Queries regarding Inspection Report I've just had completed

[Strima]

Hi Strima - yes, correct, summary report states "live test only due to the poor state of connections in the consumer unit and incorrect terminations of neutral and earth conductors into their corresponding bars. No dead tests were carried out"...I have no idea what he means by poor state, he has not explained and there is nothing on the 'observations and recommendations for action' report regarding the 'poor state'.

A very poor excuse. If anything doing the dead tests would have been a good opportunity to rectify the 'poor state' for minimal effort.

 

[buzzlightyear]

he arrived at 12:40 and was gone by 14:40...£192 for two hours work, not a bad hourly rate

looking at the report in which is done on a pc or similar so the amount of the above does not come to the consideration then. and to do the cert & testing ,it the way you are defending your self considering you want the test cert for the building control .

 

[rolyberkin]

Can you post a picture of your consumer unit without the front on?

 

[Rpa07]

I agree Butch - if it is possible for you to negotiate a lower price due to less work undertaken then do it and walk away. We didn’t know the price, that is expensive definitely £50 over the top. Have a go with a well worded email.

 

[Butch]

looking at the report in which is done on a pc or similar so the amount of the above does not come to the consideration then. and to do the cert & testing ,it the way you are defending your self considering you want the test cert for the building control .

Buzz, apologies, but I have no idea what you are talking about, what do you mean I am defending myself? In what way, defending myself about what? The inspection failed due to issues with the installation, that's absolutely fine, if it's dangerous I want to know, my family live in this house, that's the whole point of an inspection report isn't it?

I don't understand what this means "looking at the report in which is done on a pc or similar so the amount of the above does not come to the consideration then. "?

...or this "and to do the cert & testing ,it the way you are defending your self considering you want the test cert for the building control ."

I think you might be misunderstanding, my query wasn't that it failed, my query is that the guy quoted me for an Inspection Report which includes Dead testing the system, he didn't perform the Dead testing, so why am I still paying for it. The other query I had was why did the whole system have to be re-tested after the remedial work, why wasn't the items that failed just re-tested...I can't see any where where I am defending myself, I'm just trying to understand the whole process by asking the experts as I am getting very vague answers from the guy that did the work.

 

[Butch]

Can you post a picture of your consumer unit without the front on?

Hi rolyberkin, I am also intrigued, however, it would mean disconnecting the electrics in the garage and then removing the case, don't fancy doing that now, however, if I'm home from work early enough tomorrow I certainly will do.

 

[Butch]

I agree Butch - if it is possible for you to negotiate a lower price due to less work undertaken then do it and walk away. We didn’t know the price, that is expensive definitely £50 over the top. Have a go with a well worded email.

Wish I had read that sooner! Damn, I've just transferred him the full amount, I decided in the end just to write the £200 off as a bad experience, even though I don't have that kind of spare cash to just splash out thought it would be easier as I didn't really have a clue how long a dead test takes.

 

[buzzlightyear]

The inspection failed due to issues with the installation, that's absolutely fine, if it's dangerous I want to know, my family live in this house, that's the whole point of an inspection report isn't it?

you have done some work butch, It is down to the inspector at the time to give a sat or unsat on the test cert .I'm not defending the said spark .looking at the test cert I seen it . you are now in a predicament .whether to speak to him and get the work passed or request another spark to do the work and pass it .

 

[Rpa07]

Sorry Butch, strange that the price wasn’t mentioned all though the thread.
Hope it all goes well from now on.
Work with a good spark that you trust.
If you have the ‘nextdoor’ app Where you are ask for recommendations. I’M not even going to mention the amount of threads mentioning ‘trusted trader’ it’ll only wind you up!

 

[Nigel]

Sounds like a nightmare customer to me. Done a poor job trying to save himself a few quid. Wants an electrician to bail him out with certification and now does not like what he is reading so threatening not to pay him.

Should have got a sparks in from the start. Your family will be living in that house.

