Electric rewire

enidmarples

Following an unsatisfactory Electrical Installation Report my letting agent arranged for a complete rewire of my 2 bed 1st floor flat at a cost of approx £3k. A few months later I have discovered that the loft has been left in an appalling state. It was fully insulated and boarded out and of course the boards had to be lifted during the rewire but they have not been replaced and the insulation material has been left where it was pulled up. The loft is currently unusable. Surely the contractor should have left it as it was found? I will be raising this with the letting agent (who I am no longer using due to poor service)

anselld

I would take it up with the electrical contractor directly.  You must have their details either on their invoice or on the installation certificate.

HampshireH

I would go direct to. The agency won't care more so if you aren't using them. I'm not sure what you would hope to achieve.

I would only go via them if the contractor goes down the route of you not being their customers as they were contracted by the agency. Unlikely they will

AdrianC

What happened about cosmetic "making good", plastering, redecoration for the rest of the flat?

Was that included in the rewire, or was that separate?

lookstraightahead

anselld said:

I would take it up with the electrical contractor directly.  You must have their details either on their invoice or on the installation certificate.

But this is a landlord issue - in fact the tenant shouldn't be involved except to let the landlord know how unsatisfactory it is.

HampshireH

lookstraightahead said:

anselld said:

I would take it up with the electrical contractor directly.  You must have their details either on their invoice or on the installation certificate.

But this is a landlord issue - in fact the tenant shouldn't be involved except to let the landlord know how unsatisfactory it is.

OP is the landlord aren't they? Tenants don't choose their agent.

enidmarples

AdrianC said:

What happened about cosmetic "making good", plastering, redecoration for the rest of the flat?

Was that included in the rewire, or was that separate?

AdrianC said:

What happened about cosmetic "making good", plastering, redecoration for the rest of the flat?

Was that included in the rewire, or was that separate?

There was no “making good” included in the rewire. A separate contractor was engaged by the agent at a further cost of £1600 for plastering and decorating. Unfortunately this wasn’t entirely acceptable either.

eddddy

enidmarples said:
There was no “making good” included in the rewire. A separate contractor was engaged by the agent at a further cost of £1600 for plastering and decorating. Unfortunately this wasn’t entirely acceptable either.

Was it a case of...

1. One contractor was hired to do the rewiring - with no making good
2. Another contractor was hired to make good plaster and redecoration
3. Nobody thought to hire a contractor to make good the loft insulation and boards

Or did one of the quotes say 'making good of the loft' was included? Or did the agent say that 'making good of the loft' was included?

If the agent hadn't thought about the loft - I guess that's a bit sloppy. But I guess agents don't normally go into lofts, so they might not have realised that a chunk of making good would be needed.

Maybe if you had spotted that making good of the loft wasn't included in the quotes and mentioned it to the agent, maybe the agent could have arranged it for you - but presumably that would have been another bill to pay.



Edit to add...
If you wanted to push things to the extreme, maybe you could argue that the agent was negligent in not arranging making good of the loft.

But it doesn't sound like you've suffered a financial loss as a result - as you probably hadn't paid for making good the loft. (Unless you want to try to argue that you've somehow lost rent as a result.)

AdrianC

enidmarples said:

AdrianC said:

What happened about cosmetic "making good", plastering, redecoration for the rest of the flat?

Was that included in the rewire, or was that separate?

There was no “making good” included in the rewire. A separate contractor was engaged by the agent at a further cost of £1600 for plastering and decorating. Unfortunately this wasn’t entirely acceptable either.

There's your answer, then.

They didn't include making good the loft flooring, either.

eddddy said:

Was it a case of...

1. One contractor was hired to do the rewiring - with no making good
2. Another contractor was hired to make good plaster and redecoration
3. Nobody thought to hire a contractor to make good the loft insulation and boards

Exactly that.

anselld

Still seems shoddy on the part of the electrician.  I undestand if plastering and decorating is excluded although plenty of electricians seem to manage it to a reasonable standard.  However, I would expect them to put back boards and insulation by default.  No different to lifting floor boards and carpet, ie as a tradesperson if you need to lift it you put it back how you found it.  (I assume they didnt leave floor boards up inside the house for someone else to fit.)