Trade-body-sourced questions Welsh homeowners should put to any electrician before signing — and what good answers look like.
Get the licence number and verify it on the trade body's online register before work starts. Cards alone can be expired or scoped to different work than they have been quoted for. The relevant body here: NICEIC · NAPIT · Part P.
Verbal quotes are useless if things drift. A written quote should list materials, labour, VAT (if applicable), the payment schedule, and a validity date. Anything beyond that becomes a "variation" with a separate written agreement.
Some electricianss sub-contract part or all of the job. That's fine, but you need to know in advance: which parts, what their accreditation is, and who's contractually liable if something goes wrong.
Public liability £2-5m minimum, employers' liability £5m if they have staff, tools/materials cover for site theft. Ask to see the actual certificate, not just a verbal assurance.
Industry-standard schedule for medium jobs: 25-30% on signing, 30-40% at first milestone, balance on snag-list completion. Anything beyond 50% upfront is a red flag.
Typically 1-2 years for general work, 5-10 years for major structural / waterproofing work. FMB-Insurance-Backed Guarantee and CompetentRoofer scheme membership add separate underwriter protection that survives the firm closing down.
Pin them down on the timeframe — "within 7 working days of you raising the issue" is the FMB Code of Practice standard. Vague "we'll come back when we can" answers tend not to translate to action.
Specifically local + recent. References from 2019 from another county tell you nothing. The best references are ones you can drive past to physically see the work.
Ready to ask these of a real electrician?
22 electricians listed in Cardiff have been cross-checked against Google Business Profile, Companies House and the NICEIC register.