Warranty for light switches?

Casati

New build domestic house wired by RECI electrican with certs completed circa 18 months ago. In last month two separate light switches - (NOT MK) Sline white plastic as supplied by the electrican have broken.

Is it typical for warranty or indeed consumer law to cover the cost of call out and replacements? Is it common for these light switches to fail?

meercat

Casati wrote: »

New build domestic house wired by RECI electrican with certs completed circa 18 months ago. In last month two separate light switches - MK white plastic as supplied by the electrican have broken.

Is it typical for warranty or indeed consumer law to cover the cost of call out and replacements? Is it common for these light switches to fail?

How have they broken?
I’d suspect you’re out of any warranty/guarantee
MK are a good quality switch btw.

Casati

meercat wrote: »

How have they broken?
I’d suspect you’re out of any warranty/guarantee
MK are a good quality switch btw.

The switch bit basically fell out on both of them, rendering them useless and also dangerous. Is it possible that they weren’t installed properly that led them to fail? Do RECI ask members to stand over work for any given length of time?

Sleeper12

Casati wrote:

The switch bit basically fell out on both of them, rendering them useless and also dangerous. Is it possible that they weren’t installed properly that led them to fail? Do RECI ask members to stand over work for any given length of time?

It's possible MK might send out replacement switches if it is a manifacturer fault, even outside the warranty, but they won't cover the cost of installing them.

I can't see how the installation itself could cause the issue you described

Casati

Sleeper12 wrote: »

It's possible MK might send out replacement switches if it is a manifacturer fault, even outside the warranty, but they won't cover the cost of installing them.

I can't see how the installation itself could cause the issue you described

Hardly worth the effort contacting MK if its only to get free switches as they are only about €1.20 each - the electrician wants €120 quid call out which is the bigger issue, especially if another breaks next week/ month etc.

Does anybody know what the typical electrical contractor warranty is?

kramer1

120 call out is a bit steep, very surprising for any light switch to fail after 18 months, sparks isn’t obliged to repair for free after a year and a half but I probably would, or at least do it for less than 120

Lenar3556

Casati wrote: »

Hardly worth the effort contacting MK if its only to get free switches as they are only about €1.20 each - the electrician wants €120 quid call out which is the bigger issue, especially if another breaks next week/ month etc.

Does anybody know what the typical electrical contractor warranty is?

Usually 12 months in practical terms, unless there was a major defect which you could demonstrate was present at the time of installation.

MK are some of the best switches on the market.
Why are they breaking? Are they being hit or used aggressively?

Something I came across recently in a local community building was that certain cleaning products can cause the assembly plastics to fail and the presentation was very like what you describe. In the case I saw it in, there were multiple brands of wiring accessories affected - Some of which had been in for 20 years.

As a COVID measure the premises occupants were spraying and wiping down the switches several times a day with a cleaning product containing quaternary ammonium. They have since switched to 70% IPA and there has been no issue. About 20 switches had to be replaced after only a few weeks of this stuff!

Casati

Thanks for the replies. Both of these switches that failed were harder to press than others but worked fine until they broke - is it likely they were simply faulty from new or could that be a sign of how they were wired - I dunno how say maybe too much wire left scrunched up or something else that could have been avoided?

punisher5112

He wants what???? €120 my god that's shocking, where you based op.

Sleeper12

Everyone sets their own prices & I wouldn't argue with his pricing in normal situations but I think most tradesmen would charge closer to half that price if they fitted switches that seem to be falling apart after 18 months.

Casati

punisher5112 wrote: »

He wants what???? €120 my god that's shocking, where you based op.

Im told that is standard callout charge - its a large Cork based contractor. I was hoping they would stand over it for free but if not I will probably do it myself

meercat

Casati wrote: »

Hardly worth the effort contacting MK if its only to get free switches as they are only about €1.20 each - the electrician wants €120 quid call out which is the bigger issue, especially if another breaks next week/ month etc.

Does anybody know what the typical electrical contractor warranty is?

I’d guarantee for a year.
Depending on how close the contractor is to you it’s hard to determine if the cost to replace is reasonable or not

punisher5112

Casati wrote: »

Im told that is standard callout charge - its a large Cork based contractor. I was hoping they would stand over it for free but if not I will probably do it myself

Just do it yourself, getting charged €120 is nuts.

Take a photo, number the cables to make it easier if there is numerous cables.

Sleeper12

"The right to a remedy applies for at least 2 years across the EU. Member States are allowed to set longer time limits (known as limitation periods). In Ireland, the limitation period is 6 years. This means you are entitled to raise a problem about a product for up to 6 years from the date of buying"

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer/consumer_laws/your_rights_as_consumer_in_ireland.html

If the electrician supplies & fits then your contract is with them and not MK. They should be doing something here for you

Casati

Sleeper12 wrote: »

"The right to a remedy applies for at least 2 years across the EU. Member States are allowed to set longer time limits (known as limitation periods). In Ireland, the limitation period is 6 years. This means you are entitled to raise a problem about a product for up to 6 years from the date of buying"

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer/consumer_laws/your_rights_as_consumer_in_ireland.html

If the electrician supplies & fits then your contract is with them and not MK. They should be doing something here for you

Thanks for that but I wonder is a house wiring covered - Ie it’s not like a tangible product like a tv or washing machine etc?

Sleeper12

Casati wrote: »

Thanks for that but I wonder is a house wiring covered - Ie it’s not like a tangible product like a tv or washing machine etc?

