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6 Questions To Ask Before Hiring An Electrician
Electricity installations, repairs, and maintenance can be dangerous if not done correctly. An electrical problem can easily cause damage to your expensive equipment or, worse, escalate to a fire. As such, ensuring you always use professional electricians is vital.
When you hire a certified electrician, you can ensure safe and reliable electrical work. Besides, you can guarantee that their work follows the local electrical code. For this reason, hiring an electrical contractor within your location would be more sensible. Such a contractor will understand the local regulations and ensure your electrical system adheres to them.
It’s best to find a professional electrician in your area, which can be done online. So, for instance, if you’re in the Mornington Peninsula region in Victoria, it’d help to search for the best electrician Rosebud. Moreover, you can further narrow down your search by including insured electricians in your keywords.
Once you’ve created a shortlist, consider asking the following questions below before hiring them to do your electrical work. This will help you determine whether they’re the right contractor.
- Do You Have A License?
Like other professions, electricians need to obtain a license from the relevant licensing body. This helps indicate they qualify to do electrical work as they claim. Therefore, asking for it should be your foremost concern.
Once you ascertain the electrician is licensed, you can inquire about the license status, which can differ depending on your location. License requirements can also vary, so double-checking with the licensing body would be best.
In most cases, an electrician can be either a journeyman or a master. A journeyman can install and maintain electrical systems. On the other hand, a master electrician can design, install, and maintain an electrical system. In addition, the master electrician should have at least two years of experience.
- Do You Have An Insurance?
Electrical work carries immense hazards and risks. For example, workers can sustain injuries while working. Additionally, property damage can occur during and after the electrical work. Hence, having protection against injuries and accidents from these risks is crucial. This way, you won’t have to pay for material damage resulting from the electrical work.
The limits of insurance coverage can vary from one policy to another. However, the bottom line is to confirm that the electrical contractor has relevant insurance coverage. A contractor with insurance can indicate they’re mindful of and understand the risks.
- What Are Your Experiences And Specialty?
Every electrical project can have its complexities and challenges. As such, a contractor with extensive experience can be significantly helpful. If there are problems during the electrical work, such a contractor can provide alternative solutions but still be within the required electrical code. Furthermore, they can shield you from unnecessary and unforeseen cost increases. The reason is that with experience, the contractor can exhaust all cost factors when providing you with a quote.
In addition to experience, it would be helpful to inquire about the electrician’s specialty area. For instance, some contractors may focus on apartment complexes and residential homes, while others focus on commercial projects. Therefore, knowing their primary area of work can be crucial.
You can also include training and experience in other electrical system-related fields. For example, you can inquire if the contractor knows about home automation, data cabling, and solar installations. These areas of expertise might be rare with electricians. However, it’d be a considerable advantage if your contractor has experience in them.
- Do You Have References And Any Work In Progress?
Before hiring an electrical contractor, checking their previous work would be crucial. Therefore, you can request at least three references to countercheck their work. Such references are helpful, especially if the projects are closely similar to yours. Furthermore, you can also check their website for reviews and customer feedback.
Checking the contractors’ work in progress is also crucial to your hiring process. It helps give you a view of their work ethic and on-site outlook. In this case, you can check areas like clear labeling of circuit breaker panels, and cable anchoring, among others. In short, references and work in progress help you check overall work quality.
- Is A Permit Required?
By design, all electrical work requires permits and inspection, especially if you have a large project. Therefore, your contractor should advise right away if you need one. In addition, confirm whose responsibility it is to pull the permits. Most electrical contractors will do this legwork. They can easily pull necessary permits and schedule inspections with relevant authorities as they know the ropes. However, they may include this in your quote.
- What Does Your Cost Estimate Include?
Sometimes electricians can give you a base cost estimate. As a result, you might hire them with this figure in mind. However, it would be vital to critically check the figure and inquire about what it includes. This can help avoid surprise increases in charges along the way. For instance, you can ask if the estimate consists of such incidentals as repairs for walls damaged during the electrical work.
Final Thoughts
Electrical work requires a thoughtful process before hiring a contractor to do it. Considering the questions above can help you hire the right electrician for the job. The final question is whether the electrician has a guarantee or warranty period for their work.
Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at [email protected].
