New kitchen electrics issue - was i ripped off on this job?

[matttytn2]

i have just had a new kitchen fitted.

i was advised that the electrics that were there for my existing cooker (all in one electric inc hobs) and extractor fan were no good and that i will need have a new feed put in from the fuse box. i am confused it all was / seemed fine before and the fuse box has a swich for the cooker and that all worked fine. any way the did the following...

installed a earth (my house didnt have one)
extension of cooker circuit, new supply for kitchen sockets and spurs
new supply for extractor fan
bonding where required
new 16 amp breaker

materuaks and labour £550
extras socket face plates and cooker isolator £60

£610.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Sounds like he used a SWA cable to feed the cooker (thick black shielded power cable from fuse box to cooker).
Unusual, wonder why?

perhaps thats all they had in the van at the time....improvising or summat like that..lol......

 

[DurhamSparky]

improvising or summat like that..lol......

Cowboying or somit like that!! ?? lol

 

[Marvo]

You guys are worse than a sewing circle. There might be nothing wrong with the installation and the certificates might arrive as promised.

 

[trev]

Marvo you are, of course, right but is it not wise for the op to check to see whether this guy is a member of a CPS?

 

[GLENNSPARK]

You guys are worse than a sewing circle. There might be nothing wrong with the installation and the certificates might arrive as promised.

well i said so she said...and i said so she said...and i said so she said.........

 

[Marvo]

....is it not wise for the op to check to see whether this guy is a member of a CPS?

Agreed or she should definitely follow up and get the certificates at least.

My worry was she'll be too busy because she's looking for alternative accommodation after reading the thread.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Agreed or she should definitely follow up and get the certificates at least.

My worry was she'll be too busy because she's looking for alternative accommodation after reading the thread.

well there is that earthing....and bonding.....i mean is it up to the 17th edition....like you say Marvo....we dont know whats gone on here (apart from what the o/p has told us)......could be knowt wrong as you say....but some pics would help....as others have posted......

 

[alarm man]

One thing you could do, to put your mind at rest, is google the "competent persons" website, and look up the individual who did the electrics. Such work in a kitchen is covered by Part P and the individual is required to be registered with a scheme.

if he's had a part p'er in then he should worry..

 

[Des 56]

Its all supposition
Someone has come on here to check on the cost, they are clueless about electrical installation
Their description could paint a picasso as a childs scribble or a childs scribble as a picasso

I defer judgement until photographic evidence is submitted m'lord

 

[matttytn2]

Sounds like he used a SWA cable to feed the cooker (thick black shielded power cable from fuse box to cooker).
Unusual, wonder why?

is this bad i dont understand any of this. only had my home a year.

 

[matttytn2]

pls advise exactly what photos are required

 

[DurhamSparky]

fuse box
black cable
new green earth cables

 

[Knobhead]

mattytn2.

You made your choice, you paid your money. Nothing we say can get it back or put things right for you.

caveat emptor!

 

[Rockingit]

So, the vultures gather looking for an easy meal. But from where I'm sat, I can't actually see a dead animal. Not even one with a limp, at the moment.

Come on guys, this is getting stupid. OP suggests a list of work and seems to pay a fair price, list of work done suggests knowledge of what should be installed to meet regs, etc.

Ooh, but a black cable, you cry. So what? Has anyone stopped to ask if it's been surface clipped for some reason? Or stopped to consider that it might have been done as an alternative to needing to fit an RCD even.

Yes, the OP should check the electricians credentials and that he'll be getting the Part P paperwork, but to suggest more than that based purely on syniscm and tutting just gets us ALL a bad name.

 

[matttytn2]

i am just checking to learn more i would like to understand what i have spent my money on, i think that's fair. in addition i am turning my garage in to a room and that needs all the electrics re fitting so will line up the same electrician as i dont know anyone who does electrics near me.

 

[Geordie Spark]

So, the vultures gather looking for an easy meal. But from where I'm sat, I can't actually see a dead animal. Not even one with a limp, at the moment.

Come on guys, this is getting stupid. OP suggests a list of work and seems to pay a fair price, list of work done suggests knowledge of what should be installed to meet regs, etc.

Ooh, but a black cable, you cry. So what? Has anyone stopped to ask if it's been surface clipped for some reason? Or stopped to consider that it might have been done as an alternative to needing to fit an RCD even.

Yes, the OP should check the electricians credentials and that he'll be getting the Part P paperwork, but to suggest more than that based purely on syniscm and tutting just gets us ALL a bad name.

:iagree:

 

[Rappid]

Matty

Post your location, there are a lot of good sparkies on here who could help you out with any future work

 

[malcolmsanford]

i have just had a new kitchen fitted.

i was advised that the electrics that were there for my existing cooker (all in one electric inc hobs) and extractor fan were no good and that i will need have a new feed put in from the fuse box. i am confused it all was / seemed fine before and the fuse box has a swich for the cooker and that all worked fine. any way the did the following...

installed a earth (my house didnt have one)
extension of cooker circuit, new supply for kitchen sockets and spurs
new supply for extractor fan
bonding where required
new 16 amp breaker

materuaks and labour £550
extras socket face plates and cooker isolator £60

£610.

I may be wrong here Matty but to be honest what you posted does not seem to add up, he advised you that the existing cooker circuit was not suitable as you say, but in fact has only "extended" the circuit, which leads me to believe that the circuit is not a new one but just an extended one.

That Black cable (your post #11) is telling us that it is just "going into the cooker/oven area" with a new fuse in the fuse board, this sounds to me like he as run a distribution circuit from your existing fuse board into the kitchen, so do you have a newer/extra fuse board now in your kitchen or sited next to your old one?

