5 Quick Tips: How to Find the Best Qualified Emergency Electricians

 

Disaster. Your power goes out in the dead of night. What do you do? For many people, it’s pick up their phone and search for qualified emergency electricians. But how do you know you can trust the skills behind a random Google search result?

There’s no need to panic. Here are five quick tips for sourcing reliable electrical experts:

1. Don’t just go for the cheapest first

Like with many things in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to electricians in London and around the world. If you do a quick internet search, you’ll no doubt find some firms local to you which you might think of as surprisingly cheap. Well, sadly, in a lot of cases that “surprise” is going to be a bad one for you later on.

That’s not to say you can’t get a good deal. But it’s value for money when it comes to qualifications and equipment which you should really be looking for. Don’t skimp on something as important as the safety of your home or business and all of their occupants just to save a few pounds on an hourly bill. That’s why it’s important to do things like…

2. Check if they really are qualified emergency electricians

When you’re choosing a professional in another industry, it might be difficult to judge a tradesman’s skills even if they have years of experience under their belt. Luckily, when it comes to electricians, that’s not the case.

Most local authorities in the UK have a Building Control department which will require you to certify that the quality of any electrical work you have done is safe. The only people who can do that are the Building Control department themselves or a professional tradesman registered with a competent person scheme such as:

• The NICEIC (National Inspection Council For Electrical Installation Contracting)
• The BSI (British Standards Institution)
• NAPIT (The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers)
• Electrical Safety First (The Registered Competent Person Electrical Mark)
• ELECSA
• TrustMark

3. Check their certifications

A professional will be happy to have you ask about the certifications they can supply. Some very small jobs may not need them, but most electrical work will require an:

1. Electrical Installation Certificate
2. Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate

You need to be certain that your electrician is able to supply them.

4. Make sure everything is included in your quote – compare like for like

You need to be positive that any rate or price that you’re quoted includes everything you need to have done. Does the firm charge an increased rate for the initial hour? Are travelling expenses included, or are they not an issue?

It’s always best to be clear exactly what you’re paying for with each company.

In order to do this, you might need to do a small amount of research first so you know precisely what you’re asking them to do. For the late night sort of 24-hour electrical problems, this might not always be something which you’re able to wait around to do.

But, if you have the chance, try and compare quotes from multiple qualified emergency electricians. For a start, being able to compare how they go about delivering their quote – do they arrive on time, do they seem like they know what they’re talking about – can help you…

5. See how you feel about them

This might sound a little vague. But with most people, you can instantly get a sense of them through their punctuality, their knowledge, their politeness, how interested they seem in asking questions or how happy they are to answer yours.

A proper professional is usually someone you can spot fairly easily. Are they well presented? Is their van clean and tidy?

If so, they’re all the more likely to view themselves as a professional. And to act like it in all of their dealings with you.