problem with work done by an electrician - advise please?

[Dangle_kt]

Hi,

I have recently had work done on my home(new consumer unit fitted), I am not happy with the work done and am after some advise. Obviously as a novice I am after some facts from the pro's!!

1 - Front of consumer unit is loose - not screwed on
2 - no rcd fitted (think thats the correct name) on the bottom ring of the house and left exposed tails (not live but still exposed)
3 - He checked AFTER doing the job and realised the water isn't earthed, then wanted MORE money to do it, I refused saying he should have checked properly when he quoted me - so he fudged the certificate and left the box on "bonding of extraneous conductive parts" "WATER" blank, but still signed it off anyway.
4 - After complaining to NIC (there logo is on his advert) they told me he is NOT a member
5- After asking him, he mentioned Elecsa - and they told me he FAILED an inspection last year and was still on there website by mistake!


SO, it seems obvious I cant get him back to sort it - cos he ain't qualified, so I want money back off him so I can pay someone else to fix it.

So first, please can one of you knowledgable types put next to each of the points above if he should/should not have done those things (I want to make sure I know my stuff for the next telephone call with him)

Also if you can advise me what as pro's you would do in this situation?

I feel a sinking feeling...

oh for the record he charged us £350 to change the consumer unit - he did nothing more, just that and was in my house for MAX 2.5 hours - most of which was filling in paper work.... so I was expecting a good quality job!

(I have got all the technical names and stuff off a friend of a friend who is a spark, but for ccommercialonly)

Thank you for your help in advance

 

[davelx]

Consumer law requires people providing services to perform them with a reasonable degree of skill and care. He clearly has not done so. Take photos of the problems, then:

1) Write to him listing the deficiencies and giving him a time-limited opportunity to correct them - say 14 days.

2) If that fails, write to him stating that you will get the work rectified by another contractor and will look to him to recover the cost.

3) Get a quote from several other contractors, choose one and send copy to original electrician requesting payment.

4) Get the work done by the new contractor

5) If the original has not paid you, write him a "Letter Before Action" giving him 7 days to pay and saying that if he fails to do so you will institute proceedings against him in the small claims court

6) Take him to the small claims court - it's easy and cheap.

Keep record and copies of all contact and correspondence.

Consult your local CAB for more info. Oh - report him to you local Trading Standards Office just for good measure - he is misrepresenting himself as a member of NIC - that is fraud - hmm, maybe report him to the police too, that's a criminal offence.

 

[Dangle_kt]

Consumer law requires people providing services to perform them with a reasonable degree of skill and care. He clearly has not done so. Take photos of the problems, then:

1) Write to him listing the deficiencies and giving him a time-limited opportunity to correct them - say 14 days.

2) If that fails, write to him stating that you will get the work rectified by another contractor and will look to him to recover the cost.

3) Get a quote from several other contractors, choose one and send copy to original electrician requesting payment.

4) Get the work done by the new contractor

5) If the original has not paid you, write him a "Letter Before Action" giving him 7 days to pay and saying that if he fails to do so you will institute proceedings against him in the small claims court

6) Take him to the small claims court - it's easy and cheap.

Keep record and copies of all contact and correspondence.

Consult your local CAB for more info. Oh - report him to you local Trading Standards Office just for good measure - he is misrepresenting himself as a member of NIC - that is fraud - hmm, maybe report him to the police too, that's a criminal offence.

Cheers mate, Great info!

He can't do the work himself though - he aint qualified - so i guess I skip straight to step 2.

If he pays up, then problem solved.

If not, I will report him to NIC(shouldnt use their logo), Trading standards, police,electrical saftey council and take him to court.

Can anyone confirm if I'm right that he should have done all those things i listed in the first post?

Thanks Davelx - top info!

 

[davelx]

1 - Front of consumer unit is loose - not screwed on

SLoppy work but easily fixed

2 - no rcd fitted (think thats the correct name) on the bottom ring of the house and left exposed tails (not live but still exposed)

Regs require all sockets "that could reasonably be expected to be used to supply portable equipment used outdoors" to be RCD protected. Not sure what you mean by "exposed tails" - perhaps you could post a pic of the installation?

3 - He checked AFTER doing the job and realised the water isn't earthed, then wanted MORE money to do it, I refused saying he should have checked properly when he quoted me - so he fudged the certificate and left the box on "bonding of extraneous conductive parts" "WATER" blank, but still signed it off anyway.

Regs require that Main Equipotential Bonding be brought up to current standards when any modifications are made to the installation. By doing this I would say that he has not excercised reasonable skill and care in providing this service.

4 - After complaining to NIC (there logo is on his advert) they told me he is NOT a member

I'd have hoped they would be following this up then, since they know about him.

5- After asking him, he mentioned Elecsa - and they told me he FAILED an inspection last year and was still on there website by mistake!

