Any electricians - is this cost excessive?

pcgtron

Inch_High wrote: »

I think building regs require them to be wired in.

You can have radio smoke alarms, at least you can with a loft conversion as long as they are linked, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to here

Inch_High_2

pcgtron wrote: »

You can have radio smoke alarms, at least you can with a loft conversion as long as they are linked, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to here

I was referring to the freebies from the fire service.

Halle71

Inch_High wrote: »

mandatory
ˈmandət(ə)ri/
adjective
1.
required by law or mandate; compulsory.



Do you mean optional?

Whoops, got my words muddled. The hoods are recommended not mandatory.

Halle71

Inch_High wrote: »

I think building regs require them to be wired in.

We have got the correct hard wired alarms required for the loft conversion (signed off by building regs in 2011), but when I spoke to building regs today they assured me we don't have to have one in the kitchen. Now we've thought about it we are going to install a regular one just in case.

I think the electrician was just a chancer and we paid £150 for the pleasure.....:mad:

2013yearofthehouse

Halle71 wrote: »

I think the electrician was just a chancer and we paid £150 for the pleasure.....:mad:

How long did the EICR take? Did you get a long detailed report from it? (Think mine was 9 pages long, not including a separate sheet for the remedials quote)

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but I would have thought £150 for an EICR in London was quite cheap? Not neccessarily the case here, but I've heard some electricians offer comparitively reasonable (or as cheap as £50!) rates for an EICR with the intention of inflating the prices for the remedials in order to recoup the cost. Obviously this backfires if the customer gets other quotes for the remedials and realises the difference.

phill99

Kiran wrote: »

Where abouts are you based? That quote looks to me like someone who knows you are desperate to sell a house and is trying it on. Supply and install you should not be looking at more than £300 + the cost of re testing.

I think you're wrong. The radio smoke alarms are £70 each.

Nile

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

I’ve moved your thread from the ‘In my home’ board to the ‘Is This Quote Fair?’ board, where it is better suited.

Regards

Nile

Halle71

Today I've had a quote for £230 all inc. for supplying and installing the smoke alarms. But now the point is that we never needed them anyway - building regs told me today we definitely don't need them as long as we have the hard wired ones in the hall and on the landing (we do).
They want to see the certificate this guy signed.....

DavidF

Building regs said you do not need a detector in your kitchen (I take it your extension is a kitchen ?). Seems very strange - Regs say -
Positioning of smoke and heat alarms

1.11 Smoke alarms should normally be positioned in the circulation spaces between sleeping spaces and places where fires are most likely to start (e.g. kitchens and living rooms) to pick up smoke in the early stages of a fire.
1.12 There should be at least one smoke alarm on every storey of a dwellinghouse.
1.13 Where the kitchen area is not separated from the stairway or circulation space by a door, there should be a compatible interlinked heat detector or heat alarm in the kitchen, in addition to whatever smoke alarms are needed in the circulation space(s).
1.14 Where more than one alarm is installed they should be linked so that the detection of smoke or heat by one unit operates the alarm signal in all of them. The manufacturers' instructions about the maximum number of units that can be linked should be observed.

I would say that the underlined part is relevant to you. I personally would not sign off an EICR without a smoke/heat detector in the kitchen. I suppose it comes down to interpretation. I think the original spark you got in sounds very thorough and unfortunately on this occasion that attention to detail does not suit your wallet lol. But on another occasion when that attention to detail saves your house going up in flames ect then it is welcomed.

Halle71

We've had another electrician round (a friend, not able to do certificates as he is in the middle of completing the requirements to join NICEIC) and he spoke to NICEIC for us. They re-iterated what we had been told by building regs and said the hoods are not necessary if 100mm from flammable material (they are) and a heat detector is recommended but not mandatory. They said he should have put these as category 3, not 2.

I would like go think heis just being extra vigilent but now he is not returning our calls the jury is out.....