What to ask an electrician before they start

Ask which certification body they’re with, ask for a written quote, and ask for the electrical installation certificate at the end. If any of those throws them, ring the next one.

Bad electrical work is dangerous and often invisible. You can’t see a dodgy joint behind a plastered wall until something goes wrong. There are electricians listed across the directory, and the gap between the good ones and the chancers is wider than in almost any other trade. These questions help you tell them apart.

Know what Part P actually means

In England and Wales, most electrical work in homes falls under Part P of the Building Regulations. That means more than doing a good job: the work has to be notified to Building Control, either by the electrician (if they’re on a registered competent person scheme) or by you paying the council to inspect it.

A registered electrician is the cheaper, easier route. They self-certify and issue the certificate, and you keep the paperwork for your records. The main schemes are:

• NICEIC: the best known, with its logo on vans all over the country.
• NAPIT: just as valid, with a slightly smaller presence.
• Stroma: another approved competent person scheme.

An electrician who isn’t on any of them isn’t doing anything illegal. But you’ll either have to pay Building Control separately or hope nobody asks when you come to sell the house, so it’s easier to hire someone registered in the first place.

Six questions to ask before they start

1. Which competent person scheme are you registered with? You want a scheme name and ideally a registration number. Every scheme has an online register where you can check it.
2. Will you issue an Electrical Installation Certificate when the job’s done? For any notifiable work the answer should be yes. If it’s no, they can’t self-certify, and you’re left sorting out Building Control at your own cost.
3. Can I get an itemised written quote? Labour, materials, timings, and VAT if it applies. “About a grand” over the phone means nothing when the bill lands.
4. Do you have public liability insurance? Any decent sparky has it. Ask how much cover: £2 million is standard, and bigger firms often carry £5 million.
5. Will you need to test the existing installation first? For anything beyond a simple swap, the honest answer is usually yes. An electrician who dives in without checking what they’re wiring into is guessing.
6. Who’s doing the actual work? A bigger firm might send an apprentice on the day. That’s fine as long as a qualified person signs off the work and you’ve been told.

What the paperwork should look like at the end

For plenty of jobs, such as new circuits, consumer unit swaps, bathroom wiring and supplies to outbuildings, you should end up with one or more of these.

• Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC): issued for new circuits or major alterations. Keep it with your house paperwork, because you’ll need it when you sell.
• Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEIWC): for smaller jobs like adding a socket to an existing circuit.
• Building Control notification: for notifiable work, the scheme sends this automatically, and it arrives in the post a few weeks after the job.

Notifiable work must come with paperwork. If they finish and don’t mention it, ask. If they tell you it’s fine without, it isn’t.

Red flags worth listening for

• “I don’t bother with all that certification stuff.” Run.
• Quoting far below the others. On a rewire or consumer unit swap, a quote at half everyone else’s usually means corners are being cut somewhere.
• No mention of testing the existing installation. Testing is essential for anything touching the consumer unit or adding a new circuit.
• “I’ll sort the certificate later.” They won’t.

Finding one near you

The electricians directory on WotsItCalled lists sparkies in every city we cover. Start with the city pages, such as electricians in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol or Liverpool, then ring a few and work through the questions above.

What the final bill should include

For anything bigger than a socket swap, the invoice at the end should match the quote at the start. Any extra work should have been agreed in writing before it was done, not sprung on you at the end. A proper invoice lists:

• Labour hours at the agreed rate. A day’s work should show a day’s hours, not four days for a six-hour job.
• Itemised materials. The consumer unit brand, cable runs, sockets and fittings, so you can check them if you want to.
• VAT. Clearly marked as included or excluded.
• Certificate reference. The Electrical Installation Certificate serial number, printed on the invoice so the paperwork ties together.
• Warranty on their labour. 12 months is standard. Scheme-backed warranties last longer, up to 6 years with some registered schemes.

Keep the certificates with your house paperwork. You’ll need them when you sell or remortgage, and any time a future electrician needs to know what’s in the walls.

The short version

• Hire an electrician registered with NICEIC, NAPIT or another competent person scheme, and Part P is handled for you.
• Ask for a written quote, proof of insurance and confirmation that they’ll certify the work at the end.
• Notifiable work needs an Electrical Installation Certificate or a Building Control notice. Having only one is fine, but having neither is a problem.
• If they brush off the paperwork question, ring the next one.
• Check the scheme’s online register to confirm they’re actually on it.

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