 

[Nigel]

LOL...well I've been well and truly ripped off, he originally advised the work would take aprox 3hrs to complete the Inspection report, as it transpired, he shot off an hour early as he couldn't complete the DEAD testing due to the order of the conductors in the CU, he arrived at 12:40 and was gone by 14:40...£192 for two hours work, not a bad hourly rate if you can get it. I think my GP is on less than that!!

It is not the testers fault your installation is so poor he cannot test. You got quotes and went with cost over competence. That is your choice and you need to live with it. What he earns in two hours is none of your concern. Would you have paid him more if it took him longer?

 

[buzzlightyear]

It is not the testers fault your installation is so poor he cannot test. You got quotes and went with cost over competence. That is your choice and you need to live with it. What he earns in two hours is none of your concern. Would you have paid him more if it took him longer

one did try and tell him .

 

[Risteard]

I do think there is issue with how the inspection was carried out here although many relevant points have also been raised in this thread, unless the installation is wired in singles then I see no issue with doing dead tests regardless of the N/E connection order, it seems like a lazy attitude not to do the tests then put them back in the correct order.
I agree the EICR is a report on the installation as it stands but some issues can simply be resolved by the inspector if they go in with a professional attitude to start with.
I also am confused about the numerous joint box comment, unless these are somehow impeding the safety of the installation then there is nothing wrong with it, every electrical point in your house is technically a joint anyway.
I see within this thread that we have 2 issues, the OP's misinterpretation as to what an EICR is and what seems to be an unprofessional approach by the Electrician who could have carried out the dead tests (unless they were all in singles) by simply following the live wire to the common cable to test the N/E.

Any limitations in the report as already mentioned should have been discussed prior or during the testing, if you were not present then at a convenient point before the report was written then at least you would have been fully informed before the report was issued.

There's absolutely no way I'd be correcting the order of neutral and cpc connections as part of an EICR. Remedial works are completely separate. Also R1+R2 testing wouldn't be entertained - I'd verify cpc continuity through live testing as the installation is already energised.

 

[Butch]

Sounds like a nightmare customer to me. Done a poor job trying to save himself a few quid. Wants an electrician to bail him out with certification and now does not like what he is reading so threatening not to pay him.

Should have got a sparks in from the start. Your family will be living in that house.

LOL...I've been surprised I've had to wait this long for a generalisation like this, there is always one, thank you, you haven't disappointed, it's taken you a while but you are here at last.

Just to clarify, I am perfectly happy to pay him, that isn't the dispute, it failed, that's fine, however, like most people, I don't like paying for something that I was originally quoted for that hasn't been done, he quoted me for a full inspection which he hasn't done.

However, I take heart in the responses from your fellow electricians who have been nothing but decent, helpful and informative professionals...not someone who comes jumping in with both left feet and embarrasses themselves by jumping to the wrong conclusions .

 

[Butch]

It is not the testers fault your installation is so poor he cannot test. You got quotes and went with cost over competence. That is your choice and you need to live with it. What he earns in two hours is none of your concern. Would you have paid him more if it took him longer?

Wow, you and Buzz stick out a mile from your fellow professionals in your attitude, you probably know the guy who did my inspection!

Joking aside, in response to your comment "It is not the testers fault your installation is so poor he cannot test."...totally agree, of course it isn't, however, in the world I live in, people pay for the actual work carried out or is it different in your world?

"You got quotes and went with cost over competence."...yes I agree, although I'm not entirely sure it was incompetence, I wouldn't like to accuse the guy of not being good at his job as I have no idea, it might be what you are portraying, a bitterness towards people that try and do the electrics themselves.

"What he earns in two hours is none of your concern."...it is when I'm paying him for 3 when he has only worked 2!

 

[Darkwood]

There's absolutely no way I'd be correcting the order of neutral and cpc connections as part of an EICR. Remedial works are completely separate. Also R1+R2 testing wouldn't be entertained - I'd verify cpc continuity through live testing as the installation is already energised.

