UKC

I've been a bit naive and now need to sort out a tradesman.

Garage re-wire including new distribution boards in cellar and garage, armoured cable, new ring circuits and lighting.

Wrote down a "specification" (layman's description of what I wanted).  Got quotes.  Work got done ok-ish.  Invoiced; paid; receipted.  Was promised certification paperwork.  I realise now I should have held onto payment until I'd got that; I know, I know.

Electrician said he'd submitted (some parts notifiable).  Wait; no sign.  Chase.  He stops responding.  Finally get hold of him after a month.  Wants to charge me some more before he'll file the paperwork.  Spoke to Citizens' Advice - County Court.  Sent letter before action.

So far, so annoying.

What I don't understand is *why* he's being so obstinate.  I have made it clear that I'm not paying more than quoted and the hassle and paperwork he'll have disputing it is surely more than just submitting (and yes, he is registered).

Questions:

1. Does he have to pay anything to get the notifiable work certified or is it just filing paperwork (time)? He's done the testing etc.  That would explain the reluctance.

2. If I get another electrician to inspect/test/certify, how much might I be looking at?  The Building Regs page for the Local Authority says £225 for doing an inspection

3. Any sparkys on here in South Bucks?!

Thanks for any advice

I would check that he’s registered with one of the certification bodies like NICEIC. Not sure whether that’s as easy as checking on the Gas Safe Register though. 

Regardless of anything I would get another one on recommendation to look at the work done, just to make sure it's safe and upto standard. 

If its signed off by them I doubt the council will be the least bit interested in visiting. 

He is registered

As a member of NICEIC all he has to do is fill in the forms and send them off.

I suggest you make a complaint to them.

To check if he has submitted the forms:

http://www.checkmynotification.com/

To check if he is still registered:

http://www.niceic.com/householder/find-a-contractor

You won't get any self-respecting decent electrician to certify another's work.

Couldn't it depend on what is visible to see?

The Council can arrange for someone at a cost, though.  They are required to by law as part of their Building Control service.

I had this same bother with a CERTAS (if memory serves) window fitter last year. Upshot of it was nice windows, lots of hassle, no certificate and no serious repercussions for the fitter as far as I can tell despite lodging complaints. Annoying but since we don't plan to sell for a few years I'm not losing sleep over it, worst comes to the worst I'll put in a building regs application myself.

Do you have the original quote in writing? Also do you have any leverage over him, is he registered on any rate-my-tradesman type sites for example? A bad review may prove more potent than a legal letter.

jk

Not really. Continuity of ring mains, Zs, Ze, earth testing, PFC, etc.

I was NICEIC registered about 10 years ago. I met a girlfriend who was in the middle of getting her house rewired. The NICEIC registered, council approved, engineer did all the final testing in 20 minutes and never left the dist bd. A job I was doing at the time took about 6 hours to get all the values measured that I thought needed recording according to the regs.

Maybe I just had an incorrect reading of the regs or someone was just filling in the major boxes without really checking.

If you know who he is registered with, complain straight to them.

Inspection and Testing isn't extra, its a fundamental part of the installation to check its safe.

All work must comply with the BS7671 which isn't statutory but is written to comply with EAWR...all sparks are taught this but also taught to treat it as though it is statutory to protect themselves. 

Again inspection and testing is a fundamental and important part, notifiable work is just that, PART P is clear and within 30 days must be reported otherwise renders them liable to being chased.

If you don't know the inspectorates the main ones are NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, STROMA but there are others out there. 

Trading standards and local council building control would be my next port of call. As the above have said local sparks can certify others work but most won't. But then money talks if you need it...inspecting and testing isn't hard.....when done properly. Hope that helps.

Edit. Not 100% sure on the current notification fee but it used to be in the £1.50-£3 depending on inspection...that was about 6 years ago, I can't see it being more than a tenner unless things have sky rocketed.

Info gleaned from my uncle (a sparkie - not in Bucks I'm afraid!):

1 - certification is a standard part of the job, not an "extra".

2 - checking another electrician's work is really difficult because there's so much hidden stuff.  So they'd have to charge a lot of labour if they were going to check it properly in order to sign it off.

Friends have recently had a dodgy kitchen fitter... it has now been taken up by the local trading standards department* following several complaints (dodgy gas work etc).  I guess you could pursue the same route (I think Citizens Advice did the liaising with Trading Standards), if a sparkie is advertising themselves as Part P compliant, and promising the necessary certification, but then doesn't provide it.  They're also breaking the terms of their contract with you by saying they're Part P compliant and then not providing the certificate - so that would be small claims court???

[I am not a lawyer, but those are the avenues I'd investigate]

A replacement roof also requires certification and  notification of the council (with a fee of several hundred pounds) (some roofers can self certify). Actually, at least in my area, most people just get. a roofer to do the work and ignore this (possibly to their own detriment),