Switch On Safely this Christmas

It is once again that crazy time of year when electrical things can suddenly go wrong in your home. The problem is that many electricians are jam packed at this time of year – ourselves included.

Having your home electrics looked at needs to be carried out by a professional electrician. An NICEIC electrician is a good starting point. Do not do what you might do with presents and 'panic buy' an electrician into your home.

Take care when selecting an electrician

You may have been putting off having electrical work done, however in most cases electrical work can wait that little bit longer until your electrical engineer in London is able to take a look at it. At this time of year, good electricians are booked out for many weeks in advance. Here at Fulcher Edwards we are unfortunately having to turn work away at the moment. However we are recommending other reputable companies locally who may be able to help.

Check your electricians credentials

By that we mean check your electrician really is who they say are. In particular, check qualifications and Part P Registration. This is particularly important at this time of year when you may be desperate to have an important electrical job completed in time for Christmas.

According a recent survey carried out by the Electrical Safety Council, over a quarter of UK households have hired an electrician without checking their credentials. Any professional electrician will be more than happy to show their qualifications on request. In fact many display their qualifications as part of their work portfolio. It is also highly recommended to contact the registration body directly to confirm the electrician is in fact registered with them.

The Electrical Safety Council estimate there is in excess of 20,000 unregistered electricians carrying out electrical work in households.

Why aren’t more people checking electricians credentials?

This could be a mix of not wanting to appear rude or fussy to having a casual attitude to tradespeople. If you are paying money to have work carried out in your property then you owe it to yourself to verify the credentials. The survey revealed other reasons such as not knowing how to check if an electrician is registered to not worrying whether or not the electrician is registered in the first place.

In fact, 36% of survey respondents found their electrician via a friends recommendation and subsequently have not checked the credentials; and another 27% would use an unregistered electrician if they were in a hurry.

Furthermore,1.3 million people have paid a registered electrician to fix botched work carried out by an un-registered electrician.

With over half of house fires happening due to electrical accidents and one person every week killed as a result of electricity these statistics worry us somewhat.

So how do you check that an electrician is actually registered?

It is concerning that householders risk falling into the hands of un registered electricians simply because they do not know how to check to ensure an electrician is registered.

It is a legal requirement since 2005 that most electrical work carried out in the home must meet Building Regulation Part P. This means that once the work is complete the householder will receive a certificate confirming that the work meets the standards of Part P.

Only Registered electricians can carry out electrical work and certify it as Part P compliant. The electricians must be registered with a Government approved scheme. The main schemes are NICEIC, NAPIT and ELECSA.

Don't just take the electricians word for it that they are registered. You can search for their company name or registration number on line or over the telephone very simply. All electricians registered with the NICEIC or ELECSA will be listed on the Electrical Safety Register where you can find local, registered contractors in your area by entering your postcode. Electricians registered with NAPIT will be found on the Electric Safe Register.

Conclusion

We recommend that all electrical work, no matter how small is carried out by a qualified and registered electrician. It can seem very tempting to have a job carried out cheaply particularly in the run up to the festive period. In our opinion, it is far cheaper to pay a professional to do the job in the first place than risk hiring an un-registered electrician who may produce dangerous work resulting in having to pay again for a professional electrician do put the work right.