UK Extremely detailed EICR resulting in £7000 remedial works quote

L

ldngbc

DIY
Good evening,

This pertains to a four-bedroom property that is vacant due to minor redecorating. As part of this we employed a sizeable electrical company who completely went to town with the report and came back with 18 C2s for a non-period property that was redone in 2012. Furthermore the quote to remedy the 18 C2s exceeds £7,000. If that's the price, the property will not be able to recoup that cost even with many months of rent and we may as well give up and sell it.

Once an EICR report has been completed, is it allowed to ask another electrician to do another EICR report? If this second opinion flags up, say, 6 C2s, would I be done for the other 12 that the first electrician "spotted"?

Amidst the quote are:
  • £900 to replace two fire alarms. Apparently battery alarms are not sufficient; they must be wired in.
  • £1600 to replace 20 "class 1 construction" downlight fittings, as the extraneous parts aren't earthed. Apparently plastic replacements won't pass.
  • Up to £1000 to investigate loss of continuity in ground floor ring circuit. Apparently it may take a whole day to find where the continuity is lost.

We're at a loss and any comments by anyone who knows anything would be incredibly helpful!

Thank you so much.
 
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Can you redact the the names and addresses on the EICR and post it here for review

I assume you have only listed the big cost items from the quote what does the remaining £3.5k buy you

How big is this property and how many sockets are fitted on the ground floor ring with £1000 to investigate the fault have they indicated what the repair might cost once they find the fault
 
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Although I don’t know London prices, but to me that is extortionate.
Get a second quote from another electrician, but if it was all done in 2012, there can’t be much wrong.

As for the faults listed....

you can get lithium battery powered smoke alarms for £80~ with a radio interlink (when one goes off they all go off) diy installation. If you don’t want mains powered. (Check this before renting out that it would be acceptable)

£80 per downlight seems steep. Sometimes the type of downlight is ok, but the wiring itself is wrong. (Eg, the installer didn’t connect the earth wire through to every light position.

A couple of hours to trace the fault. It’s just taking sockets off and finding the break, but the fix could take a lot more.
 
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Even London rates of £600 a day , I can’t get to £7000 for the work you have been quoted

I could do 2 x mains smokes hard wired dedicated circuit £550
Replace 20 x DL £1200
Rewire up to 20 x sockets on the ground floor £2000

so my bill would only be £4000 absolute max
 
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Thank you all so much for all these thoughts. I have reviewed the information more and it's actually £6000 for remedial works, as the £7000 includes £1000 for the EICR report itself. The day labour rate is £800 + VAT.

The ground floor is about 450 sq ft. I'm not entirely sure how many sockets there are. The property is small for having four bedrooms.

I have uploaded the screenshots for the items here. Please let me know if it's unreadable - it looks clear in the text editor but I don't know how it will come out. Thank you!

1615407466468.png

1615407524785.png
 
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The listing of 'old' and 'discoloured' items tells me everything I need to know about the agenda of the people doing that report. Assuming the test results are OK, the lack of RCD protection could most likely be remedied in a day by changing the consumer unit.

The fact that the lack of RCD protection features multiple times, I think supports my view.

Get a recommendation for a spark you trust from someone and have them take a look at the report and give you a quote to fix what actually needs fixing.
 
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Some list there.... pity they hadn’t proof read it beforehand. (Item 15, “up” rating??? That’ll be IP)

If the whole place was redone in 2012, there should be nothing wrong with the switches and sockets unless they’re physically damaged, which he has picked up in a couple times. “Discoloured” isn’t really under the BS7671 remit.
 
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Blooming heck

£2,5K for a new consumer unit is very steep

round my was I offer rcbo board upgrades for about a grand , grand and a half If need new bonding installed

i cant see how they got to £2,5k
 
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I know I'm not alone, but I've done quite a bit of fault finding and none of it has come anywhere close to taking one day to find what could be a single fault. With proper testing techniques they should be able to get close to the fault on that ring circuit within an hour, two tops. I would hope to have it down to a single accessory or cable segment within a couple of hours.

Those prices are ridiculous.
 
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£1000 for an EICR ?
I did a large 5 bedroom 3-storey house the other day for £300. Was this initial price agreed before hand?
I’m london based and could never get away with charging that much or have the conscience to do so.

As everyone else has mentioned, a couple hours labour to initially fault find and possibly fix the ring would be enough.

As far as I know, unless it’s a HMO, mains wired detection is optional, not mandatory.
Detection in general is optional. Ask the company to show you what reg number requires you to have hard wired detectors.

Then regarding the downlights, more than likely the CPCs have been cut back and could possibly be reconnected, otherwise class 2 fittings are more than adequate.
I think £40 per spot supplied and fitted is more reasonable.
 
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Those prices are well above what I would expect even for London. What’s worse is they don’t appear to know what they are talking about.

I was sent a very similar report, along with a silly remedials price list recently. I’m doing a new eicr on the same place next week. Sometimes you’re better off cutting your losses.
 
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ldngbc said:
Yes, they quoted for 1.5 days' labour for this part, at £800 per day plus VAT (plus materials).
Click to expand...
ridiculous price for a board upgrade, should be no more than £1500 tops all in finished job , assuming they don’t find any nasties which they shouldn’t as they already did an eicr
 
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There should be nothing wrong with the consumer unit. Plastic does not mean it needs replaced.
I understand fully that as a landlord, you would want your property to be safe for any tenants. Sounds like they do too, and are taking full advantage.

