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Electrical Repairs and EICR

Started by popotla, June 13, 2021, 07:51:12 PM

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popotla

I own a small flat in the East Midlands (rented out) and am told by the management company that electrical work needs doing.

I was given an estimate and then asked for another. Between the two estimates, the costs, as regards four items, vary hugely. A new fan, for example would cost either £100 or £185, a bathroom light £100 or £60. Two other jobs would cost either £40 and £40 with one company or £22.50 and £25 with the other. The remaining job would cost either £88.25 or £80.00, not very different.

It's not just a simple case of "everything more expensive with one company"; some items are cheaper with one of them, some cheaper with the other. As I see it, this shouldn't be the case: items that have to be bought in are available to anyone at the same or a similar price (a fan is a fan is a fan, for example), and the time needed for any particular job, among the five, shouldn't vary much. So what is going on?

I wanted to have one company do some of the jobs, the other company, the others, but it appears that the cost of the certificate would be in addition to these charges and thus - as two certificates would then be needed - I would end up paying even more..

Other than starting again and getting new estimates, or trying to get the firms to change parts of their offers, I'm not sure what I can do here. Any useful advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. What should an EICR certificate cost?

heavykarma

You are already well past the deadline for getting your EICR done.The cost will vary according to the size of your property.I would guess a one-bedroom flat would be around £200-300. As to the difference between quotes for repairs,that is always the case.Different people charge different rates for a variety of reasons. It could be more disruptive to your tenants to have the work done by two contractors.I would toss a coin,get the work booked in asap.in case they report the lack of an EICR.

Hippogriff

EICR costs in The North... £120 to £150.

Remedial work is going to be different... these are just jobbing Electricians or small firms... they're not the equivalent of British Gas with a nationwide footprint and a warehouse full of stores - they go to a local Merchant and buy... they may have their own discounts, they may choose different items - you can't expect parity, it's unreasonable. Likewise, it's good to save costs but sometimes you've just got to bite the bullet and jump... the most rewarding situation coming out of an EICR is challenging the work itself - removing it completely... but it seems like, here, you have harmonised recommendations, just different costs... my strategy here would be to share parts of the quote information individually to each Electrician and ask them if there's anything they can do - choose a different item (less costly fan)... if not, then still jump and go with one because it's now more important you have the EICR in-hand as the timeframe for remediation is counting-down... but you might get lucky.

All that said.. you mention Management Company here. Have they conducted a primary EICR on your behalf or something? Why have they notified you of work that needs doing? That bit is not clear to me. Do you mean Letting Agent?

Simon Pambin

Quote from: popotla on June 13, 2021, 07:51:12 PM
a fan is a fan is a fan, for example

Yes and no. If you just want something that mounts in the wall and makes makes a buzzing noise when the bathroom light is on, then any old cheapo unit will do (assuming it's the right voltage and has the features you need). If you want something that will actually do a decent job of getting rid of the moisture-laden air, without making such a racket that the tenant just turns it off, then it's worth paying a bit more.

Hippogriff

This comment... "a fan is a fan is a fan, for example" does betray some worrying level of ignorance... not being catty, but all you have to do is look on Screwfix's website, or any other website in the world that sells things!

In fact... all you have to do is realise life in general simply doesn't work like that...

"a car is a car is a car"
" a house is a house is a house"
"a wedding ring is a wedding ring is a wedding ring" - all of these statements are patently untrue... but if they were I'd certainly have my Ranger Rove.