To take on or walk away -Thoughts?

[overskilled]

Need some advice guys.....
Been offered a job but the alarm bells are ringing.......

Background
So finishing up a job today, get a call to look at a shower, client took the cover off for whatever reason and noticed burnt live wiring, terminal block on the live terminal on both sides melted, but especially on the incomer, (looks like a bad connection, possibly caused by overtightening and expansion and contraction over time.)
Went out tonight after I got home at 6, ancient heatstore shower (client reckons 15-22 years old), asks about options, only option is replacement, he then whips out a Which? guide to showers...(alarm bells start here....)
Quoted a reasonable price to supply and fit a new basic shower, on the basis that a fusebox visual check was alright...

And it wasn't - 4 or 6mm2 cable (dark little cupboard it was hidden in) on a 50amp MCB, with the adjacent 15amp showing signs of heat damage.

Original plan 10mm2 T+E to Wylex RCD shower CU with 32Amp Type B MCB and then the shower cable to a new 8 / 8.5 Kw shower.

However then he says "oh theres another shower on the top floor", also connected to a 50amp MCB with 6mm2 T+E (surprised he didn't blow the main cut out (60/80A) -2 showers, several ring finals, electric cooker.....)
Dorman Smith Series 15 board (seen them commercially but never in a residential building locally - usually Wylex or MEM boards) so no hope of getting any parts for it.

Told me wiring hasn't been checked since he bought the place 20 to 30 years ago (its a guesthouse, which he claims isn't the case as "he only takes guests occassionally now"....Tourism plate on the door etc...its a guesthouse...)

Advised a CU replacement (cost of 2 shower CUs is getting close to the cost to change out the entire board in parts and there isn't the space for 2 shower CUs), and fully test the wiring post CU install, as well as getting someone who specialises in PIRs in (I don't have time and the place is 3 floors and 6 or 8 bedrooms and dates back to turn of the century so a fair few gremlins are lurking within that building) Also told him that the price quoted will be for the swap, any remedial / rectification works are extra and I can't give a figure for them until I do the tests, could be no faults, could be faults on every circuit.

"Never had a problem until now"....and I explained that RCDs work differently to MCBs and will react to faults that MCBs will not.

"Is all that really necessary, can't you just stick another shower in?" - ....no as there isn't any fault protection, your running a guest house that members of the public have access to and one of your current showers just tried to set itself alight...said far more politely than that.

How much? he asks - I quote a figure based on checking parts prices etc and getting testing kit checked / hired (I was stalling for time as alarm bells were already ringing)

"I'm taking you on your word here that this is all necessary" "Thats going into cheque rather than cash job territory" (I don't do off the books work anyway...HMRC are a big enough pain in the rear without giving them reason to give me hassle)

So I politely advised him to get 2 more quotes and tell the other 2 sparks what he told me and see what they advise. Still badgering about when I could do it etc.
Said I would get back to him.....

Any thoughts?

Not a bad job, 2 days in total I'd reckon - day to do the initial pre CU swap tests and to swap the CU out and start testing the new CU, second day to finish and swap the shower out. But there is this little voice in my head saying "run a mile" and this is going to be an utter backside pain.......

 

[trev]

The way I see it is over the time you've been in the game you've developed a sixth sense for jobs/clients that are going to be more trouble than they're worth. Trust your instincts mate, you could be wrong but you could be opening up a world of pain.
Obviously it's easy for me/us to advise from a distance but you were there, we weren't but the simple fact that you're thinking of back heeling it and asking about it on here says a lot.

 

[overskilled]

Trev,
Thanks, Exactly right mate, though could just be he's an old bloke who speaks virtually monotone, but the which? guide was the start of things, and tbh if you run a guesthouse customer safety should be in your mind, especially if your mrs has serious disabilities......I know its a business but....

Whats making me dither is I'm looking for a van at the moment as the car just doesn't have the space anymore and the extra cash would be handy and its local local....not to mention the ups and downs of work lately....

I'm going to sleep on things and see how I feel, if I don't feel any different, I'll tell him I can't get my hands on test kit I need from the hire store (stuff I don't use v often I hire out and a lot of my work lately has been to swap accessories out / fit parts to showers, like for like heater swaps etc, rather than "proper sparkying" so I haven't felt the need to actually buy all the bits)

Opinion is appreciated......just helps to get someone elses viewpoint on things.....

 

[sparkdog]

Don't think a 32A MCB is going to do on an 8 to 8.5 KW shower.Its going to trip on overload.

 

[overskilled]

Urgh mistype
40Amp MCB (been looking at 32Amp socket ring finals all day.....seemingly got them on the brain)

 

[jeremy]

If he's showing signs of "is that really necessary, sounds expensive", I'd be inclined to do all pre CU swap tests first before agreeing to do any other work. If he doesn't agree to that, he probably wouldn't agree to pay for remedial work , if any, that is found to be required.

 

[baldelectrician]

Always follow your instinct

The few occasions when I haven't I have ended up with hassle and chasing money

Better to walk away rather than spend time workinh for nothing

If you go ahead I would put everything in writing with your terms and conditions and get a deposit of 40% to cover your materials and a bit of labour before you start.

 

[imago]

I'm firmly with Trev and Baldelectrician on this, follow your instincts, walk away and forget about it.

Last month things were quite qiuet, but I still turned down a five figure job as it didn't feel right when I met the customer. It niggled at me for a while as it's hard walking away from jobs. I mentioned it to the accountant who he checked out the company and said I'd done the right thing.

If a tradesman seems dodgy by offering to work for cash, then it's only logical that a customer offering to pay cash is equally dodgy.

 

[overskilled]

Thanks guys,
Slept on the matter and going to walk away. I can just see it becoming a total headache tbh and I'm about to move house so the last thing I want is the job that NEVER ends.....

 

[overskilled]

Well in the end I put a quote in, gave him prices for materials, labour, hire of test kit (as I would be doing every test I can think of, just in case something went wrong or a fire was mysteriously to start one night just after the insurance was renewed and if I use hired kit, it comes with a calibration guarantee for extra water tightness). I think he baulked at the price....CU alone was £140, hire of test kit £70 odd and 2.5 days labour.
New jobs coming along, did a visual inspection on a takeout someone wants to re-open...before the kitchen cleaners had been, so everything covered in grease etc. Fair enough bloke, paid cash for the inspection and listened to what I said. Whether he gets me back to do the work (just needs a few sockets swapped out, an SFCU fitted for the extractor as he doesn't want it on a plug anymore, florrie fitted for a menu sign and the cold water bond checked...apart from that seems all in order, fuseboxes are MEM rewireables....MEM being my "favourite" brand to work on....mainly due to getting a belt off one for reasons I'm not wholly sure how it happened.....just know I got away by the skin of my teeth and somehow without any lasting damage.....don't remember coming into contact with anything live or being near anything live) or does it himself is another question...had to make a rapid move though as noticed a bulge in the ceiling....that I was standing under...water ingress from flat above.....plasterboard was soaking and I could stick my finger through it....