• HOW DO I PICK THE RIGHT ELECTRICIAN

In this page I have put all the necessary information you need to arm yourself with before you call an electrician.

• PREPARE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CALL AN ELECTRICIAN

Preparing yourself is important but it really depends what you want from an electrician. For example, to change one light, relocating a power point outlet or installing some down lights is pretty basic no or very little preparation is needed.

When it comes to more involved work for example, a renovation, extension or a new home this is a big job and a lot of money invested and getting what you need where you need it is essential. Make sure you discuss between your partners or whoever about this well before you call in anyone.

It is important to know, planning for the future of your home is also essential because adding an extra power point outlet, telephone outlet or installing an intercom might cost you a little more now but in the future anything extra, weather you are in the middle of the building stage or at the end it might end up costing you a lot more.

• DO YOU HAVE PLANS?

It is a good idea to have plans showing power point outlets and lights drawn. This is a good idea so you can show it to your electrician. You might think this is impossible if you don not have plans drawn up already by a professional. Don't worry this is not a big problem you can draw them up yourself.

You start off by simply measuring up the internal walls of the property and roughly sketching it onto a piece of paper. Please click on "Rough Sketch Layout" image I made it myself in 20 minutes.

All you need then is about 1 to 2 hours of spare time to draw it more neatly with the measurements taken in the rough sketch and draw it to scale, this will look like a professiona has done it . Please click on "Drawing Layout" image I made it myself in less than 2 hours.

As seen in the above examples you do not have to be an architect, it is very simply if you take your time. This then can be used as a guide and template for your electrician when they come and quote your job and can also be used by your electrician on site to carry out the electrical work to your specification as specified on yours plans.

• THINGS TO ADD TO YOUR PLAN DRAWING

It is a good idea to photocopy your plans and sketch where you want the telephone outlet, where you want the power point outlet and how many. Listed below are some things you can put on your plans

• Power points
• TV outlets
• Telephone outlets
• Networking outlets
• Alarm sensors, keypads and zones
• Light switches, 2 ways and three ways
• Sensor lights
• How many lights
• External lights
• Intercom - Audio only or Video
• Oven kilowatt ratting
• Cook top kilowatt ratting
• Hot water kilowatt rating
• Pool and spa
• Floor heating

• WHY GO THROUGH ALL THIS TROUBLE?

When you call an electrician they do not want to spend 4 hours to quote a job you are getting this for free and coming out to you is costing them money already. They would like to see the job site speak to you about the job and then leave. At best you will get 30 minutes to an hour and if you have done what was said from the steps above this will give 30 minutes or an hour of quite useful time talking to the electrician about more important things.

If you are in doubt with one or more of these items you can raise them with the electrician. This plans you have made will ensure that each quote you get is priced with the exact same number of items as per your list. Becareful price may also vary with other factors like brand of outlets they are going to use.

• INTERVIEW

Always call an electrician to come and quote your job this is free don't worry. There is several reasons for this, one is to get a price guide, second one is you can check them out, see what look like and look at what vehicle they use, is it clean, organized, does it look professional and finally you get to ask question and see how they answer back to you.

Keep a watch out for any signs which will give an indication of the type of tradesman, for example if is clean, he will treat your home the same. If he looks after his van, it means he likes to look after his business and customers the same way.

• QUOTE ANALISYS

Getting 3 quotes is good, this gives a brief overall view of the electrician and gives you a price guidance. The lowest prices is not always the best price, it should be taken into context, compare the price difference with how the electrician explained things to you and their appearance clean or dirty. If the most impressive electrician is 10% to 20% higher, its because he spends that extra time with his customers.

• MAKING YOUR DECISION

This should be the easy part now with all that information and preparation.

Why don't you can start off with BimexCo to get your obligation Free Quote.