Is this cheeky?

[BuilderEtiquette]

The lights in my basement broke about 2 weeks ago - I checked the fuse and changed the bulbs with no luck. We had builders in, doing our bathroom at the time, so I called and asked if there was a problem with the electricity. He said no but he would have a quick look when he was at the house the next day. I came home from work to find a new light switch, which worked. All good.

2 weeks later, I get a bill for £70. When I asked for a breakdown of costs he said the light switch was £2.50 but he had to call out an electrician which contributed the majority of the costs. Then more for his time and fuel costs (he was at the house anyway) then VAT on top.

I don't understand a) why you'd need an electrician to change a light switch (I have done it myself in the past - it takes a couple of minutes) and b) Why they didn't say anything about the costs that would be incurred.

If he'd told me £70 up front there's no way I would have done it.I would have tried more things (including changing the light switch myself / googling it!)

This is my first home and I'm new to builder norms. Is there a world in which this is reasonable?

On (a), it's probably to do with his insurance. He won't be insured to do electrical work for customers.

On (b), that's cheeky. Unless you had asked him to, he shouldn't have got in a subcontractor, and even if you had asked him, he should have given you a quote.

Yes, cheeky, he should have checked with you before he went ahead and called out the electrician. Probably not very much you can do about it now though.

Yes, you can change a light switch at your own risk (except in a bathroom, I think, that has to have an official electrical certificate-may be wrong there).
However I can totally understand that a workman who does not hold an electrical qualification would want to get someone qualified in to do it. If he didn't and something went wrong, he could end up liable.

Similar happened to me

You should’ve asked for a quote to repair but simetimes I think they just decide to go a head as it’s fairly cheap.

He did the job he offered to do. You should have asked how much it would be first really. Unless you aim to try and prove it was the builder's work that caused the fault (which it prob was) I'd pay up and move on.

Sounds like a miscommunication.

Lesson for the future. Ask for a quotation for any work before it’s done.

You’ll have to pay for this one and chalk it up to experience.

In my experience general builders will (quite rightly).not touch electrics.

That is cheeky, presumably he was/had someone in doing electrical work in your bathroom? Did he just add the £70 to the bathroom bill and hope you wouldn't notice? It's always best to specify very clearly what you want. E.g. 'the light's not working in the basement, it doesn't urgently need fixing, but if you don't mind taking a look at it and giving your opinion? If it's going to cost more than a tenner to fix don't worry about it/let me know before buying materials/doing any further work on it'.

Having said that, you'll always get one who doesn't listen. We got landed with a £200 repair bill for a bodged job of fixing a toilet at work. I noticed the plumbers were working in the unit next door, so spoke to maintenance to see if they could send someone over to give a quote. I said at least a dozen times to both the plumber and maintence not to do the work without letting me know the cost beforehand. So frustrating!

It seems fair enough to me if poorly communicated. If he isn’t insured for electrical work then £70 doesn’t seem unreasonable for an electrician call out/labour/vat.

And I might be missing something but how could building work in a bathroom break a light switch in the basement?

(except in a bathroom, I think, that has to have an official electrical certificate-may be wrong there).

That's wrong, perfectly fine to change a switch front or electrical socket anywhere in your house yourself.

That's really cheeky! He should have said about the cost upfront he's trying to squeeze in some extra cash. No way should it be £70!

According to building regs, changing a light switch is not a 'notifiable' event so you don't need an electrician to change it or certify it.

His exact words were "I'm at the house tomorrow anyway, so I'll have a quick look for you". We text all the time so I don't understand why he wouldn't just tell me it was going to cost me another £70. (I don't every time I text him say "If this question leads you to carry out any chargable work, please tell me". But I will now).

I might be missing something but how could building work in a bathroom break a light switch in the basement?
The bathroom is on the ground floor opposite the basement door. No idea if they would be related but as it coincided with the days they were in, I thought I might as well ask. They were under the floorboards and in the walls, and sometimes there is collateral damage with building work.

He did the job he offered to do

He offered to "check it out" as he was going to be at the house anyway.

When you take your car for an MOT, you would expect them to identify an issue then call you to let you know how much the repairs would be - not just carry out the work anyway and charge whatever amount they saw fit...