Tea and sympathy or tough luck?

I always harbour a degree of empathy with contractors....been at the coal face myself for many years and I am well aware of the ups and downs.

However, I am not sure that I would warm the teapot and get the buns out in this case.

A contractor friend just completed 112 mid-range dwellings. He and the guys working for him are meticulously neat but far too nonchalant when it comes to regulatory requirements.

The site is complete, not one single EIC asked for or issued. That is until one of the last people to purchase one of the units was a contractor specialising in electrical I+T. That contractor identified the lack of certification and a number of concerning issues in his own home. 

1. 16mm2 tails almost 15m in length supplied directly via an isolator from mains intake in the cubicle recessed in the exterior wall to a remote consumer unit. 100A service head fuse in each property (confirmed by NIE). 

2. Cables enter the consumer unit from the rear without fire stopping. Timber frame house.

3. Ground floor ceilings peppered with downlights with a suggestion that this is unacceptable and

4. No certification issued and no inspection and testing carried out for any of the properties.

Parents
  • That’s the problem Chris, it has already gone to the developer who seems to have been unaware of the EIC requirement and of the finer regulatory issues. We don’t have Part P equivalent here, NHBC requirements can be side stepped by using a chartered architect, and the contractor isn’t registered with a CPS so no imperative to provide certification of the electrical installation in such circumstances.
    There are 112 houses that need to be certified to BS7671 2018 and that means attending to any issues that might be in conflict with that standard including addressing those tricky considerations that AJ has alluded to.

    I am told that the developer wants matters put right and no compromises or pay offs tolerated. The electrical contractor reckons around £30K. I am sure that plenty of the residents will not want workmen plodding about their new house, fearful of damage to decor, carpets, furniture etc.

    The developer could end up with the problem on his plate as the electrical contractor could simply cut his losses. It is one reason that we specify NICEIC registered contractors for any designs leaving our office, even for simple, minimal cost jobs.

Reply
  • That’s the problem Chris, it has already gone to the developer who seems to have been unaware of the EIC requirement and of the finer regulatory issues. We don’t have Part P equivalent here, NHBC requirements can be side stepped by using a chartered architect, and the contractor isn’t registered with a CPS so no imperative to provide certification of the electrical installation in such circumstances.
    There are 112 houses that need to be certified to BS7671 2018 and that means attending to any issues that might be in conflict with that standard including addressing those tricky considerations that AJ has alluded to.

    I am told that the developer wants matters put right and no compromises or pay offs tolerated. The electrical contractor reckons around £30K. I am sure that plenty of the residents will not want workmen plodding about their new house, fearful of damage to decor, carpets, furniture etc.

    The developer could end up with the problem on his plate as the electrical contractor could simply cut his losses. It is one reason that we specify NICEIC registered contractors for any designs leaving our office, even for simple, minimal cost jobs.

Children
  • The developer could end up with the problem on his plate as the electrical contractor could simply cut his losses.

    How might that be?

    I have done business with a couple of companies in the past month which have dissolved only to rise from the ashes under a new name. Fortunately for me, their work has been fine, but it does make you wonder.