Electrical repairs

• RCD or breaker tripping, sometimes straight away, sometimes at random, often after rain;
• Sockets or lights not working on one circuit or in one room;
• Flickering or buzzing lights, often a loose connection or an incompatible LED dimmer;
• Burning smell, scorch marks or a hot socket or switch. Stop using it and call;
• Outside lights and garden circuits that fail in wet weather;
• Remedial work from an EICR: C1, C2 and FI items, with certificates for your records.

An RCD trips when it detects current leaking to earth. That's its job, so the RCD itself is rarely the problem. The usual causes are:

• a faulty appliance, very often a kettle, washing machine, immersion heater or outdoor equipment;
• water getting into an outside light, socket or junction box;
• a nail or screw through a cable, often after shelves or a kitchen have been fitted;
• slow insulation breakdown in old cables;
• a neutral-to-earth fault, which can trip the RCD even when the faulty circuit is switched off.

We isolate circuits, test insulation resistance and unplug appliances one at a time until the fault is found. Please don't keep resetting a tripping RCD or tape it on. It is telling you something is wrong.

Most small repairs are priced on time and materials, and we tell you the cost before we start. Two things help keep it down: a clear description or photo before we arrive, and a list of any other small jobs you've been meaning to get done, so one visit covers them all.

When fault-finding takes a while, we keep you informed as we go. You won't get a surprise invoice at the end of the day.

Repairs and small additions are covered by a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate, which shows what was done and that it was tested. Larger work, like a new circuit or a consumer unit change, gets a full Electrical Installation Certificate and, where the Building Regulations require it, is notified to building control. Keep these with your house documents: buyers' solicitors increasingly ask for them.