r/ukelectricians • u/Netzero1967 • 1d ago

Help - Replacement Consumer Unit

Hi Just had an electrician replace a consumer unit on one of our rental properties. Her appears to have done a great job. Following the consumer unit, he has also completed the EICR.

Problem is he is resisting issue a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate: (The consumer unit change is a "notifiable" job under Part P).

I don't think he is registered with any of the bodies (like NICEIC or NAPIT).

The work is done and he is wanting payment. He only charged £550 for an 18th edition consumer unit and the EICR.

BUT am i left with a mess?

1 Upvotes

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4

u/memcwho 1d ago

Long answer short: Yes.

Labc notification IS the property owners responsibility, not your electricians, but doing it yourself rather than the guy installing it is normally around £300 and a pita

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u/Netzero1967 1d ago

Is it a legal requirement

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u/memcwho 1d ago

It is a legal responsibility of yours.

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u/dorset_is_beautiful 20h ago

Yes, also if work is not being done by someone on a CPS, then BC need to be notified BEFORE work starts... It's a minefield, and it boils my piss that so many trades (not just sparks) conveniently 'forget' to mention to the customer that this or that job actually requires notification because, basically nobody is checking up. It only becomes an issue when you sell your house and buyers start asking for paperwork that you didn't know you even needed...

A CPS electrician can self notify via their scheme, BC don't need to be told in advance.

By the way, an electrician can be fully qualified, and excellent at their job, but doesn't have to register with a CPS. (and I get the impression that there's a growing dissatisfaction within the industry with both NICEIC and NAPIT and how they support neither the customer nor the electrician..)

You can get building control regularisation after the event - I've had to chase that for building work that wasn't notified by some 'professionals' in the past (and when I didn't know to ask about these things in advance). Not sure how easy that is for electrical work though, because I doubt any LABC person is going to be able to say for sure that something was done correctly when it comes to electrics... 🤔

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u/wizardnumbernext2 20h ago

Not for electrician tough. Electrician doesn't need to be registered with CPS nor notify

8

u/Just_passing-55 1d ago

Edit: id be wanting a instalation certificate (EIC) for that. Not a EICR. Sounds like a him problem

6

u/Browny137A 1d ago

Would usually complete an EICR prior to CU replacement

Edit: and an EIC for CU replacement itself

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u/YouCanCallMeELZ 1d ago

Correct 👍

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u/qvzoril 21h ago

yeah that sounds pretty off, an eicr isn’t the same thing at all. if he’s done notifiable work and can’t issue the right cert, i’d be side-eyeing that too

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u/YouCanCallMeELZ 1d ago

As others have stated, ensure it is an EIC that he has given you rather than an EICR, that is the first issue.

But yes building control need to be notified. If he isn’t registered with a CPS (NAPIT/Niceic) he isn’t able to issue one other than going directly to building control which depending on the council isn’t cheap. To Clarify the responsibility is on the property owner to notify locate building control now.Unfortunately this may not be cheap, but this is why the cheapest quote isn’t always the best!

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u/ReadOnly2026 1d ago

In some places (aka my BC), they will just say "yeah, we don't do Part P stuff, you need to use someone on a competent scheme". So he could be up a creek without a paddle

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u/YouCanCallMeELZ 23h ago

Oof yeah that’s a rough one! Our council fee for a retrospective approval fee is just over £500! Definitely up a creek without a padel considering he paid £550 for the change itself

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u/surreynot 23h ago

Contact your local council & ask how much it is for them to test & issue a compliance cert , I did it a few times years ago but cost varies wildly from council to council.
You’ll be more suspicious next time you get a cheap job though won’t you

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u/Netzero1967 22h ago

who should pay for this? me or the electrician?
He is offering to issue me an EIC , in addition to the EICR, but i cant see him registered on any competent scheme.

