electricians your help needed

[pip1954]

hi any sparks out there the question is about certificating work do you charge for the certificate
many thanks
pip

 

[Mr_P]

A bit like an MOT isn't it ?

Pass you get a certificate, fail you get a list of problems.

 

[pip1954]

hi maybe i did not explain, i meant when doing new work when you give certificate for work you have done
it's for lighting in new disabled loo with alarm and fan the sparks said it's £80 pounds for the cert .
cheers
pip

 

[paultnl]

I have never had to pay a separate fee for a certificate from a qualified sparks. The Electrical Safety Council says

"The benefits of using a registered electrician

We strongly recommend that you use a registered electrician to do any electrical work in or around your home. If you use a registered electrician, you can expect to have safe electrical installation work done, as the work should meet the UK national standard, BS 7671 (Requirements for Electrical Installations). You will not have to deal with building control directly and when the work is finished you should receive:

• an Electrical Installation Certificate or, where applicable, a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate that confirms the work meets BS 7671; and

• a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate that confirms the work meets the Building Regulations.

If the work carried out by the registered electrician doesn’t meet the requirements of the Building Regulations, you will have access to a formal complaints procedure."
http://www.esc.org.uk/public/guides-and ... and-wales/

I think he is taking the Michael.

 

[pip1954]

cheers paultnl
i was thinking the same seems a bit strange it's the place i work(part time) and i have been ask to look at his quote,
but have never heard of charging for a cert that's why i was asking in case have am not up to date with things
cheers
pip

 

[carlb40]

It depends. When someone calls a sparky in to do a job requiring a cert at the end. Are you getting a cost break down? The job may cost say 400 quid with the cert, but the cost may already be included in the overall price.

This quote i assume he has given you a total break down of costs? So has probably listed the cert price instead of hiding it amongst something else.?

 

[paultnl]

If he is a registered electrician he can fill out the forms in a couple of minutes at no cost. If he is not registered he would have to get someone else in to certify the work that would cost money. If so you have to balance the "savings" of using an unqualified electrician vs the cost of certification.

 

[nev]

If there is a requirement for a cert (such as a landlord gas safety cert) and you call someone in to check the previous installation and issue a cert then yes a fee would be payable.
If there is a requirement for work to be done to a certain standard and confirmed with a cert (for example for building regs) then that would be expected to be within the price of the work to be done, because there would be no inspection (i.e call out +time) to be made as the work would have been done to the required standard in the first place.
Seems to me like a bit of a rip off to quote for work PLUS money for the paper to confirm that his own work was done properly - as if he is going to fail it anyway!

 

[MMUK]

Try asking the local Building Control for a cost to register the work and supply a cert. You'll be looking at the thick end of £200 depending on the authority concerned.

It's not just the ocst of a piece of paper. There's the cost of registering the job and the maintenance costs of test equipment to consider. The testing equipment has to be re-calibrated every year and the bill for that could be as much as £300.

 

[paultnl]

The whole point of using a registered electrician is to avoid the need to register the work.

Taken from http://www.esc.org.uk/public/guides-and ... and-wales/

You must first check whether the work is notifiable. If it is then you must either;

• employ an electrician who is registered with one of the Government-approved scheme providers; or tell (‘notify’) your local-authority building-control about the installation work before work begins.

From October 2013 you will also be able to employ a non-registered electrical installer who has appointed a registered third party certifier to carry out the required inspection and testing of the work both during and on completion.

 

[pip1954]

thanks guys seem most think same as me they are taking the mick
the firm are getting more quotes
but it depends on total cost to me but we will see when the other quotes come in
pip

 

[finneyb]

I don't think he is taking the mick.

Check if he is registered, I suspect he isn't and therefore needs a certificate which will cost him money and he is showing that in his estimate. If he isn't registered I would expect his hourly rates to be lower.

The acid test is the total cost compared to others and of course can he actually do the job.

Brian