Renovating your home or a house is a big job, and while rewarding, it can prove to be a financial challenge. While there are certainly lots of jobs that you can easily do on your own with a touch of DIY, electrical work is best left to the professionals. This applies to new dwellings and to any alterations or additions to the electrical installations of existing dwellings, including full or partial rewires.

The critical thing is that all work is carried out safely and in accordance with UK legislation. If you don’t, the outcome could have further financial or safety implications such as: having the work being done again, electrical faults, fire outbreaks or in worse case scenarios death from a fire outbreak or electrocution.

Electrical work is heavily regulated in the UK and most jobs and installations (regardless of whether they are residential, commercial or industrial) should be carried out by professionally approved electricians. When looking to hire an electrician, you must make sure they are registered with one of the Government-approved scheme providers such as NICEIC (who represent the UK electrical contracting industry).

Usually, nothing will go wrong just after the installation. This doesn’t mean problems, or even emergencies, won’t arise after constant use. It’s important to keep in mind that even a simple overheating of wires can cause a fire, so poor electrical installation can be a great hazard.

For insurance purposes, a qualified electrician’s work can be certified in case anything goes wrong down the track. A proper contractor should be licensed with Public Liability insurance.

When overseeing the renovation of your home, you should be aware that since April 2013 electrical work in a dwelling, is notifiable to a local building control body where the work includes:

• the installation of a new circuit, whether at low voltage (typically 230 V) or extra-low voltage); 
• the replacement of a consumer unit (fusebox); 
• any alteration or addition to an existing circuit in a special location (e.g. a room containing a bath or shower, swimming pool or a sauna heater), whether at low voltage (typically 230 V) or extra-low voltage.

All work undertaken by your chosen electrician should meet the UK national standard, BS 7671 (Requirements for Electrical Installations). You will not have to deal with building control directly and when the work is finished you should receive:

• an Electrical Installation Certificate or, where applicable, a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate that confirms the work meets BS 7671; and
• a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate that confirms the work meets the Building Regulations.

If the work carried out by the registered electrician doesn’t meet the requirements of the Building Regulations, you will have access to a formal complaints procedure. You can also choose to take out an insurance-backed guarantee when you have the work done, and, if the work is later found not to meet Building Regulations, you can then make a claim.

If you are looking for a NICEIC electrician who covers Telford and the surrounding areas in Shropshire, call Wiring Works  today on 01952 427859.