Sending electrician invoice to landlord --

ry250

ry250 said:

Section62 said:

ry250 said:

...I got in touch with my landlord and he came round within the hour really and told me to do something I had, by that time, already done, which was switch off all circuits, slowly switch them back and do the whole unplug socket, test appliances and essentially isolate the issue. All to no avail, since it tripped again.

How many times?

ry250 said:

In regards the immediacy of it, I told him I needed an electrician round and he said "my guy is not around today" which meant nothing to me, so I took it upon myself to call an electrician round and he was round for all of five mins and said the same "turn of all appliances" (which I had done, twice). He wasnt much use and told me to perservere with the isolating and turning appliances off and said he "suspected" it to be a faulty appliance and left.
...

When the landlord said that, did you reply "Well I need the power working properly today, so are you Ok picking up the bill if I call someone else out myself on a Sunday morning?" (or words to the effect) ?  If not, what did you agree with him?

In total, since the 10/11, it has tripped in total around six times. But very intermittent and not something that is easily noticeable 

I didnt mention the bill when he was right infront of me no, but I did make it clear I needed someone round that day, asap really and he said "yeah absolutley"

user1977

ry250 said:

ry250 said:

Section62 said:

ry250 said:

...I got in touch with my landlord and he came round within the hour really and told me to do something I had, by that time, already done, which was switch off all circuits, slowly switch them back and do the whole unplug socket, test appliances and essentially isolate the issue. All to no avail, since it tripped again.

How many times?

ry250 said:

In regards the immediacy of it, I told him I needed an electrician round and he said "my guy is not around today" which meant nothing to me, so I took it upon myself to call an electrician round and he was round for all of five mins and said the same "turn of all appliances" (which I had done, twice). He wasnt much use and told me to perservere with the isolating and turning appliances off and said he "suspected" it to be a faulty appliance and left.
...

When the landlord said that, did you reply "Well I need the power working properly today, so are you Ok picking up the bill if I call someone else out myself on a Sunday morning?" (or words to the effect) ?  If not, what did you agree with him?

In total, since the 10/11, it has tripped in total around six times. But very intermittent and not something that is easily noticeable 

I didnt mention the bill when he was right infront of me no,

Well you seem a bit stuck then. Especially as your electrician didn’t even solve the problem.

ry250

user1977 said:

ry250 said:

ry250 said:

Section62 said:

ry250 said:

...I got in touch with my landlord and he came round within the hour really and told me to do something I had, by that time, already done, which was switch off all circuits, slowly switch them back and do the whole unplug socket, test appliances and essentially isolate the issue. All to no avail, since it tripped again.

How many times?

ry250 said:

In regards the immediacy of it, I told him I needed an electrician round and he said "my guy is not around today" which meant nothing to me, so I took it upon myself to call an electrician round and he was round for all of five mins and said the same "turn of all appliances" (which I had done, twice). He wasnt much use and told me to perservere with the isolating and turning appliances off and said he "suspected" it to be a faulty appliance and left.
...

When the landlord said that, did you reply "Well I need the power working properly today, so are you Ok picking up the bill if I call someone else out myself on a Sunday morning?" (or words to the effect) ?  If not, what did you agree with him?

In total, since the 10/11, it has tripped in total around six times. But very intermittent and not something that is easily noticeable 

I didnt mention the bill when he was right infront of me no,

Well you seem a bit stuck then. Especially as your electrician didn’t even solve the problem.

Just got an email from the landlord to say it can be deducted from this months rent so, solved, in a financial sense.

saajan_12

ry250 said:

user1977 said:

ry250 said:

ry250 said:

Section62 said:

ry250 said:

...I got in touch with my landlord and he came round within the hour really and told me to do something I had, by that time, already done, which was switch off all circuits, slowly switch them back and do the whole unplug socket, test appliances and essentially isolate the issue. All to no avail, since it tripped again.

How many times?

ry250 said:

In regards the immediacy of it, I told him I needed an electrician round and he said "my guy is not around today" which meant nothing to me, so I took it upon myself to call an electrician round and he was round for all of five mins and said the same "turn of all appliances" (which I had done, twice). He wasnt much use and told me to perservere with the isolating and turning appliances off and said he "suspected" it to be a faulty appliance and left.
...

