When searching for an electrician to undertake electrical work at your home or business, it’s important to make sure you hire someone who will do the job well. In some trades, experience, qualifications and so on are not that crucial, however, with an electrician, their competency and knowledge in this field of work are a high priority.
If you would like some advice on knowing what to look for when hiring a qualified electrician, then keep reading to find out what it entails to be considered a high-quality electrician.
References
Just because an electrician is qualified, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are good at what they do when it comes to actual hands-on work. Don’t be afraid to ask an electrician for any references before hiring them. Ideally, this will be from previous clients stating their satisfaction with the electrician’s work.
A more modern way of referencing someone now is online reviews. Whilst they aren’t always entirely credible, they can be an insightful way of knowing whether an electrician is worth hiring. You can usually spot red flags in customer reviews and references.
Look at licensing
Licensing differs from qualifications and preferably your ideal electrician will have both. As part of the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991, electrical workers in Australia can only carry out electrical work if they hold an appropriate electrician’s licence.
A trustworthy electrician will usually state their licensing on their website, or be able to provide it to you upon request. If they don’t do either of these, that may be a warning sign that they aren’t fit to carry out electrical work for residential or commercial customers.
Experience
When hiring a qualified electrician, see if you can find out how much experience they have under their belt. Whilst it’s good to give new electricians a chance to prosper, hiring an electrician who is experienced is just a bit easier. You want an electrician who you can leave to it without the worry that they will cause damage to your property.
You can usually tell even just by the way an electrician talks about their work how much experience they have. Choosing an electrician with plenty of experience means your property will be in safe hands and that all electrical work will be carried out safely, efficiently and quickly.
Reliability
There are few things worse than hiring a contractor to conduct work on your property who turns out to be flakey and unreliable. When hiring an electrician, try to find someone who will agree on deadlines with you and stick to them. You can often get an idea of how reliable an electrician is by their testimonials and reviews, or by something as seemingly simple as their ability to turn up on time.
Quotes
During your electrician selection process, try to get a few quotes from multiple people. Ensure when you do get a quote, it’s a concrete quote and not a barely thought-about number that they’ve just given you to keep you happy.
The detail of a quote might also give you an idea of how hirable a qualified electrician is. If they’ve given you a number that ‘covers everything’, you may be less persuaded by this than an electrician who gives you a quote that is broken down into details about how much each part of the job will cost.
Don’t choose an electrician because they’re cheap
Once you have reviewed your selection of quotes, don’t hire an electrician solely on the fact they are cheap. Of course, a cost-saving work person is beneficial, but just make sure that you prioritise quality first.
This isn’t to say that cheapness and quality can’t come hand in hand, but hiring a qualified electrician who is good at their job is arguably more important than a low price.
Insured
Choosing an electrician who is insured can give you peace of mind that should an accident or injury happen, or if any damage is caused, then you both will be covered.
When a qualified electrician is insured, it’s also a good indication that they are serious about their work and any people they employ.
Quick response time
When corresponding with an electrician, their response time is more important than you might think. An electrician who responds to you within a respectable time scale is often one who cares about your business and making you feel valued as a customer.
This kind of mentality often then translates into their work, too. This isn’t saying they must respond within five minutes of you sending your message. An electrician who gets back to you in good time is also an indication of an ability to organise tasks well.
Want a qualified electrician with all of the above?
Same Day Trades is a qualified team of electricians in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane with all of the above qualities and more. You can expect a friendly, reliable, trustworthy, professional and affordable (but not compromising on quality!) service. Contact us today to find out more about us or for a quote.
