Am I being unreasonable here?

olibrofiz

Don't know whether I am or not

Mum's house is currently being overhauled due to a burst pipe in December. One of the things that the contractors had on their list of things to do was get an electrical inspection. They did this AFTER all the decorative work had been done, sigh.

The electrician came out and said 'I wouldn't want to live here with the wiring as it is now' :eek::eek: My mum is now worried that her house will burn down around her.

The contractors have done a great job , but there's been a lot of communication breakdowns along the way (taking down ceilings they shouldn't have, wanting to take down ceilings that didn't need to be taken down etc). All the good work that has been done is now blighted for my mum by this wiring issue.

Am I being unreasonable to ask that because of a variety of communication issues & the fact that no one brought up this extremely vital issue I'd like them to make good any of the damage their electrican (working on a private basis for us) may make while he's doing the rewire?

LillythePink

Whose responsibility was it to ensure that this check was completed? If it was them, then no, you're not being unreasonable.

Whose electrician is it that has said that? I would possibly get another one in, just to back up the first one, but you should probably put the job back to them to do and then make good - but you should be able to specify an electrician to do the work, but under their guidance - that way they have to make good etc

Have you paid all of the bills? Or if the insurance is paying, then contact them immediately and advise them that all the work has not been carried out.

lindos90

It sounds like the contractor perhaps did the electrical work themselves and got a 'part P' registered electrician to sign it off. If its unsafe he should not have signed it off!

Has he said if/what remedial work is required?

Were his comments perhaps more to do with the neatness of the job than safety?

phill99

olibrofiz wrote: »

Don't know whether I am or not

The electrician came out and said 'I wouldn't want to live here with the wiring as it is now'

Before you do anything, you need to establish why he is saying that.

If it is because the flood has caused verdigree in junction boxes etc and his comment is made as a direct result of impact of the flood, then you are being reasonable. However. If the wiring is old, has an old fuse box, no earthing on the lights etc and that is what he is referring to, then this is a different matter and is not as a result of the flood, then you possibly are being unreasonable.

You need to investigate his comments further.

olibrofiz

LilythePink - it was on the list of works for the contractors that they have the electrics checked, and it was one of their sub-contracted electricians that did the check. Why, oh why they didn't have the check done before the decorating started I have no idea. The electrics, I have now been told, won't be part of the insurance work, although it was all wet the ins have said that the wiring being overhauled is 'betterment' rather than part of the burst pipe claim (which I can understand)

lindos90 - the contractors haven't done any electrical work. The next electrician said that they could look at earth bonding, but if the existing wiring turns out to be rubber coated it will HAVE to be a rewire.

I've been in touch with the loss adjusters and they're looking into things. But just feel that I may be being unreasonable wanting the contractors to make good the mess caused by the re-wiring - they should have known this was an issue waiting to arise! Regardless of it becoming a private job or not at this point.

olibrofiz

phill99

It's because the wiring is old etc, etc, as you said - however my issue is that they never did the final electrical check until after all the decorating work was done. And no one up to that point had said 'hmmmm'

Just to add, another subcontracted electrician had been out in Feb and said that although we shouldn't have metal ceiling lights as there was no earth, rewiring might be something that we needed to consider in a few more years.

So :question: conflicting info to us non-professionals

fluffpot

If you have metal light fittings on a circuit with no earth then they need to be changed asap to plastic or ones that don't require an earth. However, as an electrician I would always recommend a rewire of the circuit in this case as it's likely the cables are pretty old and one day you might want to have nice lights! But we can't force you - only warn you of the dangers. Changing to plastic though is a must in my opinion and I wouldn't be happy walking away from a job when this hadn't been done

HTH

Just re-read the post and I don't think you do have metal fittings at the moment - in which case keep it this way.
The more recent tests may well have indicated that the cables are in very poor condition and hence the rewiring recommendation - have they given you a schedule of test results? It'll be a table with a list of circuits and lots of numbers following them, If so, let us know and I can post some pointers to look for

Fluff

olibrofiz

Thanks all so far (I'm still wittering away here )

I'd also like to add that all the way through this we've brought up the wiring, and each time been told to just wait for the electricians check via the contractors.

Which is why, really, I'm a bit :mad: that they've raised it now AFTER all the decorating has been done. Nice new wallpaper.....

fluffpot - never thought of having a check (don't really know about these things), just assumed that as the wiring IS old that it may need attention, and took the electrician at his word. And we do have metal ceiling lights in the hallway....

phill99

fluffpot wrote: »

The more recent tests may well have indicated that the cables are in very poor condition and hence the rewiring recommendation

But the poor wiring hasn't been caused by the flood!! Thats just due to it being old wiring, and not having a rewire in the last 200 years!

OP, did you give the contractors written notice that you would like the to udertake electrical improvement works while the ceilings etc were down?

baldelectrician

Hi

Have you got any more information?

Other than the wiring is bad, there's not much to go on

The electrician should have given you a report paperwork, if you get info from this someone on the forum may give an indiaction of costs / solutions

olibrofiz

Little update - the contractors admitted that they had been at fault - so many people involved that each thought the other was doing the electrical check.

Mum paid for the rewire, the electricians did a great job, and the making good was done by the contractors. All is well