When the landlord said that, did you reply "Well I need the power working properly today, so are you Ok picking up the bill if I call someone else out myself on a Sunday morning?" (or words to the effect) ?  If not, what did you agree with him?

In total, since the 10/11, it has tripped in total around six times. But very intermittent and not something that is easily noticeable 

I didnt mention the bill when he was right infront of me no,

Well you seem a bit stuck then. Especially as your electrician didn’t even solve the problem.

Just got an email from the landlord to say it can be deducted from this months rent so, solved, in a financial sense.

Sounds like you have a VERY generous landlord, if they arrived that quickly on a sunday and are covering the electrician. 

For anyone else reading that may try the same, expect very different results - this doesn't sound like an emergency needing an out of hours call out until a few more things have been tried.  Also the electrician ended up being ineffective, which would be your problem to argue with the electrician. 
If the LL failed to fix in a timely manner then eventually after some escalations and reminders, you could deduct the cost of ACTUALLY getting it fixed, not of a pointless call out. 

diggingdude

I'd make sure the landlord gets a Christmas present for covering that bill. I'd also be looking at doing a review for the electrician if he has an online presence

DeathByFluffy

You have a very generous landlord - you absolutely didn’t need someone out there and then. 

Landlords have a certain amount of time in which to respond to incidents, and it’s not immediately on a Sunday morning for an electrical issue like that. 

bobster2

These things can be difficult to track down. But there could be some clues in what you've described.

You've said it tripped in the night. And doesn't trip immediately when everything is switched back on.

So appliances / systems that are functioning intermittently in the night might be a good place to look...e.g.

- Fridge / freezer
- Heating system
- External light? E.g. motion activated security lights

Also - was it raining? Are there any lighting circuits that could intermittently be exposed to water? Or leaking pipes that could drip onto wiring?

Another thing to consider - any signs of rodents? That could be chewing on wires?

In my experience - when I've had trouble it has either been a toaster, rain or a mouse. But presumably the toaster isn't toasting stuff when you're asleep! 

gm0

We had a late 90s house with a "pooled RCD" so one residual current trip across the circuits.  

Each circuit had its own current MCB switches which did not trip.  These were the 80s/90s kind not the modern RCBOs.  The 1990s "pooled RCD" which checked earth leakage alongside across all circuits just adds up all the individual earth leakage and if it spikes across the limit mA boundary. Pop. All off.  Flick switch go again.  Later. Pop.  Bit random.   Multiple things causing the leakage. Some big. Some small.

Fridge and freezer compressor motor insulation, oven elements, kettles, some power supplies in other things - all can contribute a tiny amount as they wear.  The annoyance is being away and it happening and freezers defrosting until you return and put the trip back. Fridges and freezers cycle. A starting current peak can be accompanied by an earth leakage one.  Sometimes they align.  Sometimes they don't. 

The REAL solution to one of these "pooled RCD" nonsenses - is RCBOs on each circuit and pulling the pooled RCD out and throwing it in the dustbin.  Each circuit will have its own residual earth leakage threshold and be protected. 

So it won't add up all devices on all circuits any more.  This can require a new consumer unit to be wired and tested.  As it is not always possible to retrofit RCBOs to an existing box.  It depends on size, spare slots, manufacturer etc.  That would cost the landlord around £500-£1000 (wide range on labour cost and full cu and testing, number or circuits etc. We did this.  No more trips.

Yes you can and should find a device that's developing a fault.   But some leakage is inevitable (over time). Wear and tear.  You don't trash a freezer for a tiny earth leakage current from it's compressor windings.

BungalowBel

My son had a dishwasher that always tripped the switch at the end of its cycle.  If the dishwasher wasn't on, everything was fine.  (he no longer has that dishwasher!).

Do you have an appliance that switches on and off periodically?  Could be that.

ry250

DeathByFluffy said:

You have a very generous landlord - you absolutely didn’t need someone out there and then. 

Landlords have a certain amount of time in which to respond to incidents, and it’s not immediately on a Sunday morning for an electrical issue like that. 

Well then if landlord did not arrive in time, I get an electrician round, simple stuff. Sorted now. Been sorted for a while.