10 Questions to Ask your Electrician
1. Do you have an Electrical License?
It is a legal requirement in Australia that any electrician you hire must hold a valid electrical license in their name. If the electrician is running their own business, they must also hold a valid Electrical Contractor license. You can look up license validity at Find a gas fitter, electrician or plumber | Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (commerce.wa.gov.au)
2. Do you have Insurance?
If you hire an electrician that does not have any Public Liability insurance, you are taking a huge risk both personally and financially if something went wrong. Public liability insurance doesn’t just protect your home and inhabitants and the electrician during the job, it also protects your family in the future, should something go wrong later down the track.
3. Do you have References?
An experienced and competent electrician will have plenty of past jobs and testimonials that they are happy to share. You want to hire someone who can get your job done in the most cost and time efficient way, and can implement the job the way you want. References are a great way to gauge an electrician’s competency and suitability for your needs.
4. What is your Experience?
Electricians with more years under their belt are generally going to be better at the job than the freshly qualified. Plenty of experience means a broader ideas base for the best solutions for your needs and the fastest and most economical means to implement them.
5. Do you have a particular specialty?
At Grand Elite Electrical, we have a lot of experience in renovations and new home builds. It makes sense to hire an electrician who specialises in what you’re looking for; you wouldn’t hire an industrial electrician to wire up your new home.
6. What does your Quote include?
Is the electrician supplying the products or do I need to purchase these myself and have them ready in time for installation? ( eg lights/fans/heatlamps/cameras)
is the electrician going to patch and paint previous holes or is it more cost efficient for me to do that myself or hire someone else for that later?
7. Who’s going to carry out the work?
Always know who to expect to arrive at your door. It’s not always the person on the phone or email that will be attending. Electrical contractor’s with multiple electricians under their employment will send the right electrician for your job, and you should be informed of their name and when they will be attending.
8. Does your work come with a Warranty?
Grand Elite Electrical offers a lifetime warranty on our workmanship. Not all electricians offer this, so it always pays to ask.
9. Will you be On Time?
We value time just as much as you, and we won’t waste yours. All electricians at Grand Elite Electrical arrive on schedule and get the job done as quickly as possible.
10. Can you give me an Electrical Safety Certificate?
An electrical safety certificate is a legal document certifying that the installing work:
has been completed;
has been checked, tested and complies with all regulatory requirements; and
is safe to connect to the electricity supply.
The certificate is a guarantee that the electrical installing work has been carried out by a licensed electrical contractor and is safe.
At Grand Elite Electrical, we lodge all our Electrical Safety Certificates online via e-notices through the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
NOTE: Maintenance work does not require an electrical safety certificate.