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EICR Remedial Work

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
Hi, my first post, I wondered if I could get some advice from the community regarding a failed EICR report and the subsequent remedial works.

Me letting agent appointed a local electrical firm to conduct an EICR report on my flat before new tenants moved in. The timescale was tight since the new tenants were due to move in on the 1st Feb.


The flat is a purpose-built flat constructed in 2005 so id be surprised if the electrics were too far out of spec.


The report came back as failed due to the following points:


1 No Bonding, substantial metal pipework in property

8 Fan is not low voltage in bathroom, and is in zone 2


the quotation for the remedial work was to install 100mm bonding from the consumer unit to the stop cock and replace the extractor with an extra low voltage fan and controller.

"estimate of a morning for 2 which hopefully will be less, however the route is not particularly easy" - £630 inc VAT.


the quote sounded high for a mornings work but due to time constraints i had to agree.


the final invoice came back as 28 hours work, £1399...  so that's 28 hours work to run about 6metres of earth bonding and replace the bathroom fan when the initial quote was a morning's work for £630.


So obviously I've questioned this and after doing some digging, I found that firstly 230v fans are allowed in zone 2, and not all incoming water pipes need to be bonded if there is plastic in the incoming supply..


I'll upload screenshots of the paper work and photos of the job, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

fef58217ef06411ab3fcb5e012db7a01-huge-quotation.png



b2dc16ff7b1f285e61c95ea8dd664268-huge-eicr-report.png


  • Don’t pay the invoice, you need legal advice not advice from electricians.


  • Be aware that the letting agents may be taking a "commission" as a percentage of the invoice gross value.
  • Do NOT pay. Send a letter saying that you are shocked that the QUOTATION you accepted has been overcharged. A Quotation is a contract to carry out works for the price given. If it was an estimate it is still grossly overcharging for an incompetent estimate. You do need to establish which was given. The EICR does not look competent, please post the whole thing or send me a PM (personal message) or an email.

    davezawadi (at) yahoo.co.uk. Taking legal action is not the first step here, let us establish what has happened and what exactly was done.


    Kind regards

    David CEng etc.
  • Also Joe please take some photos of the work done and closeups of the connections made. These may be important later. Thanks

    David
  • I think the legal advice would probably be to refuse to pay and let them try and claim, in reality they should realise they should just walk away.
  • Hmm. For that price  I hope a team of 4 blokes were there all day doing a gold plated job and the place is now spotless.


    I fear not, and it is more like  a spurs and a stetson were involved, did he come on a horse ?


    I smell 2 rats,

    The first an inspector whose advice may or may not be right - mains fans are indeed allowed in parts of a bathroom but only if some other conditions are met. (we can certainly advise on that here, but pics or a diagram may be needed... )

    (what paperwork is there from the 2005 original works  ? )


    If you have been sold a report obliging you to have un-neccessary work, (and that may or may not be the case, we cannot see it), then there is a professional liability.


    The second is a remarkably pricey remedial works to correct what may or may not have needed doing.


    So let both know politely (never say or write anything that could be mis-quoted to make you look like Mr Unreasonable in court - you can think he is an unprofessional little WXYZ, but limit yourself in communication to being extremely surprised and very disappointed or other diplomatic language.  It should not get to court, but if it does you need to be seen as the obviously sensible and patient one. )

    Explain you'd like them to fully explain the origin of these excess costs, find out how long it really took, and if there was indeed some sort of justification, and mention that in any case, that you intend to take legal and professional advice before paying.


    Then call round and see if a local solicitor can advise on your rights - many round here will give you 30 mins for free if you are a potential new customer, it may be the same for you.  Obviously a £2k legal bill to recover £1000 is not what you want, so make that clear to any solicitor.

    Sadly there are a few folk out there who give the hard workers a bad name.

    Mike.

  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Thanks Dave,

    For more clarity, this is the flat layout - the fuse board in the cupboard by the door, the stopcock in the airing cupboard. 

    I guess my real questions are, 

    1. was the earth bonding really required?

    2. was the replacement extractor really required?


    From what if found out, mains powered extractors are allowed in Zone2, and earth bonding on incoming water pipes is only required if the pipe is deemed to be an extraneous-conductive-part

    (taken from this article  https://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/years/2018/73-november-2018/myth-busters-2/ )


    So, should any of work even have been required? or did they play on the fact that the flat needed to be certified quickly and found faults that weren't really failures...??

    08cb024085c9f2331014514ed7ceb0c1-original-image.png


    Image
  • Just remember this is a business to business transaction, so "consumer protection"  legislation may be not relevant.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Sparkingchip:

    Just remember this is a business to business transaction, so "consumer protection"  legislation may be not relevant.


    Good point, but the letting agent who subcontracted the electrician (despite me expressing my concerns due to the price of a previous job this electrician did for me and being reassured by the agent this was the best electrician they had!) are invoicing me for the work so at that point it becomes a "business to consumer" sale.


    I've shouted at the agent very loudly about this so they are fully aware i'm not happy and it's on them to resolve it, afterall, if I cant trust the agent not to get ripped off by their subcontractors, I need to question if I can trust them to manage my properties...



     


  • I assume the did not demolish and rebuild a wall and re-plaster to put  a cable in  - where have they put it ?

    There are cheap and ugly surface trunking options, or did they go through the ceiling ?