Certification of house electrics

Supernintento Chalmers

Is there such a thing as an electrical cert that houses should have?

My Granny had a lot of renovation work done, most of the house was rewired.
The contractor provided the Electrician who was fairly useless. There were problems like sockets not working, etc.
They finished without testing or providing any sort of electrical cert. She eventually gave up on trying to chase up the contractor.

Should she have some sort of electrical cert. If so could she get a different electrician to come in and do this?

Risteard81

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

If so could she get a different electrician to come in and do this?

No. It works solely on the basis of self-certification.

meercat

It’s a requirement that the electrical contractor provide a certificate
You should request it off him.
Safe electric may be able to help you if you don’t make progress directly with the contractor (assuming he is registered)

Supernintento Chalmers

meercat wrote: »

It’s a requirement that the electrical contractor provide a certificate
You should request it off him.
Safe electric may be able to help you if you don’t make progress directly with the contractor (assuming he is registered)

He seems to have disappeared. The work was done about a year ago. His phone number seems to be dead now.
Not sure what she should do now?

Stanford

If the Contractor employed the Electrician then he must provide a RECI cert, who employed who?

Supernintento Chalmers

Stanford wrote: »

If the Contractor employed the Electrician then he must provide a RECI cert, who employed who?

The contractor employed the Electrician. The contractor appears to have disappeared though.

Stanford

Strictly speaking you have no contractual relationship with the Electrician as you were not his client but he should still have a copy of the RECI cert, ask him for it.

meercat

Stanford wrote: »

Strictly speaking you have no contractual relationship with the Electrician as you were not his client but he should still have a copy of the RECI cert, ask him for it.

He should have provided it at the time ,irrespective of who employed him

https://safeelectric.ie/help-advice/completion-certificates/

punisher5112

This may well be costly.

You will have to employ another electrician to solve the issues and sign off unless you can find the original contractors.

Stanford

I agree with both recent posts but OP says the Contractor cannot be found, he hasn't indicated if the Electrician can be found, if he can then he should have a copy of the Cert, its unlikely that a new electrician will certify somebody else's work

Risteard81

meercat wrote: »

He should have provided it at the time ,irrespective of who employed him

https://safeelectric.ie/help-advice/completion-certificates/

He only needed to supply his Client (the builder) with it. He didn't have to provide it to the end-user.

Supernintento Chalmers

She has no idea who the Electrician was.
Moving forward, would it be possible to hire an Electrician to test, fix any faults and then issue a cert?

punisher5112

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

She has no idea who the Electrician was.
Moving forward, would it be possible to hire an Electrician to test, fix any faults and then issue a cert?

Hard but I'm sure someone will at the right price.

As mentioned they don't tend to like certificate others work which is understandable.

If the job is poor they make look to rewire depending.

Risteard81

punisher5112 wrote: »

As mentioned they don't tend to like certificate others work which is understandable.

It is actually prohibited without express written permission from RECI.

meercat

Risteard81 wrote: »

He only needed to supply his Client (the builder) with it. He didn't have to provide it to the end-user.

Really?
The certificate is for the installation with the name and address. the original copy going to the customer

Irrespective of who’s paying I’d say the customer is the householder

Supernintento Chalmers

punisher5112 wrote: »

Hard but I'm sure someone will at the right price.

As mentioned they don't tend to like certificate others work which is understandable.

If the job is poor they make look to rewire depending.

Thanks. The main thing is I want to make sure it's safe.
If there are any Electricians here interested in a bit of work in the City Centre, please message me.

Risteard81

meercat wrote: »

Really?
The certificate is for the installation with the name and address. the original copy going to the customer

Irrespective of who’s paying I’d say the customer is the householder

Really. The requirement is to issue it to the client (person ordering the work). No RECI rule has been breached if that has been done.

The builder should later pass it on to his client (the end-user).

Stoner

meercat wrote:

He should have provided it at the time ,irrespective of who employed him

True but to the contractor.

Stoner

meercat wrote:

Irrespective of who’s paying I’d say the customer is the householder

Yes but in my experience, it's the contractor who has to handover all the safety documentation.

Usually payment is held if they don't.

2011

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

The main thing is I want to make sure it's safe.

According to you the electrician has left a number of issues unresolved such as sockets not working. This is basic stuff, for thy reason I would be concerned about the standard of work carried out. I would be reluctant to let this go if I were you.

You also state that the installation is untested despite the fact that much of it has been rewired. How do you know this? Are you just guessing?

Has the builder been paid in full?

Supernintento Chalmers

2011 wrote: »

According to you the electrician has left a number of issues unresolved such as sockets not working. This is basic stuff, for thy reason I would be concerned about the standard of work carried out. I would be reluctant to let this go if I were you.

You also state that the installation is untested despite the fact that much of it has been rewired. How do you know this? Are you just guessing?

Has the builder been paid in full?

The contractor has disappeared, that ship has sailed. Some sockets didn't work as well as some other issues, these were resolved.

The Electrician said he was coming back to do testing but didn't.

There was some retention, the contractor never looked for it.

