in fairly robust terms and it seems some LABC's are taking a pragmatic view on what constitutes a competent person. For example..

//www.diynot.com/forums/electrics/what-is-a-competent-person.374256/page-3

An alternative tack is to involve trading standards, wife's cousin or not you have an agreement to do a job and if your account is the whole story he's inventing unnecessary work to extort money. There's no requirement to bond plastic pipes and you doubt the sanity of anyone who tries.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I was under the impression that the HSE were the judges of who is considered a competent person.