10 Rogue Trader Warning Signs
The rogue electrician:
- Will work ‘cheaper for cash’.
- Would not give references.
- Tells you they are approved by an organisation when they are not.Ask to see his registration and check it yourself by ringing the organisation.
- Only gives you a mobile number,no address or busuness card.
- Will not confirm the quote in writing.
- Confuses you with technical jargon
- Asks for money upfront.
- Provides a quote that is very low – if something sounds too good to be true, it most cases is!
Consumer Tips & Advice From Electrical Safety Council- www.esc.gov.uk
*** Be clear about the work you want done, prefererably have it in writing. We are approved by ELECSA, please ring 0845 634 9043 and ask about ELMAN LTD. Details can be found on our website at www.elecsa.co.uk .
*** Ask for references and check they have public liability insurance of at least £2 million. Our insurance is with AVIVA, please see www.aviva.co.uk
*** All electrical installation work should be carried out by a competent, electrically trained, person and the work should meet BS 7671(IEE Wiring Regulations).
The UK national standard for electrical work and the main guide which assist electricains with electrical installation.
On completion of the work, a part P certificate will be issued to you.
*** Check whether any electrical work you need doing comes under the requirements of the Building Regulations for your area. If it does, then you should either use an electrician registered with a government-approved scheme who will take care of everything on your behalf.
ELMAN LTD is self certyfying member of ELECSA,one of the five bodies in UK
On the 1st January 2005 new Building Regulations came into force.
Should you have any electrical work completed in your house from 1st January 2005, you are aware of what your requirements and responsibilities are. The reason for this change in the legislation is to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by faulty electrical installations and also to make it harder for ‘cowboy builders’ to leave electrical installations in an unsafe condition.
You will be able to meet your commitments under the Building Regulations by ensuring that all high risk work defined below (known as notifiable works) is advised to your local Authority Building Controls Department, OR by using a contractor who is registered with an approved self assessment scheme such as ELECSA.
These are installers who have been assessed by ELECSA as meeting the standards laid down by the Government guidelines and are able to self certify their work as meeting the Building Regulations.
The table below should help you identify work that requires notification –
- Electrical work requiring notification
- House rewire and new circuits
- Work returning to the consumer unit
- Work done in a kitchen or bathroom excluding replacement of e.g. light fittings or plugs
- Work done outside the fabric of the house, e.g. permanent garden lights, power to sheds, remote garages
- Ceiling heating, under floor heating
- Swimming pool, saunas, spas and saunas Work not requiring notification
- Repair
- Replacement of installed unit
- Maintenance work
- Telephone cable (unless in swimming pool/spa etc.)
- Replacing light fittings or plugs
A safety certificate issued by the electrician on completion of an electrical installation installation. The certificate confirms that the installation has been designed, built, inspected and tested to the UK standard BS 7671.
A situation where it has not been possible or necessary to fully rewire the electrical installation. For example when cables has been confirmed as being suitable for continued use to minimise the decoration. This could be only confirmed,when rigorous tests on the circuit under question has been done.If you are considering a partial rewire or it is offered to you as an option by an electrician it is very important that you agree and understand exactly what work is and is not being done before the work starts.
Installing new cables, circuits and accessories and inspection and testing before the installation is switched on for normal service. A full rewire means that all parts of the electrical installation are new. You may wish for items such as switches and light fittings to be re-used and the electrician may re-use a part of the installation which is electrically sound, due to it being difficult to remove and replace. It is very important that you understand and agree with the electrician what work is, and is not, being done before the work starts (see Partial rewire). Complete rewires are not always required,please see partial rewire section
This is connecting metal pipes (water,gas, or any exposed metal strucure,with contact to earth)at the point of enetring entering the property, to the main earthing terminal of the electrical installation. This is done via cable(green and yellow single,usually 10mm. This is very important part of the safety of your electrical installation and must be installed if not present.
More Jargon Buster
sockets, ceiling roses,sockets etc.
a metal or plastic shaped channel sometimes used to contain cables when fixed to a wall before plastering. Capping is used to make it easy to run several cables following the same route with the minimum use of fixings. It does not provide protection against damage from nails or screws.
channeling into walls to allow the installation of cables.Chasing causes a lot of disruption, noise and dust and once completed will require making good (see Making good).
a consumer unit or fusebox is used to control and distributeelectricity around the home. It usually contains a main switch, fuses or circuit breakers and one or more residual current devices (see RCD).
the purpose of earthing is to minimise the risk of receiving an electric shock if touching metal parts when a fault is present. This is achieved by providing a path for fault current to flow safely to earth, which would also cause the protective device (MCB, fuses) to disconnect the circuit removing the danger. The electrician will check that the earthing and bonding is satisfactory before starting any work.
electrical accessories such as switches or sockets installed so that
their back boxes are contained in a wall, floor or ceiling and only the front plates are
visible. Flush fitting is more aesthetically pleasing but usually involves chasing (see Chasing).
see consumer unit.
enables electricity to be supplied to an item of equipment or appliance providing its own method of circuit protection (by fuse), and sometimes includes a switch. Fused connection units are sometimes referred to in the electrical trade as fused spurs (see Spur).
connecting metal pipes (gas, water or oil) entering premises to the
main earthing terminal of the electrical installation via low resistance conductors.
restoring the finish of a wall or ceiling that has been damaged and
replacing floorboards which have been lifted during the electrical installation work.
Usually does not cover full redecoration, but will be the filling in of chases (see
Chasing) and holes. You may agree with the electrician to leave the making good of
walls and ceilings to another person such as a plasterer.
Miniature circuit-breaker (commonly known as a circuit-breaker). An
automatic protective device fitted in the consumer unit which will disconnect a
circuit if there is a fault or overload.
a plastic enclosure having one removable side that is used to
install cables on the surface of walls and ceilings.
a safety certificate (see Electrical installation certificate)
used when only an addition or alteration is made to an electrical installation and no
new circuits have been added.
Residual current device. This is a sensitive switching device that trips a circuit
when an earth fault is detected. RCD protection is particularly important for socket
circuits that may be used to supply portable equipment for use outdoors.
an additional connection often taken from an existing accessory such as a
socket. It may provide a supply to a new socket or a fused connection unit (see
Fused connection unit).
the connecting together of the metal parts of electrical
equipment (such as a heated towel rail) and the metal parts of a non-electrical item
(such as pipes) to prevent a dangerous voltage between them, if a fault occurs. May
be required in bath and shower rooms.
this is where wiring or electrical accessories such as switches or
sockets are installed so that they are on top of the surface or front of a wall, floor or
ceiling. This causes less disruption to the decoration but is not as aesthetically
pleasing as flush fitting (see Flush fitted).
FIND US ON WWW.ELECTRICALSAFETYREGISTER.COM Company name Elman
