Whirlpool Bath

[timtom1]

Hey guys,

Just need to find out if when having a whirlpool bath installed

(this one to be precise)

Should I have been given an electrical installation safety certificate?

Thanks!

Tim

 

[Darkwood]

Hi Tim, welcome to the forum .

Any additional, new or alterations to electrics in your bathroom will need to comply to the latest BS7671 Electrical regulations and also should have a certificate issued on completion, if the Electrician cannot provide a cert' himself then he should have notified the local building control, although this is an expensive route and would add a large cost to a job, or had his work certified by a third party (usually another Electrician who is registered with a scheme).
If he doesn't provide any certification of his work that will show its been tested and other critical safety features of the installation have been checked for compliance then I would not pay him until he provides the correct paperwork.

 

[Pete999]

As above

 

[Octopus]

Hum, a slightly different answer.

The installer should provide a MWC (minor works certificate) if its added to an existing circuit or an EIC if its a new circuit. in ADDITION this work falls under Part P of the building regs and therefore you should ask about this too.....

How ever you look at it, you should receive 2 documents of conformity.

 

[UNG]

From the website instructions

• assembly instructions: We recommend that this item is fitted by a qualified plumber or electrician

I don't think plumbers issue electrical certs

 

[timtom1]

Thanks for the replies, from what I can find online it agrees with what you've all said. The work included adding an electric shower and a whirlpool bath (so from what I can find online) I should have got a certificate.

I assume the builder should have informed me of this and included it in the quote before I started asking about it.

If the electrician he used is not registered (which I am assuming otherwise he should have no issues getting the certificate) and the work was finished more than 5 days ago what is the next step? I havn't finished paying him yet, but it seems he wants me to pay for this certificate that I now need (Homebase 2 year warranty is useless without this). As it is a regulation that he should know about I assume that my current stance that I want the certificate, but do not see why I should pay more is justified. (If he had at any point said I needed this certificate and added cost to the job that would have been fine, but as I only find out about this now after the job I can't help feeling that he's trying to get away with a 'cheap' job / abusing the fact that I didn't / don't know about these things)

 

[telectrix]

I can't help feeling that he's trying to get away with a 'cheap' job / abusing the fact that I didn't / don't know about these things)


think you've hit nail on head here. builder and cheap job are 2 terms that go hand in hand.
1.insist on an electrical certificate.

2. hold back a retention until you have a compliance with part p of the building regs.

 

[Octopus]

Thanks for the replies, from what I can find online it agrees with what you've all said. The work included adding an electric shower and a whirlpool bath (so from what I can find online) I should have got a certificate.

I assume the builder should have informed me of this and included it in the quote before I started asking about it.

If the electrician he used is not registered (which I am assuming otherwise he should have no issues getting the certificate) and the work was finished more than 5 days ago what is the next step? I havn't finished paying him yet, but it seems he wants me to pay for this certificate that I now need (Homebase 2 year warranty is useless without this). As it is a regulation that he should know about I assume that my current stance that I want the certificate, but do not see why I should pay more is justified. (If he had at any point said I needed this certificate and added cost to the job that would have been fine, but as I only find out about this now after the job I can't help feeling that he's trying to get away with a 'cheap' job / abusing the fact that I didn't / don't know about these things)

Read post #4 again. There are 2 certificates you need to be issued with.

 

[Darkwood]

I second Tel on this one.

It is a requirement that he provided the certification, because it is a requirement then he cannot argue its an extra to the job or quote, tell him you are holding back full payment and if a certificate is not given then you will have a independent company come in and certify the work as well as contacting building control and reporting the builder that he has done work without providing the required documents. If you are paying only the builder then its his responsibilty to ensure anyone he employs is competent and can sign of the work or he has to make alternative arrangements himself unless discussed beforehand and agreed with yourself.

If you have to get independent company in to test the new works then explain this will be all deducted from the remaining monies you owe, do all this by email so you have a 'papertrail' as such and any issues further down the line can be resolved with the evidence you have regarding your emails etc.

Play everything straight, don't get abusive and be polite in all your correspondances, this stops him playing silly games about having a fall out with the customer etc and thats why he didn't provide one, mention reporting him to building control and independent company to check the work in your latter emails after you have failed to get any further with polite requests... this way he has had plenty of opportunity to provide the cert's but do remind him in an early email that provision of the cert's is a requirement and not an optional extra thus it should have already been part of the quote.