What questions should I ask an electrician before hiring?
Five questions do the work: Are you registered, and with whom? (verifiable on the public registers.) What certification will this job produce? Is the price fixed, and what does it exclude? What happens if you find problems mid-job? Who exactly will do the work? Good electricians answer all five easily; evasion on any one is the answer.
The registration question comes first because it is checkable: name and number, verified on the NICEIC or NAPIT register in the time it takes to make tea. The follow-up matters too: is the registration the business's own, or an umbrella arrangement?
The certification question sorts professionals fast. Every notifiable job produces an Electrical Installation Certificate (or Minor Works certificate for smaller alterations) plus Building Regulations notification. An electrician who is vague about what paperwork your specific job produces is telling you about their testing regime.
The pricing pair, fixed-or-not and what-if-you-find-something, exposes the quote's honesty. The professional answer describes a process: fixed price for the defined scope, discoveries priced separately in writing before proceeding. The concerning answer is breezy ('we'll sort it on the day'), because on the day your negotiating position is a hole in the wall.
The who-attends question matters for bigger jobs: firms staff mixed teams legitimately, but you are entitled to know whether the qualified supervisor is on site or supervising remotely. Ask it plainly; the answer's comfort level is data. And a bonus sixth for landlords: 'can you handle the compliance paperwork with my agent directly?', because the firms that can, say yes with relief.
More in choosing an electrician, or browse all 40 questions on the FAQ index.
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