It has been another long week and brain slightly fried and I’m sure I should know the answer to this, but don’t.

We have a handyman who amongst other things has a Part P electrical qualification. We only get him to replace broken / not working items at our site such has light units / and plug socket fronts etc. I have been asked if his qualification would allow him to replace the batteries in emergency light units / and the whole light if necessary. I have also been asked if he would be acceptable to replace smoke detectors (like for like, not adding new), also the call points. Then after that get our normal company in to just service the alarm system as normal.

The normal company we use seem to be upselling all the time and the quote for replacing some of these things seemed somewhat excessive. We looked up the price in a local electrical factor and found our normal company were charging us double for the same units and then adding their installation cost on top. This then turned into an eye watering bill.

Now I feel he is capable of doing this work, and can’t see any problem unless you need some sort of special electrical qualification to do it.  Can any see an issue with this thought?

Cheers

Chris

Edited by user 15 November 2019 11:19:03(UTC)  | Reason: added call point

Why don't you get an alternative quote.  We tend to benchmark every now and again and if our current supplier doesn't come up to snuff then we get rid of them.  As the customer you are well within your rights to have this work done elsewhere, but not necessarily in house if your handyman is not competent.

Thank you all for your responses, they were more or less my first reaction also. However, I was then shown some of the things which put doubt in my mind.

Yes, Part P is for domestic electric’s and although in a commercial building the things we ask is to change the odd light fitting or replace a broken 230v socket front, both these items are no different to those in a home. Therefore, we feel he is sufficiently trained to undertake these duties. He himself said he can’t add new wiring, but replacing things on the ends of the wire is fine. He tells us about anything he does not feel competent to do and we make other arrangements via an electrician.

The reason for asking was the changing of the emergency light battery for instance - is to cut power, remove cover of unit, unplug battery connector, unclip battery, then reclip battery in holder, put two wire plug connectors back in, replace cover and power back up. (see picture). Doesn’t seem that you would need anything much in the way of an electrical qualification to do that. 

Similarly, the Call point I took a photo while the engineer had the front off to test. And there are two plugs one with red wires and one with black and handed plugs so they can’t be put in wrong. The only screws are the ones that hold the cover on. Again, it was questioned if it was really necessary for it to be a fully qualified electrician.

The Smoke detector would actually require un-connecting wires, but there are only 4, two red and two black and both the black one go to the same connection point (effectively joining them together). No more complex than a 3-pin plug socket.

We seem to be able to buy the parts far cheaper that via our service providers and they quote just under £500 a day to do the work. It just seemed like money for old rope. Would you still suggest a fully qualified electrician? I’m just trying to be realistic with this, and not just going for the easiest option of Qualified electrician to do everything from putting a new 3 pin plug on and upwards.

Your views are appreciated.

Chris