Top tips to help you choose an electrician

From rewiring a house and upgrading your old fuse box to repairing a faulty electrical socket, chances are you’re going to need to source the services of a qualified professional electrician at some time or another.

Let’s be honest. Most of us take electricity for granted. A vital source of power in and around the home, electrical power is used for heating, lighting, and cooling. It also powers our home appliances and helps fuel our obsession with the latest technology.

Yes, it’s a pivotal part of a building’s infrastructure; from wiring and electrical boxes, to electric meters, switches and appliances. Without an electrical current to power our home, we wouldn’t be able to carry out day to day activities such as cooking, listening to the radio, watching the TV or making a cup of tea.

There’s no doubt most of us would be lost without electricity. The thought of not being able to switch on the TV or use the computer would horrify many families. So what happens when something goes wrong, or if we need some electrical work carrying out? Well that’s where an electrician comes in handy.

What sort of work will an electrician carry out around my home

You’ll need the services of a qualified professional electrician to undertake numerous jobs around your home, including:

• House rewire

• Carry out inspections and testing work

• Undertake small electrical works around the home, including fitting extra sockets and switches or internal and external lighting

• Install a home security alarm

• Carry out fuse-board replacements

• Generally help maintain the overall safety of your home’s electrical infrastructure and check electrical wiring where necessary

In England and Wales, any electrical installation work carried out in your home needs to conform to the Part P Building Regulations Electrical Safety Rule, which was introduced in 2005. While Northern Ireland has no equivalent statutory requirement at present, in Scotland work has to comply to Building Standards system.

It sounds simple but in the real world finding the right tradesperson to give you peace of mind and undertake the job competently can be a bit of a minefield. Which is why it pays to do your home work when it comes to choosing who you trust to get the job done.  And, more importantly, as a means of making sure you avoid rogue cowboy installers – at all costs.

So how do you go about getting the right man – or women – for the job? Whilst you could just flick through the Yellow Pages randomly and plump for any electrician you just so happen to like the sound of, there’s a smarter solution to meet your electrical needs. And it starts by asking a few simple key questions.

Check list for employing an electrician

• Get 3 quotes. Builder Guide can provide you with up to 3 free no obligation quotes from approved local electricians in your area.

• Ask your electrician for references. Recommendations are the key to choosing tradespeople. So ask friends and family, or even work colleagues if they can recommend a trustworthy electrician. Builder Guide checks, rates and approves companies, which makes life easier for you.

• For your own peace of mind only use an electrician who is registered with a competent person scheme, such as NICEIC, NAPIT or an equivalent. NICEIC is the UK’s largest Government authorized register of domestic electrical installers and registered installers are regularly checked to ensure their technical competence and ability to meet relevant technical and safety standards and codes of practice.

• Are they fully insured? It pays to check that the tradesperson has public limited liability. Better to be safe than sorry.

• Make sure you obtain a comprehensive quote, detailing all the work to be done so you both know what the job involves from start to finish – and, most importantly, what you are paying for.

• If the quote seems too good to be true – in other words it’s surprisingly low – tread carefully.

• Electrical installations should meet BS 7671 (IEE Wiring Regulations). Once the work has been completed, you should be issued with a certificate to confirm that the work that’s been completed meets this safety standard. For more information about electrical work and statutory requirements visit the Electrical Safety Council website.

So to sum up: get recommendations; ideally source 3 quotes; make sure the electrician is fully qualified and insured; and get a comprehensive written quote. Oh, and although price can be a deciding factor, don’t be fooled into thinking that the cheapest quote will necessarily be the best one. After all, we tend to get what we pay for.