Dangerous kitchen fitter

[legoqueen]

We had a new kitchen installed last year, including integrated appliances (dishwasher & washing machine). The sockets were fitted in adjacent cupboards by the electrician, & the kitchen fitter then installed the appliances. A year later, our dishwasher tripped the mains & then wouldn't work. The engineer has been out & has found that the fitter cut the power cable so that he could fit the plug through the small hole in the cupboard (rather than make the hole bigger?). The engineer advises that this was illegal & a fire risk - we could see on the cable where it & the insulating tape had melted. What is my best course of action now? Is there a trade body? I'm concerned he could have done the same to the machine machine so have turned it off at the mains.

[MrsTaraPlumbing]

No trade body unless he is a member of one.

I think your course of action is through the small claims court.
BUT small claims do not deal with compensation and distress,
just real tangible things - so refunding you the cost of putting it right.
It is a simple and cheap process.

There may be other routes perhaps trading standards, but I'm not sure, sorry, dodgy electrical work by tradesmen is outside my area of experience.

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

Who's name is on the paperwork for the part P sign off ?! As legally they are responsible for the electric work carried out ?!

[PigletJohn]

if you mean he cut the appliance flex, and jointed the cable with tape (!) rather than fitting a new plug, he is a buffoon but it is not a Building Regs ("part P") issue.

[legoqueen]

Thanks, yes it was as PigletJohn described, & the actual electrical work with part P cert was carried out by an electrician. I'm not bothered about compensation, just furious that he had such a disregard for my family's safety & concerned he's still out there (although original firm filed for bankruptcy & he's set up in business again under a different company name).

[MummytoMog]

How would that even work? Why would you not just refit the plug? I'm amazed that the dishwasher worked at all...

[PigletJohn]

factory-fitted moulded plug, with no screws to remove and refit.

Kitchen fitter with no 76p plug in his van

FFS

Buy yourself half a dozen 13A plugs (Duraplug if you can find them) and put them in the cupboard under the sink with a card of 13A, 5A and 3A fuses and a smals screwdriver. They will probably last as long as you do.

[legoqueen]

PigletJohn I know....

We're going to look at the washing machine today. If he's done the same with that (& the cable hole between cupboards is tiny so it's a reasonable assumption that he has) I assume we are okay to unplug power cable from machine, buy a replacement & attach ourselves - we don't need to get an electrician?

[PigletJohn]

yes. You have to cut off moulded plugs and trim the wires so they fit an ordinary plug. Washers need a brown 13A fuse in the plug. The plug will have a cardboard picture attached showing how to connect it. bRown on Right, bLue on Left. A pair of side-cutters and insulation strippers will do better job than a breadknife.

Or buy a Hole Saw (that goes in an electric drill) or a Jigsaw and make a plug-sized hole.

[legoqueen]

Thanks for your help. We'll use the hole saw, as we did on the other cupboard. The most upsetting/frustrating thing about this whole fiasco has been how easy doing it properly would have been...I think I now need to chalk it up to experience & move on!