Bottom line to this is communication by the sounds of things. Of course your not expected to be technically minded or even technically aware, that is the electricians job. When I take my car into a garage I expect the mechanics to be that. But you need to open communications with this guy, especially before the work starts, to get an understanding of what needs to be done and what you want done.

Give the guy a ring, ask him when is the certificate is coming, if your in England or Wales ask him also did he inform the Local Building Office at the council of this work, or is he a member of a Part P scheme, if he hangs up I'm afraid you may be waiting a long time for these certificates. If he is genuine then he will explain all to you. My advice would be talk to him and sort this out.

Obviously if there is a problem you have legal avenues you can go down, ie trading standards if he as not done the job he quoted for, ie certificate etc etc.

 

[matttytn2]

Matty

Post your location, there are a lot of good sparkies on here who could help you out with any future work

i am in northampton / silverstone. anyone free for a 2nd opibion i have noticed some other bits that look well wrong to me let alone a pro so need then looking at also a indipendant check on this work i have had done would be fantastic. being new i may not get pm's yet

 

[ringer]

I am local to you. Have sent PM.

Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk

 

[Rockingit]

Ringer - please let me have some advance warning if I need to go and put some humble pie in the fridge for eating at a later date!!

 

[Amp David]

Probably not ripped off looking at what you had done, but as long as i've a hole in my backside, it sound like a cheap, rushed bodge kind of a job.

Even the large big name kitchens companies do it, worked along side one of their fitters and when he would show me what wanted doing and how much they had allowed for the work to be done, it always got bodged. Not by me may I add lol

 

[Amp David]

no await certs. just have an invoice

Well go on then, they ripped you off!

No certs because he wouldn't know how to test and wouldn't have the gear to do it, I bet.

How the hell do you know its all safe and sound without any test results. If it were my mate I'd be having serious words with him!

 

[GLENNSPARK]

well it cant be as bad as this place we were in today....small victorian place on 3 floors....typical of the area......well the owner had new windows installed some time ago on the 1st and 2nd floors......where did the old window frames and broken glass go......hidden under the floorboards in the bedrooms..lol.....all because they couldn`t be arsed to get a skip....so they just hid it all....took my boss n i about an hour to pull all that out..ffs.....:evil2:

 

[millwall ken]

Well how much do you think that you should of been charged? £5.99 and a cuppa? If you was unsure of the price then why didn't you get some quotes before hand?

 

[GLENNSPARK]

its my suspicion...what with the lack of certs etc that it could be a bit wild west here.....but on the same note i think that folk have to realise that electricians (as well as other trades) are human beings..not droids just here to serve.....nothing wrong with providing good , honest service (i`m all for it)....but a stingy wallet gets a stingy job...simple as.......as others here have pointed out....if the work done was compliant and of a good standard.....then he/she didn`t pay over the odds here.....it all hinges on that cert though i`m afraid......

 

[Geordie Spark]

Well go on then, they ripped you off!

No certs because he wouldn't know how to test and wouldn't have the gear to do it, I bet.

How the hell do you know its all safe and sound without any test results. If it were my mate I'd be having serious words with him!

I saw a bloke "testing" & filling-in an EIC using nothing more than a multimeter .... NOT a Multifunction tester, just one of those digital multimeters from somewhere like Maplin.

The scary part was when he instructed the householder not to touch anything as he was about to do the IR test at "200K" (his exact words .. not mine) !!!

He had no means of testing the RCDs, Loop or much else, but somehow managed to scribble some figures for these on the certificate.

 

[Geordie Spark]

well it cant be as bad as this place we were in today....small victorian place on 3 floors....typical of the area......well the owner had new windows installed some time ago on the 1st and 2nd floors......where did the old window frames and broken glass go......hidden under the floorboards in the bedrooms..lol.....all because they couldn`t be arsed to get a skip....so they just hid it all....took my boss n i about an hour to pull all that out..ffs.....:evil2:

That's standard practice innit? ........... I've found empty cable reels, old ceiling roses, light switches & sockets under the floorboards when I've been fitting my central heating pipework all because the spark who did the rewire couldn't be bothered to get rid of it !!!

 

[trev]

I saw a bloke "testing" & filling-in an EIC using nothing more than a multimeter .... NOT a Multifunction tester, just one of those digital multimeters from somewhere like Maplin.

The scary part was when he instructed the householder not to touch anything as he was about to do the IR test at "200K" (his exact words .. not mine) !!!

He had no means of testing the RCDs, Loop or much else, but somehow managed to scribble some figures for these on the certificate.

I hope you pulled him up Geordie..weyyabuggaman aa wudda waamed ees lugs

 

[trev]

I hope you pulled him up Geordie..weyyabuggaman aa wudda waamed ees lugs

A rough translation for the non geordies.
One would hope the gentleman in question was severely castigated by your good self. Personally I would have thought a cuff around the ears would have been appropriate

 

[Specialist]

Guys, Guys be fair: Just because this Sparky wears a Stetson, Spurs & Chaps, Carries a 6 shooter and comes to work on a horse it does'nt make him a cowboy:tounge_smile:

 

[Amp David]

Just might of come from a night out at the Blue Oyster Bar instead:beatnik:

 

[Specialist]

Just might of come from a night out at the Blue Oyster Bar instead:beatnik:

:rofl::rofl:

 

[ringer]

To the OP, I hope you haven't been put off using the forum because of all the banter on this thread. My offer still stands - give me a call and I'll come and give you my opinion of the work done. Sent my details to you in a PM - if you can't access the PM then post a reply here.