Plumber Help needed......

Antman84 · 8 September 2017 at 9:57AM

Hi, I just joined this site as I need someone's help as I don't know what to do. I had a shower installed last week. The plumber said the water pressure was too low and we needed a shower pump. He came the following day and installed it. It worked when he left but did not the following day (no hot water). I called them about 10 times but they did not answer and all their emails were bounced back. I called out a separate plumber and he said the install was dangerous and he would not touch it as he did not want to be liable for it. Worried, I called out a second different plumber and he also said it was poorly installed and is a fire risk (which is even more worrying being in a tower block). The second plumber altered it (slightly) but warned not to use it for more than 10 minutes a day and I will need an electrician to fix it. The original company contacted me in between the two separate opinions saying that the plumber knows what the problem is and he forgot to switch something off. However, I thought if he had installed a fire risk, I did not want him back in my property.
I contacted them asking for a refund as they have taken almost £600. They refused saying of course a separate plumber would say it is faulty as they want the work. They also claimed that as I got another plumber out the 6 month guarantee is invalid. When I questioned that response, they hung up and would not take any calls. Is there a specific route I can take (I have the two different plumbers reports saying it was an unsafe installation). Is a small claims court the only avenue?

Thank you

Risteard · 8 September 2017 at 11:05AM

Since you didn't give the original contractor the opporunity to rectify the work I suspect that legally you have no leg to stand on and are not entitled to a refund. Whether the other contractors' pronouncements on the work are accurate or not, I have no idea. Regardless you must give the original contractor the opportunity to rectify their work. If it has since been altered then it's hard to see how there can be any liability for it now on the original contractor.

Antman84 · 8 September 2017 at 11:49AM

Ok, thanks for your reply. Even though the original fitter had installed a pump that is a "fire-risk" i would still need to let him correct it? Surely, that cannot be the case? If i didn't tell him it was a fire risk then he would have left it like that (and a possible death trap). How can that be possible?

Thanks again

Grenage · 8 September 2017 at 12:07PM

You have to provide the installer with the opportunity to correct the situation.

EachPenny · 8 September 2017 at 2:01PM

Antman84 wrote: »

(I have the two different plumbers reports saying it was an unsafe installation).

Presumably the 'unsafe' aspect is the electrical work?

Was the original plumber qualified to carry out electrical work, and did they provide any paperwork/certificates on completion of the electrical work?

kaya · 8 September 2017 at 2:40PM

EachPenny wrote: »

Presumably the 'unsafe' aspect is the electrical work?

Was the original plumber qualified to carry out electrical work, and did they provide any paperwork/certificates on completion of the electrical work?

this would be my route of action, I would check with someone else if the work carried out required the plumber to have an electric qualification and registration and if no certificate was supplied I would inform the company you employed that you are going to report them, a call to your local councils building control would be a good starting point and free, I would guess if it isn't plugged into a normal 13 a socket that a certification is required

Risteard · 8 September 2017 at 3:17PM

kaya wrote: »

I would check with someone else if the work carried out required the plumber to have an electric qualification and registration

No electrical work requires anyone to be either registered or qualified. If the work is notifiable in your jurisdiction then this is the homeowner's responsibility to notify Building Control if the contractor is not registered to self-certify Building Regulations compliance.

This is in stark contrast to the situation in the south of Ireland where almost all electrical work in the home comes within the remit of Restricted Electrical Works and legally can only be carried out by a Registered Electrical Contractor (with jail time for breaching this). Even a plumber cannot connect make an electrical connection into an electric shower without being a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC).

southcoastrgi · 9 September 2017 at 12:02AM

Do you have any information as to what the problems were exactly ?

decbel · 9 September 2017 at 5:29PM

At a guess it sounds like the shower doesn't have its own designated feed back to the consumer unit which would make it a fire hazard. It could have been tapped into other circuits.

You don't have to be a qualified electrician to do work in your home.

However, you need to get the installation checked by a qualified electrician more for peace of mind than anything else. If you've got a friendly one then a big drink might suffice.

Plumber Help needed......

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