I’ll repeat what I said earlier, and as others have said... get a second quote.
 
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For the OP.... regarding the consumer unit being plastic... page 15....

https://www.----------------------------/media/2149/bpg4-1.pdf

Ultimately it's the spark carrying out the inspection who decides how to classify each particular issue but the Best Practice Guides are supported by some big names and they only recommend a C3 for the plastic consumer unit and even that has caveats, like being in the only escape route or under a wooden staircase.

In the past I've gone and worked through the list of issues on an EICR for a client, checking they were actually issues. I fixed the real problems about 25% of the items on the EICR and simply wrote a report supported with pictures and test results to clarify the other things were not in fact problems. Was for a house sale and everyone seemed happy, especially the client as it saved her £100s.
 
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I just changed a consumer unit today, back in the morning to finish testing.

Hager, SPD, all rcbo’s - 14 of them. Around a grand all in. That’s pretty much top end for me, unless other work like bonding needs doing. Should be under 1.5k even if London and all rcbos imo.

As above, I’d wager it likely doesn’t need changing at all. Some people want to change every non fire rated downlight and every plastic consumer unit they find. All at inflated prices of course.

Outside of London around the south east then £3-400 a day is about right for a quality tradesman. Often a bit less. I would’ve thought £500 even in central London, but maybe I’m wrong.
 
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mattg4321 said:
I just changed a consumer unit today, back in the morning to finish testing.

Hager, SPD, all rcbo’s - 14 of them. Around a grand all in. That’s pretty much top end for me, unless other work like bonding needs doing. Should be under 1.5k even if London and all rcbos imo.

As above, I’d wager it likely doesn’t need changing at all. Some people want to change every non fire rated downlight and every plastic consumer unit they find. All at inflated prices of course.

Outside of London around the south east then £3-400 a day is about right for a quality tradesman. Often a bit less. I would’ve thought £500 even in central London, but maybe I’m wrong.
Click to expand...

you are looking around £90-95 per hour central London, so £600-700 per day wont be uncommon.
labour rates in the capital are currently sky high during the panademic , as contractors are trying to cash in on jobs while the goings good
 
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ldngbc said:
Ah, is that including or excluding VAT? Here it's £800 ex. VAT.
Click to expand...

ex vat

as I say , get a second quote from a reputable electrical contracted (eastway electrical) for 2 reasons

1 - half the work might not need doing

2 - should only cost £4-5k max if it does all need doing
 
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MrPupsi said:
£1000 for an EICR ?
I did a large 5 bedroom 3-storey house the other day for £300. Was this initial price agreed before hand?
I’m london based and could never get away with charging that much or have the conscience to do so.

As everyone else has mentioned, a couple hours labour to initially fault find and possibly fix the ring would be enough.

As far as I know, unless it’s a HMO, mains wired detection is optional, not mandatory.
Detection in general is optional. Ask the company to show you what reg number requires you to have hard wired detectors.

Then regarding the downlights, more than likely the CPCs have been cut back and could possibly be reconnected, otherwise class 2 fittings are more than adequate.
I think £40 per spot supplied and fitted is more reasonable.
Click to expand...
Thank you this is very helpful.

Just to get clear on the CPCs, if they've been cut back. The best option presumably is that the CPC wires are in the vicinity of the lights and have enough length to reach each light fitting? And then the next best is to replace the light fittings to Class II non-conducting ones?

If this is the case, I don't understand why my electrician is trying to replace all of them with Class I fittings, which obviously needs earth. That doesn't make any sense at all.
 
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SparkyChick said:
For the OP.... regarding the consumer unit being plastic... page 15....

https://www.----------------------------/media/2149/bpg4-1.pdf

Ultimately it's the spark carrying out the inspection who decides how to classify each particular issue but the Best Practice Guides are supported by some big names and they only recommend a C3 for the plastic consumer unit and even that has caveats, like being in the only escape route or under a wooden staircase.

In the past I've gone and worked through the list of issues on an EICR for a client, checking they were actually issues. I fixed the real problems about 25% of the items on the EICR and simply wrote a report supported with pictures and test results to clarify the other things were not in fact problems. Was for a house sale and everyone seemed happy, especially the client as it saved her £100s.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the document @SparkyChick - that's so appreciated.
 
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Thank you so much to you all for your thoughts and comments. It has given me hope for humanity again. You're all kind-hearted for your reassurance and giving us an idea of what we should reasonably expect.

It's clear that we should get a second quote for it all. A loss is a loss but not if we can save several thousands of pounds. Now we know that noting "discolouration" isn't the only thing that's ridiculous about what we've received from them.

Thank you and I wish you all a lovely evening!
 
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The price is a bit cheeky true. What must not be forgotten is the EICR market has gone into overdrive at the moment. Prices will rise to put the brakes on work from that area. You may find it difficult to get someone to address the EICR remedials due to the above. I presume you knew the price of the EICR beforehand? Should shop around always!
 
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imo and this is just my experience but the pandemic has pushed rates sky high because people dint necessarily want 3 or 4 or 5 trades round quoting for the job In the covid.
they get 1 contractor in , take their price as gospel and tell them to do the work at what ever cost. Get them in and get them out as quickly as possible

I myself had new double glazing quite recently and only got 2 quotes, pre covid world I would have likely got 3 or 4 companies round. I would have and probably should have haggled harder etc
 
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ldngbc

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Extremely detailed EICR resulting in £7000 remedial works quote
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