Building control and electrician sign off

itsalldrivingmemad

Hi all.
I wonder is anyone can help or advise us . We had an extension built last year and have been waiting for building control to sign off. The building control officer was waiting for the electrician to register the new circuit he put in under the ‘national competent persons scheme’. This never came through and we have been chasing the electrician for a few months, emails voicemails etc . Eventually spoke to his wife today who said they have ceased trading and nothing they can do about it. I know they haven’t ceased trading as they still post on Instagram work they have done, and they aren’t a ltd company so surely that’s not a thing just to cease trading and negate all previous responsibilities. Do they not have a duty to register this? Is there something we can do or is it a case of submitting to trading standards and paying a new electrician to verify his work. 

There was a dispute between the builder and the electrician about money and seems we are piggy in the middle. 

We can pay another electrician if needs be but don’t want him to get away with it and potentially do this to someone else.

Any advice is appreciated. TIA

Raggie

Did you employ the electrician or the builder?

Did you pay the electrician or did the builder?

The last part of the post indicated a dispute between builder and electrician. If you just engaged the builder and the builder engaged the electrician, your contract is with the builder so ask them how they plan to resolve it.

Its_not_paranoia

Get a quote for an electrician to come round and do whatever they need to do to issue a certificate - which will be a lot more than wave a multimeter around for 10 minutes. 

Then tell the builder to provide the certificate, or cough up for the quote you've received above. You don't need to contact the electrician - assuming you didn't employ them. Your builder did, but that's not your problem. 

If needs be you employ the new electrician, and then take your builder to small claims for the cost, but hopefully it won't come to that. 

itsalldrivingmemad

Raggie said:

Did you employ the electrician or the builder?

Did you pay the electrician or did the builder?

The last part of the post indicated a dispute between builder and electrician. If you just engaged the builder and the builder engaged the electrician, your contract is with the builder so ask them how they plan to resolve it.

A strange one, we employed the electrician as his company was *** building services recommended by a friend and we thought he was a builder and did the whole kit and caboodle.  We paid him a deposit then a builder turned up and started work and we thought he was his brickie.

 Turns out the *** building services was the electrician that do extensions but farm out the work. The deposit was his cut of the job. He wasn’t even a project manager on the job and hardly saw him.

The builder did everything else and was fab no complaints at all, we were told to pay the balance to him, and when he found out what we had paid the electrician he was a bit miffed.  

The friend who recommended him to us had no trouble at all. 

When trying to contact him for this sign off we just hit a brick wall as it were.

FreeBear

Have a chat with Building Control and ask what they need in order to sign off on the electrical work. BC should be able to sign off the whole lot without a separate submission from the electrician.

grumbler

FreeBear said:

BC should be able to sign off the whole lot without a separate submission from the electrician.

Reportedly, in this case they appoint their own electrician - at the customer's cost.

fenwick458

itsalldrivingmemad said:

Raggie said:

Did you employ the electrician or the builder?

Did you pay the electrician or did the builder?

The last part of the post indicated a dispute between builder and electrician. If you just engaged the builder and the builder engaged the electrician, your contract is with the builder so ask them how they plan to resolve it.

A strange one, we employed the electrician as his company was *** building services recommended by a friend and we thought he was a builder and did the whole kit and caboodle.  We paid him a deposit then a builder turned up and started work and we thought he was his brickie.

 Turns out the *** building services was the electrician that do extensions but farm out the work. The deposit was his cut of the job. He wasn’t even a project manager on the job and hardly saw him.

The builder did everything else and was fab no complaints at all, we were told to pay the balance to him, and when he found out what we had paid the electrician he was a bit miffed.  

The friend who recommended him to us had no trouble at all. 

When trying to contact him for this sign off we just hit a brick wall as it were.

well i've tried to read and understand that 3 times and my head hurts. 

so you employed an electrician that advertised themselves as a builder, and he takes on projects and subs out all the work????

do you know which scheme they are(or claimed to be) registered with? (NICEIC, NAPIT, STROMA etc) if so then you should take it up with them, you may not gain much personally by doing that but at least it may stop them doing it to someone else

I'm almost certain if you speak to your LABC and explain your situation they will just get you to find a local electrician who is competent to carry out EICR's (that's one who has the 2391 inspection and testing qualification and who has professional indemnity insurance) and they can test it, as long as they find it satisfactory then it's all ok (except you have to pay them yourselves, EICR's are in the region of £160-200 depending on where you live and the property size