Should we pay the electrician separately?

xileer

We are doing a small extension; we got a quote from a cowboy builder which included the electrical work which was to be done by his cousin.

The electrician done the first fix, then he rang us saying he’d like to be paid separately, and said the price for the work was €2000, we agreed as the money to pay the electrician would be coming out of the builder’s quote, but as the building work continued, the quote kept getting bigger and bigger due to everything been an extra according to the builder.

We feel both of them are trying to pull a fast one on us, because we got warning from another builder who knows their form. According to the cowboy builder he was only allowing €400 in his quote to wire a sitting room, a bed room and en suite while the electrician is looking for €2000 for the work. The only extra work he did from the original quote was wiring for 2 bed lights, a telephone socket and 2 outside lights (we supplied all the lights).

We had arguments with them both on separate occasions, the builder said his cousin is overcharging, while the electrician swore that’s the lowest any electrician would do the work for, but they aren’t willing to settle it face to face.

The building work was supposed to be a 3 week job which started in November 09 and still as yet hasn’t been completed, and the work that has been done is of a very low standard. However the electrical work is completed, but now the cowboy builder has disappeared, and we have the electrician at our door looking for his €2000 everyday.

We are in the process of getting in an engineer to condemn the cowboy builder’s bad workmanship and thinking of seeking legal advice. The other builder who warned us told us; once we paid the big money to the electrician the cowboy builder will be coming hammer on the door looking for the rest of his money.

The question here is should we pay the electrician €2000 which he claims his owed? We feel we should not make any payment until the dispute is settled, are we in the right? What steps we could take to stop the electrician from hassling us?

Victor

The electrician has no contract with you (presumably). His contract is with the main contractor and thats where he should look for his money.

If he's causing hassle, bar him from your property.

xileer

We didn’t have a written contract except the initial quote with the builder, which isn’t very detailed but included electrical work. The electrician only gave us his own version of quote after he had electrical work completed. We think he just chancing his arm to get money out of us.

johnnyfruitcake

two grand for 3 rooms, and you supplied the fittings your being totally ripped off there for a start

xileer

How much roughly do you think it should be?

DOCARCH

xileer wrote: »

How much roughly do you think it should be?

Ballpark E75 per fitting, i.e. per socket, light, etc., and that should give you a rough guide.

Poor Uncle Tom

You need to get your solicitor involved as well as the engineer. The electrician has to be told to go to the builder for payment and builder needs to be told that you are not happy with the situation and to back off until the solicitor and engineer have assesed the works.