Electric work completed by cowboys

[ravi05]

Hi,

I had my whole house re-wired by cowboy electricians(I did not know this at the time). They told me they were registered and they would give me a certificate once the work was completed. However once they completed the work they had taken the money and left without no certificate. I soon found out that they were not registered electricians and so were not able to give me the certificate. I have since had the work looked over by a professional and majority of the work is up to scratch apart from the electric meter. These cowboys had moved the electric meter ( which according to the profesional electrician) should only be moved by my electric supplier (EDF). I have called up EDF and they said that they cannot re-seal the meter until they see a Health and Safety certificate?.

I never knew what I was getting into until today. Can someone recommend what I should do? I have shown it to 2 professional electricians and nobody wants to sign it off a certificate because 1) they did not do the work & 2) the cowboys moved the electric meter which is illegal!

Help please!

Ravi

 

[SimonH2]

This really belongs in the electrics section ...

The problem you have now is that you cannot get another electrician in to certify it - they could only do that by undoing enough work (eg hacking off plaster, pulling up floors, etc) to be sure that the cables are all in the right places, there aren't hidden joints, and so on. Only then could they have enough confidence to put their name to it which is the only way of certifying it.

Your only alternative is now to go to your local authority Building Control dept (LABC) and hope they are understanding. They are the only people who are allowed to issue a completion certificate on someone else's work. Normally you must notify them before starting work, and get them in to look at things after first fix (when the cables are in, but not plastered over). Ultimately you as the property owner are responsible even if the cowboys you employed lied to you, but you may find your LABC will be understanding.

Also, contact Trading Standards so they are aware of the cowboys.

As for the meter, the supplier will be looking for an electrical installation certificate (or LABC completion certificate) showing that the installation is safe and to standards. From what you write, it seems like EDF are being reasonable - they would be within their rights to be "quite difficult" over this illegal work. I suspect it's nothing new to them.