Sparking Awareness with Electrical Safety
08 Dec 2010
There are nearly 8,000 electrical fires in homes across the UK
each year and accidents caused by faulty electrics account for a
staggering 4,000 injuries and over 30 fatalities a year*. Ensuring
that your family is safe within the home from both fires and
electrical shocks is vital. If you are having any electrical
work carried out in your house it must comply with the latest
Building Regulations - the easiest way to guarantee this is to
employ an installer who is registered with TrustMark.
TrustMark, the Government backed not for profit quality mark for
tradesmen provides homeowners with a database of just under 8,000
registered electricians across five scheme operators such as the
NICEIC, NAPIT and the ECA. Whatever your location around the
country, TrustMark can recommend a qualified electrician in your
area.
Roman Russocki, Chief Executive of TrustMark said: "Safety is
paramount when it comes to the electrics within your home and it's
therefore imperative that all work carried out in this area is done
by a qualified professional. Sourcing a local electrician via the
TrustMark website will ensure that you do not fall prey to a rogue
tradesman who could ultimately leave you and your family in danger
with faulty electrics."
Top Tips for Homeowners Ordering Electrical
Work
- Check that the electrician is approved with a reputable body such as TrustMark. Registered electricians will complete all work under the requirements of the Building Regulations
- Be clear about what work you want done within your property and unless the job is minor do try and obtain several quotations to ensure that you get a fair price
- Ask for references
- Check that they have public liability insurance of at least £2 million so that you are covered should any damage occur during the job
- On completion of the work you should receive a detailed certificate confirming that the finished work meets with the safety standard (BS 7671) outlined in the Building Regulations
Editors note
*Statistics provided by the Electrical Safety Council, Annual Report 2007/8