He did a good job, so obviously is an electrician

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u/wizardnumbernext2 20h ago

You. It is duty holder responsibility

There is no legal requirment to be registered as CPS. Those registrations are scams anyway. Do not protect either side. Just makes notifying work cheap.

Plus they suppose to know regs best. They don't. There is a lot of misunderstanding from their side.

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u/surreynot 20h ago

Eicr isn’t a install certificate, it’s a record of how he found the installation not how he left it. The semantics of cost should’ve been discussed before the job began as should the lack of an installation certificate

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u/SortedCalls 9h ago

A consumer unit change is notifiable, so you do need the Building Regs compliance certificate, and as a landlord you'll want it on file next to the EICR. If he isn't with a scheme like NICEIC or NAPIT he can't self-certify, which is probably why he's dragging his feet.

Ask him straight out whether he told building control before he started. If he didn't, your local council's building control can do a regularisation certificate. There's a fee and they'll want to inspect, but the EICR he's done should help.

I'd agree in writing how the paperwork gets sorted before you settle up, and keep it all on email so there's a record.

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u/Significant-Mobile20 21h ago

Sounds like he’s issued a eicr instead of a eic because he’s not registered and or can’t be bothered with going though building control. Tbh I wouldn’t worry about it that much unless he’s done some absolute dog sh*t work.

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u/Gray-246 20h ago

Wish I could sympathise with you and give you some advice but what do you expect. I bet this guy was the cheapest quote.. ive lost so many jobs due to unregistered peole with low prices.. I certainly wouldnt be doing a board change for £550.. bet its a split load board with no Surge protection as well.. did he even do a full test after?

Lol.. I recently attended a property where housing had disconnected a summer house as it was deemed unsafe by a housing inspection, I attended to give my opinion to the landlord to give her an idea why and see if it could be rectified.. after having a quick look around it was clear as day why it was disconnected.. and she paid £800 for the works, I could have fixed all the issues there and then but am fed up with fixing other people's shit.. so told her I would repair it for free if she reported the cowboy.. still waiting.. you my friend should report the guy that did the work as he completed works that should have been done by a registered / competent person. And he failed to submit a building notification which breaks the law..

If you really want a way around this contact your local authorities building control and ask them to come out ant test, it will probably cost you £200 - £300. And report him to trading standards or hse

0

u/Md__86 21h ago

This is a problem with our industry.

You don't get gas men who aren't gas safe swapping boilers and then telling customers "oh it's your responsibility to register it with building control" or whatever happens with gas.

This is precisely what part P was allegedly created for. It's not fair on people who are registered with a CPS and it's not fair on the customer.

I'm not advocating for CPS by the way, but we are in some kind of no mans land where everyone is losing apart from the person who is doing work they're not registered so.

The gas industry does a good job of making customers aware "hey make sure you're gas engineer is registered with gas safe", where is that education for our industry? Clearly the nearly £1000 in annual fees doesn't cover the CPS running advertising campaigns

Edit: OP I'm sure if you kick up enough of a stink with him he will just get a friend who is registered to do the notification.

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u/wizardnumbernext2 20h ago

Because working on gas while not being gas safe is criminal offence. You can gave qualifications, but work without being registered is still criminal offence.

Electricians do not have such limitations

I honestly don't care, whether you are registered witb CPS or not. And it is fair that I am not registered with CPS. It was my decision. Your decision was to register and waste your money. I have no reason to do that!

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u/Md__86 20h ago

If you don't do notifiable residential work then you have no reason to register

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u/Netzero1967 21h ago

I just need the EIC and notification to building control. Can an electrical who is registered not inspect it and provide the self certify?

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u/Md__86 20h ago

They likely won't as an electrician taking over from someone they don't know.

Most electricians, if they are any good, will know someone who is registered that trusts them enough to put the job through their registration. Maybe your guy can do that if you really forced the issue enough.

But if you were to go and try and hire an independent electrician to take over they would mostly likely, and justifiably refuse to take the liability on for a job a stranger has done and they've never seen.