Electrical work

[Beamae]

We have just had a load of work done to our house including some rewiring, light installation, painting and decorating.

Two of the light fittings are not working. Our builder has said that we have paid him for installation but as we have supplied the dimmer switches ourselves, it is not his responsibility to ensure that anything he has installed works.

Is this correct? We are in contact with the supplier of the switches, regardless. But I had assumed that if someone was paid to install something, that they should try to make sure it actually works.

[Beamae]

Yes. He subcontracted the electrical work to an electrician who is supplying a certificate for things like the new fusebox.

But he claims that we are withholding final payment for no reason as they are merely responsible for installing, not making sure that things work.

Up until now I had no idea that we were withholding payment at all, because we were under the impression that they weren't finished and were coming back to fix the lights.

[Beamae]

I think we have a difference of opinion in what "installing" means. He thinks it means it means just sticking a new light switch on the wall. I think it means making sure everything works correctly before signing off on the job.

I'm not sure who is legally correct, although common sense tells me things should work properly.

Another example is he installed a new doorbell. Fixed the new button outside and the new bell inside, then cheerfully informed me that it was done but didn't work and then left me for 4 days with a doorbell that rang by itself every 10 minutes. I took the batteries out after the first half hour and asked him when he came back to have another look, but he refused, saying the same thing. He just installs but then isn't responsible for making sure it works.

This I find confusing, because it isn't what I would call installing.

[digerd]

Phone your local Trading Standards. Who ever sells you the item is responsible for it working properly, I was told.

An electrician like a plumber is obligated to ensure what he has installed works properly and must test it.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

But your building work needs to be part p certification - only a qualified and certified electrician can do it.

Your builder took on the electrician - so your contract is with the builder and I would think that installation also means 'works as it should'

[Beamae]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, he is a right prat. I went off him on the day he told me I was nearly too fat to get down the stairs. But that is another thread.

[digerd]

If your door bell is a battery operated one requiring no wiring into your electrical system - which is what I have-, I did that myself and is not an installation.

[Beamae]

The electrician didn't do the doorbell. The builder was paid to do the doorbell but didn't consider it his responsibility to make sure it worked. Ultimately I fixed the problem myself, which means the fault was not with the product, but with how he installed it. My question was whether he is in fact correct, and doesn't have to check that something works properly after he has installed it.

In any case, the electrician came around today and told us not to worry but to deal with him directly. He is going to make sure that the job is finished properly.

[digerd]

All installers have an obligation to test that what they have installed is working. He was paid to do it and should have ensured it was working.
Pleased you have a self- respecting electrician'
How on earth did the builder get such a simple thing wrong?
I'm hopeless at lots of things, but that was easy. Did he put the batteries in the wrong way in the chimer indoors?