Full house rewire gone badly wrong - what are my next steps

rob7475

Risteard said:

2.5k for a rewire was a nonsense quote. And it's not even white plastic you're saying!

A standard 3 bed house with white plastic would be in the region of 4.5-6k with nothing special in it.

I can't see how he's responsible for the damage.

Surely it depends where in the country the OP is?
I'm in Yorkshire and had a 3 bed semi rewired a few years ago for £2k by a very good electrician. Included lots of sockets, smoke detectors, cooker circuit etc. Took him and his team 2.5 days. This didn't include making good as I did that myself but it sounds like the OP had arranged their own plasterer too. 

I also had the same guy rewire a 2 bed terrace I was renovating and this was £1500 and done in about a day and half

RubyHouse

In answer to your concerns, I am in the North East, we had multiple quotes all around this range and paid for the chrome fronts separately but the tradesman ordered from their supplier. With that in mind £2.5K was average,  we met a few times before and he was confident that the job would not take more than 4 days - we also accepted that this could be extended 3 times. 
I am not concerned about damage to plaster that has been easily rectified by my plasterer. 
My issue was with the 'finish' of the work; wonky sockets and out of line, back boards are not secured in places so move around a lot, some existing lights not removed, ceilings punctured in multiple places instead of replacing the gap where the current lights were and coving is ripped in each room from wires being pulled through - rather than a hole cut through to be patched up later. 
As well as the live wires, a wrapped up extension cord connecting our boiler, we were within our rights to cancel further work as it was unsafe. 

We have since paid another tradesman to make the house safe and apply some sockets to the kitchen so we can return to some kind of normality. 

I have asked for an invoice from the first electrician for any work he carried with an inventory list of what had been completed and a report of the damages room by room. We are yet to hear back. 

My expectation is that he is paid for the first fix, and some of the second fix as he did fit lights and sockets in two rooms. 

Hermione_Granger

fenwick458 said:

hahaha you paid £2.5k for a rewire, expected it done in less than a week, and are surprised that it hasn't gone to plan??

It takes a special kind of sad individual to revel in the fact that someone has been ripped off to the tune of £2.5k.

Mistral001

The OP had too high expectations that the electrical work could be finished in four days as has been said my many here.  Delays in supplies and delays caused by problems in coordination of sub-contractors will frequently occur in even the best run job. 

Terminating the contract in the way that the OP did it is actually a breach of contract and the electrician will probably ask for most of, if not all of, the £2.5K .  If he does, the courts will look upon his demands probably more sympathetically than I think you realise.  

PS.  You have asked for the bill, the next step is to wait until you get an invoice and then take it from there.  I would take lots of photos of the work done by the electricialn before any more work is done in case you need them in the future.

Doozergirl

Hermione_Granger said:

fenwick458 said:

hahaha you paid £2.5k for a rewire, expected it done in less than a week, and are surprised that it hasn't gone to plan??

It takes a special kind of sad individual to revel in the fact that someone has been ripped off to the tune of £2.5k.

It's inappropriate, yes, but the OP hasn't given anyone any money yet. 

RubyHouse

Mistral001 said:

The OP had too high expectations that the electrical work could be finished in four days as has been said my many here.  Delays in supplies and delays caused by problems in coordination of sub-contractors will frequently occur in even the best run job. 

Terminating the contract in the way that the OP did it is actually a breach of contract and the electrician will probably ask for most of, if not all of, the £2.5K .  If he does, the courts will look upon his demands probably more sympathetically than I think you realise.  

PS.  You have asked for the bill, the next step is to wait until you get an invoice and then take it from there.  I would take lots of photos of the work done by the electricialn before any more work is done in case you need them in the future.

Granted we didn't consider the termination of contract at the time we told him to stop, but we have an email back from the tradesman that he will accept our wishes and cancel further work, we didn't receive any T&Cs which in hindsight should have been a red flag for us. But this is our first project, so lesson learned. 
There was no delay in getting sub-contractors to complete their job. And we accepted that the 4 day deadline could be extended 3 times even though we were without hot water and power for some of this. We also accepted a different finish as he already had it to hand. 

Rosa_Damascena

RubyHouse said:

Mistral001 said:

The OP had too high expectations that the electrical work could be finished in four days as has been said my many here.  Delays in supplies and delays caused by problems in coordination of sub-contractors will frequently occur in even the best run job. 

Terminating the contract in the way that the OP did it is actually a breach of contract and the electrician will probably ask for most of, if not all of, the £2.5K .  If he does, the courts will look upon his demands probably more sympathetically than I think you realise.  

PS.  You have asked for the bill, the next step is to wait until you get an invoice and then take it from there.  I would take lots of photos of the work done by the electricialn before any more work is done in case you need them in the future.

Granted we didn't consider the termination of contract at the time we told him to stop, but we have an email back from the tradesman that he will accept our wishes and cancel further work, we didn't receive any T&Cs which in hindsight should have been a red flag for us. But this is our first project, so lesson learned. 
There was no delay in getting sub-contractors to complete their job. And we accepted that the 4 day deadline could be extended 3 times even though we were without hot water and power for some of this. We also accepted a different finish as he already had it to hand. 

No more discussion, this chap won't go to the SCC any sooner than you do. But do be prepared to pay him a fair price for his work and move on.

Petriix

RubyHouse said:

This is a long story, will try to keep it 

I think you've successfully kept it.