Another example of misrepresentation, then - since he must have known he'd failed and probably also knew that he was still on their web-site and if you checked would have believed him to be registered with them.

 

[Chivers7]

The "electrician" in question should have made sure the bonding and main earthing was up to scratch with current regs before commencing other work, made sure that any socket that was likely to be used for external equipment should have 30 mA RCD protection and not sure why he couldn't do this given that he was fitting a new board - what make is the new one are you sure they're not fitted with RCBOs?.
Not sure exactly what you mean by leaving tails exposed but not live, where abouts exactly any photos to back up would help us more.
did he actually do any electrical testing with meters etc? Are Zs Ze and R1+R2 results written in. Given the time factor I would be surprised.

 

[industryspark]

1, The front of the consumer unit should be securrely fixed yes, there is a reg stating good worksmanship should be used at all times. how far he has violated this i suppose depends how loose it is. if you can get your fingers in it is worse than just being slightly loose (obviously)

2,depends this one. what earthing type is the installation. TNS, TNCS or TT?
IF TT then it should definetly be rcd protected. if the other type then sockets only need rcd protecting if they are likelly to supply portable hand held equipment outside. im guessing he hasnt attached notices in the premises warning not to supply equipment outside from the sockets so in a word yes they should be rcd'd! its good practice and a requirment really.

exposed tails to the consumer unit you mean from the meter? if yes not a problem if he's fitted the grey double insulated ones (they have a coloured brown/blue seperate insulation).

3, he may have had a clause in the qoute stating extra charges for additional work found. however to just leave the equipotential bonding not in place is very poor and he cant possibly truthfully tick the 'earthing adequate' box of the cert.

4, commiting fraud then

5, bit poor on ELECSA'S behalf

 

[Dangle_kt]

exposed tails to the consumer unit you mean from the meter? if yes not a problem if he's fitted the grey double insulated ones (they have a coloured brown/blue seperate insulation).

3, he may have had a clause in the qoute stating extra charges for additional work found. however to just leave the equipotential bonding not in place is very poor and he cant possibly truthfully tick the 'earthing adequate' box of the cert.

Thanks for more info!!

on the two above points -

Picture to follow of work done- I am struggling with the internet - SUPPRISE!

He did not provide a written quote - so no clause.

Oh - i looked up the cost of the consumer unit - incase he starts saying it was expensive. £27.50 plus them block things at about £2 each! definatly under £50 for parts - so £300 on labour for 2.5 hours work! OUCH.

 

[Dangle_kt]

picture of tails that were left - he said they were from a shower which is no longer needed, and the old cooker run (which also needs replacing)

 

[industryspark]

the tails appear to come from a double pole isolator and into the CU. there is no problem as long as the cables are the correct type and there are no nicks or damage.

its very sloppy to mount the CU on its side like that but probably not against regs (although i do once remember reading something about the heat dissipating up through the mcb's which is obviously bad)

is all the t+e cable on the floor just scrap? nothing still connected i hope.

 

[dingbat]

If he is not a member of a self-certification scheme then he can't have notified this job to Building Control. Failure to notify is an offence in its own right, responsibility for which lies, ultimately, with the owner of the property.
However, as he has represented himself to you as somebody registered to self-certify, the buck passes (somewhat) his way.

Inform Building Control of the work - that way you've covered your back - and report the blackguard to Trading Standards.

Also, I don't see any labels on that consumer unit (It looks like a Denmans 'Steeple' board, made by GE, by the way - they can be tricky to fit the cover if the back isn't on a plane surface.) and I don't expect you were given any other information. Circuit chart? Of course not!

What he's charged you is about right for a proper job - full installation test, basic remedials, if necessary and earthing and bonding brought up to scratch, with a 'proper' certificate and Building Control notified. But what you've got is a bloke-from-down-the-pub, bodge-it-in-before-lunch kind of job that you could have had done for half what you paid.

 

[securespark]

Why is the cut-out seal missing?

 

[Dangle_kt]

those spare cables still disappear off round the house, but they are not connectted to the power.

Dont know why the seal is broken? I had all that changed 1 day before they came round to fit the CU - i got the info off here so contact service provider and job was done.

is a steeple board 9 way one.

no circuit chart given.

Thanks for letting me know I'm not mad - the way he reacted you'd thought I'd just slapped his kid around!!

Started doubting myself - so THANK YOU everyone for the info, i will let you know what happens.

 

[Spark123]

Which part of the UK are you from?

 

[Dangle_kt]

Which part of the UK are you from?

I'd rather not say, in case the guy see's this and calls it slander or whatever - crazy world isn't it!

However I am about an hour south of you sparks if your profile is accurate.

Thanks again - I'll keep you posted.

 

[Spark123]

I only meant to ask are you in England or Wales as Part P is only applicable to these countries. 1 hour from here isn't very far !!