That would be your choice but on the same note I wouldn't omit dead tests because they are incorrectly ordered unless wired in singles that would need a bit of time to trace out, like I said, it takes no time at all given your already doing dead tests to just correct the order and it comes across in a positive light when you pass on to the customer you have resolved one of the issues, to me it makes good business sense and it's little things like that that gets your name out there.. I have never needed to advertise in my 10yrs self employed, I would say that that is partly to do with my business attitude and professional approach, I not saying you are wrong here so don't take that from it, I just find my approach works very well.

 

[Nigel]

Wow, you and Buzz stick out a mile from your fellow professionals in your attitude, you probably know the guy who did my inspection!

Joking aside, in response to your comment "It is not the testers fault your installation is so poor he cannot test."...totally agree, of course it isn't, however, in the world I live in, people pay for the actual work carried out or is it different in your world?

"You got quotes and went with cost over competence."...yes I agree, although I'm not entirely sure it was incompetence, I wouldn't like to accuse the guy of not being good at his job as I have no idea, it might be what you are portraying, a bitterness towards people that try and do the electrics themselves.

"What he earns in two hours is none of your concern."...it is when I'm paying him for 3 when he has only worked 2!

So you employed someone and never even checked their competence? Wow!

Your post, with respect only highlights how clueless you are to how electricians do things.

You have paid him to do a report. You have not paid him to do three hours work. You have a report and it may or may not be worth the paper it is written on and that can be debated. However; whether he takes one hour of seven the price is the price.

 

[Butch]

you have done some work butch, It is down to the inspector at the time to give a sat or unsat on the test cert .I'm not defending the said spark .looking at the test cert I seen it . you are now in a predicament .whether to speak to him and get the work passed or request another spark to do the work and pass it .

Buzz - yes you are right, I need to sort it with either the original spark or get a new one, taking the advice from your fellow pros, I think the wise choice might be getting another one and writing this off as a bad experience. Sounds like most people on here have more interaction with their customers and explain what needs to be done rather than handing over a report and disappearing. It's like any other business, if you want to be successful you have to build a relationship with your customer and not have a grudge which is what I think it is, he would have done us both a favour and turned down the job if he didn't want it.

 

[Butch]

So you employed someone and never even checked their competence? Wow!

Your post, with respect only highlights how clueless you are to how electricians do things.

You have paid him to do a report. You have not paid him to do three hours work. You have a report and it may or may not be worth the paper it is written on and that can be debated. However; whether he takes one hour of seven the price is the price.

I'll try to make this as clear as possible...the service I required was an EICR, obviously, the EICR consists of the electrician carrying out a set procedures, lets say for example, the governing body created this report that consisted of 50 checks. So, lets try to make this clearer, so instead of saying to an electrician I want an EICR report, lets say I want 50 checks to be carried out. He turns to me and says, I will charge you £200 to carry out those 50 checks, this forms a verbal agreement. When the electrician only carries out say 30 of those checks say, I don't expect to pay for 50! The time issue was only mentioned to reinforce what I was saying, your fellow colleagues seemed to understand that.

 

[Butch]

That would be your choice but on the same note I wouldn't omit dead tests because they are incorrectly ordered unless wired in singles that would need a bit of time to trace out, like I said, it takes no time at all given your already doing dead tests to just correct the order and it comes across in a positive light when you pass on to the customer you have resolved one of the issues, to me it makes good business sense and it's little things like that that gets your name out there.. I have never needed to advertise in my 10yrs self employed, I would say that that is partly to do with my business attitude and professional approach, I not saying you are wrong here so don't take that from it, I just find my approach works very well.

Being from the 'other-side', as a customer I completely and utterly agree with what you are saying. Someone with your attitude are like gold dust, very difficult to find (no matter what the trade). Being the father of a son who also runs his own business, again I couldn't agree more with what you say, part of running a successful business is building that relationship with a customer and little things that make you stand out from the average go a long way. If you have that attitude, I think the only thing that can stop you being very successful is ones own ambition.