Changing Electrician between first and second fix

markonm

Hi,

Hope this is the right forum. I am looking at changing my electrician between 1st and 2nd fix of a new build.

How would the electricians amongst you feel about certifying another persons work? Is it possible? I guess it must happen all the time. Anyone any experience of this.

bertie1

I wouldn't go in & take on the job . The only reason for changing would be the first guy wasn't paid. On top of that the new contractor cannot sign off on the cert as it is not his work . Somebody else did it & he cannot stand over it as he does not know what is there in the first place. There must be a problem if you feel you need to change contractors in the middle of the job.

Dotsie~tmp

Second this opinion. Unless I could contact the first contractor and be assured that he was paid for the first fix properly, I wouldn't touch this. If he didn't get paid that usually means I won't.

If his work was bad I wouldn't continue to 2nd fix for obvious reasons either! You may find it hard to find a contractor (who is qualified to certify) to do this now without these assurances. Nixer men maybe but they usually aren't registered .

Care to enlighten us?

P.S. There are methods in place for someone to take over someone elses work. It's in ECSSA literature. I'm not sure about RECI.

davelerave

i think reci/ecssa have to get involved.i wouldn't go near anything like that ,but you might stand a better chance now with the downturn

curraghyid

Dotsie~tmp wrote: »

Second this opinion. Unless I could contact the first contractor and be assured that he was paid for the first fix properly, I wouldn't touch this. If he didn't get paid that usually means I won't.

If his work was bad I wouldn't continue to 2nd fix for obvious reasons either! You may find it hard to find a contractor (who is qualified to certify) to do this now without these assurances. Nixer men maybe but they usually aren't registered .

Care to enlighten us?

P.S. There are methods in place for someone to take over someone elses work. It's in ECSSA literature. I'm not sure about RECI.

reci dont recommend it but dont oppose it either, with regard to op you will find it very difficult to get a bonifide contractor to 2nd fix someone elses work, why cant he finish it would be my first question.

c.a.r.l

Work is work guys. If you test the house and all passes, put down the info on the cert everything should be fine, our arses are covered!!
Whats the problem? I have gone in to loads of second fix jobs where I have found the price the sparks were charging was too much for the householder to cope with so they tend to reprice.

markonm

The problem was with the builder. not the electrician. I sacked the builder and am taking over the finsih out. No problem with any of the other subbies but I suspect the electrician wasn't happy with first fix payment and is trying to claw it back. Fair enough but I have already paid for it and am not paying a second time. He has stated that I have no choice but to get him to do the second fix at his price as 'no-one else with certify it' (as people have said). Well, I think 3K for 3 days work for a second fix is too much and am looking at my alternatives.

No real problem with anyone in this, it's just that I feel I am being screwed and times are tough

davelerave

only a cowboy would step in and take over another man's job.

Stoner

IMO the best solution is for the original guy to finish the work. But other contractors finish other peoples work all the time, for various reasons from this situation, the original electrician going out of business, walking off site etc.

There there are plenty of reasons as to why it is perfectly fine for a second contractor to take over a project.

Codofwar

Agree with you stoner but before going in to finish someone else's work you would have to know why exactly the origional contractor is not finishing. If there is a legitimate reason like going out of business or that I dont think any electrican would have a problem finishing a job once they can fully check what has been done before. imo.

firesidechat

No matter how quiet the work scene is ,
i would never ever walk into another tradesman's job.
You say the builder is sacked.Sit down with the electrican and come to a
mutual agreement.
The road you are taking at the moment may cost you a lot more money in the long run. Plus the bad karma.....

bertie1

If you get a new electrician , all the old guy has to do is inform RECI there is a dispute. Then your new contractor will not be able to certify the installation ( its technically not his own work) . You will then have to pay a seperate fee for an inspector to come out to certify it. Both the old & new contractor will have to fill up paper work with RECI etc.
Certs are returned to RECI to make live on the ESB networks system so they will have ultimate control.

aws

Installing Contractor Not Available To Certify A New Installation

RECI Rule 14 states that the registered contractor may not certify new installations not constructed by him/her without specific authority by RECI. However, sometimes the contractor who installed the electrical installation in a building is not available to certify the installation or the consumer may be unable to obtain a completion certificate. In such cases the consumer then cannot obtain electricity supply to the new installation.

In these circumstances if the consumer wishes to appoint an alternative electrical contractor to test and certify the installation, RECI may authorise the alternative contractor to do so. The consumer should complete a RECI F002 form and submit to RECI. This form is available online at the bottom of this page. On receipt of this form, the installing contractor is written to advising him of the situation and asking him to respond. If the installing contractor will not issue the completion certificate then RECI, having considered all the circumstances and made whatever investigations it deems appropriate, may authorise an alternative contractor to test and certify the installation. The installation should also be inspected by RECI and if the inspector is satisfied that the installation complies with the Wiring Rules then the contractor, if he is registered, can issue a completion certificate or alternatively if it is a non registered contractor the inspector will provide a certificate for the contractor to complete and sign.

In some cases the installing registered contractor will issue the completion certificate to his customer, the building contractor. However, sometimes the building contractor withholds the completion certificate in order to assist his commercial negotiations with the consumer. The agreement between the ESB and RECI with regard to completion certificates was put in place in the interests of safety and standards and it was not intended that the completion certificate should be used for commercial purposes. It is therefore RECI's policy in these cases to authorise an alternative electrical contractor to test and certify the installation. However in this case the installing registered contractor has not breached any RECI rule.

This form is to be completed in cases where the Installing Contractor is not available to certify a new installation constructed by him.

bertie1

Why would any contractor want to take the job on & have all that extra hastle?

Dotsie~tmp

bertie1 wrote: »

Why would any contractor want to take the job on & have all that extra hastle?

Exactly unless he is desperate. In which case his work would have a question mark over it. Speaking for myself I would steer well clear if there had been money problems. When u cert a job u stand over it for the life of that installation remember.

Best solution here still is to come to terms with original contractor. Everything else is massive hassle.