The if the electrician supplied the switches then he is responsible & not MK. He should meet you half way & cut his fee in half. The small claim court is not worth the hassle but you'd win hands down. The sale of goods act is very clear on this

punisher5112

For a €2 switch or less seriously just change it.

I wouldn't be getting in a twist over it and definitely wouldn't be calling out an electrician to pay €120 to do so.

Screwfix has single ones for 1.65

Tren.

Casati wrote: »

The switch bit basically fell out on both of them, rendering them useless and also dangerous. Is it possible that they weren’t installed properly that led them to fail? Do RECI ask members to stand over work for any given length of time?

It would be worth seeing them

Casati

Casati wrote: »

Here it is, have you seen this before?

.

Tren.

Hmm , and you sure they're MK

antoinolachtnai

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The if the electrician supplied the switches then he is responsible & not MK. He should meet you half way & cut his fee in half. The small claim court is not worth the hassle but you'd win hands down. The sale of goods act is very clear on this

The electrician is responsible but not to the home purchaser. The home purchaser needs to pursue the person who sold him/her the home. In practice this is unlikely to be fruitful for a relatively small fault.

punisher5112

I'd say switch got a smack at some point.

Before or after fit.

Sleeper12

antoinolachtnai wrote:

The electrician is responsible but not to the home purchaser. The home purchaser needs to pursue the person who sold him/her the home. In practice this is unlikely to be fruitful for a relatively small fault.

Yes you are totally correct. I skipped over the part that says new build.

OP Light switch & the wall around it, in the photo, looks like it's been through the wars. It looks like a lot of wear and tear for 18 months.

Lenar3556

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The if the electrician supplied the switches then he is responsible & not MK. He should meet you half way & cut his fee in half. The small claim court is not worth the hassle but you'd win hands down. The sale of goods act is very clear on this

The contract would only be between the homeowner and electrician if the homeowner engaged him directly. i.e not via a builder, which would be more typical.

It’s not worth pursuing to the small claims court, although even if it was success wouldn’t be a certainty. The onus would be on the homeowner to demonstrate that these switches had an inherent material defect at the point they were supplied. The fact that the rocker has now fallen out would be helpful, but you would be relying on some latitude from the judge if that was all you were bringing to the table.

Agree that it’s poor form on whoever installed them not to make some attempt to resolve at a more reasonable cost. I think most would agree to replace them.

The photo doesn’t look like an MK branded switch to me.

Tren.

Lenar3556 wrote: »

The contract would only be between the homeowner and electrician if the homeowner engaged him directly. i.e not via a builder, which would be more typical.

It’s not worth pursuing to the small claims court, although even if it was success wouldn’t be a certainty. The onus would be on the homeowner to demonstrate that these switches had an inherent material defect at the point they were supplied. The fact that the rocker has now fallen out would be helpful, but you would be relying on some latitude from the judge if that was all you were bringing to the table.

Agree that it’s poor form on whoever installed them not to make some attempt to resolve at a more reasonable cost. I think most would agree to replace them.

The photo doesn’t look like an MK branded switch to me.

Didn't look like MK to me, I've never seen them fall out either

Usually in the RECs interest to call out in case it gets ugly

Casati

Tren. wrote: »

Didn't look like MK to me, I've never seen them fall out either

Usually in the RECs interest to call out in case it gets ugly

Thanks for input - I remember seeing empty MK boxes but I’l find out for sure when I change it. Both switches failed during normal use, and haven’t been hit, or cleaned with anything other than a dry microfibre cloth. My phone camera shows up the a bit of filler was used to repair cracked plaster and not painted since, but to the eye it doesn’t look bad at all, other houses are obviously more impeccable

I was a self builder dealing direct with all trades, and the electrical contractor used was actually good enough - zero issues until these switches started breaking. The message I’m getting is technically after 12 months is don’t expect them to replace for free and the easiest thing is to get the screw drivers out?

punisher5112

Casati wrote: »

Thanks for input - I remember seeing empty MK boxes but I’l find out for sure when I change it. Both switches failed during normal use, and haven’t been hit, or cleaned with anything other than a dry microfibre cloth. My phone camera shows up the a bit of filler was used to repair cracked plaster and not painted since, but to the eye it doesn’t look bad at all, other houses are obviously more impeccable

I was a self builder dealing direct with all trades, and the electrical contractor used was actually good enough - zero issues until these switches started breaking. The message I’m getting is technically after 12 months is don’t expect them to replace for free and the easiest thing is to get the screw drivers out?

Yes pretty much they are a less then 2 euro item.

Tren.

Casati wrote: »

Thanks for input - I remember seeing empty MK boxes but I’l find out for sure when I change it. Both switches failed during normal use, and haven’t been hit, or cleaned with anything other than a dry microfibre cloth. My phone camera shows up the a bit of filler was used to repair cracked plaster and not painted since, but to the eye it doesn’t look bad at all, other houses are obviously more impeccable

I was a self builder dealing direct with all trades, and the electrical contractor used was actually good enough - zero issues until these switches started breaking. The message I’m getting is technically after 12 months is don’t expect them to replace for free and the easiest thing is to get the screw drivers out?

All the homeowner knows about an electrical installation is the switches are level and everything works

Just saying

Tren.

I suppose the concern is how many more will fall off

Casati

Tren. wrote: »

All the homeowner knows about an electrical installation is the switches are level and everything works

Just saying

Don’t assume that’s all I know

Casati

Tren. wrote: »

I suppose the concern is how many more will fall off

Yeah that’s a concern, I don’t want to be replacing another 20+ odd of them but probably overkill to replace all of them now