Rewiring Flat

telsokari

Hi there,

My builder has just started rewiring my new flat. The quote was for:
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot]"Rewire the whole house, change the consumer unit. Earth the kitchen, bathroom ,toilet. 6 sockets in sitting room £1.750."[/FONT]

In the contract he stated all work including the kitchen refurb and boiler/heating system replacement was for labour only.

My question is though, wouldn't a quote like that for electrics and plumbing include wires and pipes or is it normally the case that i would need to provide those myself? And i know might be too late now but is that quote too high just for labour costs?

Thanks

T

macman

If he expected you to supply the parts then wouldn't he have told you what you needed to get? How much is he going to charge you extra for the cabling/CU etc? I think you've just signed a blank cheque.
When he builds you a wall, does he expect you to provide him with the bricks?
Impossible to say if it too high or not without knowing full spec.
Does your builder actually have any qualifications for rewiring your flat, you're aware this is notifiable work?

telsokari

thanks for your reply

he will be providing all the necessary certificates

he wanted me to go with him when he buys the wires but i just asked him to provide me with an invoice and i would cover the cost. But i was a little surprised by this as i did think that things like wires and pipes would be covered in the labour costs.

Spec wise, he's removing all old wiring and upgrading from original (pre-80s) wiring to current regulations. He will be putting in 9 ceiling spotlights in the sitting room, a kitchen light, 2 hallway lights and a dinnig area light with about 10 switches in the rest of the flat.

the flat sqm is 58m

macman

Then I suspect that he doesn't want to buy the stuff himself as he is trying to keep his t/o under the VAT limit perhaps?
But he should still be able to give you an estimate of the cost, since he has a list of the parts required.
If the quote said labour only, then parts are obviously not included.

Jonesya

telsokari wrote: »

My builder has just started rewiring my new flat. The quote was for:
[FONT=&quot]"Rewire the whole house, change the consumer unit. Earth the kitchen, bathroom ,toilet. 6 sockets in sitting room £1.750."[/FONT]

If your quote is as given above I'd be cautious, I wouldn't have thought an electrician would quote to "earth the kitchen, bathroom, toilet". Make sure you get an "Electrical Installation Certificate" for the work.

vaio

Jonesya wrote: »

If your quote is as given above I'd be cautious, I wouldn't have thought an electrician would quote to "earth the kitchen, bathroom, toilet". Make sure you get an "Electrical Installation Certificate" for the work.

More importantly check to make sure he’s a member of one of the authorised person schemes or has notified building control.

Does sound a bit of a strange way to quote a job though

zax47

Speaking as an electrician, it sounds like he doesn't have a clue!

Sack him and get an ELECTRICIAN in. Builders BUILD, Electricians specialise in the work you require.

Check here that they are suitably certified/registered.

telsokari

he's not doing it all himself, he's a contractor and has 2 electricians on his books doing the work. He will be providing me a [FONT=&quot]NIC EIC certificate for the work and a CORGI for the gas work
[/FONT]

macman

CORGI is no longer valid, he must be Gas Safe registered.
No qualified electrician would provide such a vague and inadequate quotation. If he's a contractor employing a number of staff then why on earth is he asking you to buy the materials? Something doesn't add up here.

vaio

It does all sound very strange and is starting to get circular, stick to the simple stuff.......

If he’s got electricians on the books then either he needs to appear on here or he needs to have notified building control before he started.

A few clicks here and/or a phone call to building control will tell you everything you need to know and then you can post back here

My vote is dodgy

macman

It's all a bit academic now as the OP says he started rewiring it yesterday...might have been an idea to pose the question a bit earlier...