Electrician cut off my garage circuit

Christyt

Hi there,

In dispute with an electrician at moment.

I got an electrical test done and it found the garage light circuit was not earthed.

The firm that did the test quoted £70 tops to find and solve the earth problem (along with other remedial works as result of test).

In end got a different electrician to do work including replace consumer unit.

He expressed a preference to put a new wire through to garage rather than fix old one but did not quote for it and we parked the job until after kitchen wiring and consumer unit and other bits done.

Found out now he cut off the garage circuit while fitting new consumer unit (without consulting) which also means we've lost our porch light and it disables connections with security lights (not working or tested yet) and a downstairs bathroom circuit (unused at moment).

So now we have no choice but to put in new wiring for all these things, so he says. He's quoting £310 (incl VAT) for light (and extra double socket) in Garage and £135 to fit new security lights. No mention yet of lost porch light connection or bathroom.

I feel like he's created a massive brand new job for himself when it might have been possible to fix the earth issue much more cheaply and use existing wiring.

Can any one more informed than me offer any advice on this?

Cheers

cajef

Christyt wrote: »

He expressed a preference to put a new wire through to garage rather than fix old one but did not quote for it and we parked the job until after kitchen wiring and consumer unit and other bits done.

I feel like he's created a massive brand new job for himself when it might have been possible to fix the earth issue much more cheaply and use existing wiring.

Sounds like lack of communication to me, did you not ask for a quote for the complete work, if the original cable has no earth wire in the sleeving, then he would need to put a three core cable in, why did you not ask for the work to be included, possibly he assumed as you did not ask you did not want it done.

Maybe he did not realise you had 'parked' the job, so has had to re-quote for the extra work.

Christyt

He himself 'parked' the job - said he'd deal with it separately, which was understandable as it needed 'investigation' and there was lots of other more urgent work to be getting on with. My understanding from the electrical report and quote from the original electrician was that it wasn't necessarily just a case of needing new cables but that the lack of earth could be traced to a loose connection or something. It wasn't an automatic case of "this needs new cables" - and if so, they were prepared to do it for £70 tops - whereas new guy is asking for a lot more.

I think there has been lack of communication on his part in terms of making decisions without consulting (in other areas too - like where do we want the lamp in the conservatory? He just decided it for us - etc)

He also claimed it was expensive because the cable cost a lot - which doesn't ring true to me.

Anyway - we're getting other quotes to see how they compare.

gas4you

From my limited knoweldge of electrical work, an electrician will always, or should, test and rectify any earth problems before moving onto to anything else.

In effect he may have had to remove the garage circuit to comply and therefore re-connect your new consumer unit.

Christyt

Thanks for the replies - had a couple of informal quotes at a fraction of the cost so far, but the electricians seemed to back up him having to cut the garage off.

I have a follow up question - he wants to be paid before he's certified the work and we've got those docs through.

I think it's only fair to wait until we've got certification as this is a crucial part of the job and service?