2011

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

The contractor has disappeared, that ship has sailed. Some sockets didn't work as well as some other issues, these were resolved.

The Electrician said he was coming back to do testing but didn't.

There was some retention, the contractor never looked for it.

So your contract (even if not written) is with the builder. Therefore you should insist that the builder provides you with the electrical completion certificate. How he gets this is not your problem. It is up to the builder to chase the electrician, not you.

Supernintento Chalmers

2011 wrote: »

So your contract (even if not written) is with the builder. Therefore you should insist that the builder provides you with the electrical completion certificate. How he gets this is not your problem. It is up to the builder to chase the electrician, not you.

I've said several times that the contactor cannot be contacted.
I'm looking for a solution that does not involve the contractor.

2011

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

I've said several times that the contactor cannot be contacted.
I'm looking for a solution that does not involve the contractor.

Apologies, I assumed you were referring to the electrical contractor.

salmocab

2011 wrote: »

So your contract (even if not written) is with the builder. Therefore you should insist that the builder provides you with the electrical completion certificate. How he gets this is not your problem. It is up to the builder to chase the electrician, not you.

IF the builder owes the electrician money could he claim he hasn’t finished the job so hasn’t certified? He could say he hasn’t finished bonding or something.
I’m just wondering if the sparks could push back against something like that not for a second saying it’s happened here.

2011

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

Some sockets didn't work as well as some other issues

The Electrician said he was coming back to do testing but didn't.

Both of the above are unacceptable and potentially dangerous. Unfortunately a small minority of Registered Electrical Contractors still behave like this. I think your only option is to contact RECI and explain the situation.

Personally I would ensure that the builder was found and made face the music.

Risteard81

salmocab wrote: »

IF the builder owes the electrician money could he claim he hasn’t finished the job so hasn’t certified? He could say he hasn’t finished bonding or something.
I’m just wondering if the sparks could push back against something like that not for a second saying it’s happened here.

He couldn't have energised the installation without bonding being in place as this is a fundamental part of the ADS protective measure!

2011

salmocab wrote: »

IF the builder owes the electrician money could he claim he hasn’t finished the job so hasn’t certified? He could say he hasn’t finished bonding or something.

Obviously this REC has no respect for the regulations so that is possible but at least this would make it possible to locate and identify him and force him to leave the installation in a safe manner. This is one of the issues with the self certification policy we have.

I’m just wondering if the sparks could push back against something like that not for a second saying it’s happened here.

Not really possible to push back when you have ignored fundamental regulations.

salmocab

Risteard81 wrote: »

He couldn't have energised the installation without bonding being in place as this is a fundamental part of the ADS protective measure!

Yeah but if it’s only a partial rewire he could have just used the existing board and someone else could turn the main breaker back on or he could claim they did anyway.
I’m more thinking if he’s owed money what he could say to get away from doing anything, especially testing a poor installation. If the builders gone there is a decent chance he’s owed a few quid.
It does sound like he was rough as though.

20/20

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

The contractor has disappeared, that ship has sailed. Some sockets didn't work as well as some other issues, these were resolved.

Why didn't the person who fixed to sockets do the certification ?
It now seems unfair looking for a third electrician to give you a cert for god knows what.

Supernintento Chalmers

20/20 wrote: »

Why didn't the person who fixed to sockets do the certification ?
It now seems unfair looking for a third electrician to give you a cert for god knows what.

There's no second electrician. The original one fixed the issues before absconding.

punisher5112

Op you should contact the electrical association reci.

You should also contact the likes of trading standards I'm not sure what we call it here... I'm sorry I watched a lot of BBC rogue traders ;-)

I would be chasing up the builder and follow the paper trail.

You need to get these back or be able to basically sue as you will most likely need a full rewire and certification done.

Supernintento Chalmers

punisher5112 wrote: »

Op you should contact the electrical association reci.

You should also contact the likes of trading standards I'm not sure what we call it here... I'm sorry I watched a lot of BBC rogue traders ;-)

I would be chasing up the builder and follow the paper trail.

You need to get these back or be able to basically sue as you will most likely need a full rewire and certification done.

Short of hiring Liam Neeson, I've no way of tracking this person down.
At this stage I'd much rather just pay someone to test the installation to see what the story is. It may be completely fine, if not I'll know exactly what needs doing.

meercat

Supernintento Chalmers wrote: »

Short of hiring Liam Neeson, I've no way of tracking this person down.
At this stage I'd much rather just pay someone to test the installation to see what the story is. It may be completely fine, if not I'll know exactly what needs doing.

A periodic inspection report may be the way to go if you’re just looking for the installation tested and to highlight any deficiencies. It’s a 4 page report outlining the condition of the electrical installation.
It doesn’t have to be done by the electrical contractor that did the installation. It is not a replacement for the original completion certificate and cannot be used for connection to the ESB Networks (I see you’re already connected but I wouldn’t be confident that mains cables are up to requirements)

2011

^^^^ I think that this is a good idea, however it is important to understand the limitations of these tests. An installation that passes is not necessarily up to the required standard.

Supernintento Chalmers

Thanks. I think I'll go with this.