TERMS & CONDITIONS

To visit you within the Cardiff area in order to discuss a project, or to provide a no-obligation quotation for a set piece of work, there is no charge.

Where pricing has not been quoted beforehand for a set piece of work or where fault-finding is required, the following hourly/part hourly guide prices will apply.

Standard Labour Costs (First Hour) between 9:00am – 5:00pm: £60.00
Standard Labour Costs (Subsequent Hours) between 9:00am – 5:00pm: £45.00
Out of Hours Labour Costs (Per Hour) after 5:00pm Weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays - Up to the first hour on site: £90.00

Business: Gavin Owen Electrical Services
Proprietor: Gavin Owen
Address: 53 Tangmere Drive, Radyr Way, Cardiff, CF5 2PQ.
Telephone: 07860 657 935
Email: hello@gavinowenelectrical.co.uk
Website: www.gavinowenelectrical.co.uk

Insurance

NAPIT Insurance (underwritten by Hiscox Underwriting Limited)

Policy Number: 8296201
Professional Indemnity: up to £500.000
Public Liability: up to £2,000,000
Employers Liability: up to £10,000,000

Schemes

NAPIT CPS (Competent Person Scheme) Membership N⁰ 66123 (www.napit.org.uk)
Competent Persons Register (www.competent person.co.uk)

TrustMark Registered Business. TrustMark License N⁰ 2754625 (www.trustmark.org.uk)

Terms & Conditions

In order to protect both ‘The Customer’ and ‘The Business’ the following terms and conditions are to be applied.

Introduction

For the purpose of these terms & conditions the following words shall have the following meanings:

(a) “The Business” shall mean Gavin Owen Electrical Services.
(b) “The Customer” shall mean the person or organization ordering the work and for whom the Business agrees to carry out the work.
(c) “The Engineer” shall mean the representative appointed by the Business.
(d) “Quotation” when the Business decides to provide the Customer with a Quoted price for completing the work, this shall be understood by the Customer as meaning a fixed price that will only be subject to change if faults or issues are uncovered at any time during the installation work.
(e) “Estimate” occasionally the Business may decide that it is only willing to provide the Customer with an estimated price for completing the work, this shall be understood by the Customer as meaning an approximate price and may be subject to change. In this event, The term “Quotation” will be replaced with the term “Estimate” where applicable.

The Contract

The Business shall only be bound by a quotation given in writing to the Customer & produced by a representative of the Business. The Business shall not be bound by any quotation given verbally or in which manifest errors occur. For the purposes of these terms, ‘in writing’ includes by text, email and any document which is set out in a hand-held electronic device. Any text on a hand-held screen shall be treated as ‘in writing’.

Estimates/Quotations of Work

The Business will not charge to visit a Customer property within the CF postcode area in order to discuss work with a view to providing a quotation for a set piece of work.

The Business will only provide free no obligation quotes.

Any quotation supplied by the Business may be withdrawn by the Business at any time. All quotations are valid for 30 days only. If a quotation is not accepted by the customer within 30 days of issue, it will be assumed that the customer has rejected it.

All Estimates are based on a visual inspection and possibly a very limited amount of testing by an Engineer representing the Business and are provided under the assumption that the Engineer undertaking the work will not encounter any unforeseen circumstances that may alter the estimated labour or material costs, and therefore alter the final costs. Any situation such as this will be brought to the attention of the Customer at the earliest possible time, and they will be notified of the estimated recalculation. In addition to these points, there are other times that the final cost may differ from the original estimate, such as:

If the customer adds to work to be carried out, after the estimate has been presented/accepted.

If the supplier increases the price of materials, after the estimate has been presented/accepted.

If it is discovered that there has been an error in preparation, after the estimate has been presented/accepted.

Quotations are based on a visual inspection, and possibly a very limited amount of testing by an Engineer representing the Business. Quotations are based upon calculated costs of known materials and the likely installation time. It is assumed that the existing electrical installation is fault-free and that no remedial work is required before any modifications are made. If faults or issues are uncovered at any time during the installation work, then the Customer will be made aware of the issues and their options. Any remedial / additional work found necessary to allow for the modification of the installation may incur additional costs for labour and materials. For only this reason, invoice costs may vary from the quoted price.

In addition to this point, there are other times that the final cost may differ from the original quotation, such as:

If there is additional work required, in order to complete the project in its entirety, that was not foreseen when the initial inspection was carried out and the quotation presented. For example, if it transpires that there is asbestos present or other materials requiring specialist subcontractors. Also if the part of the electrical installation associated with the work is discovered to have previously been installed to a substandard level of workmanship.

Only quotations presented in writing will be firm.

The Business will not provide a quotation or advice based upon another enterprises quotation. It is not for the Business to make judgment upon how another enterprise conducts business.

Any drawings or plans provided with a quotation are given as a demonstrative tool to provide a visual representation of ideas and in no way represent any part of a contract.

Any drawings, plans or information provided by the Customer are accepted as being accurate, of true representation and final.

When a customer accepts a quotation, it is assumed that they have the necessary permissions/access for the Business to carry out the work. If the Business suffers any losses or penalties as a result of not having the necessary permissions, the Customer will reimburse any and all of these charges.

When a Customer accepts a quotation, it is accepted by the Business that they fully understand the scope of work to be undertaken and also agree to the Business ‘Terms & Conditions’.
All work undertaken by the Business will comply with the standard set out by the current regulations and any amendments in force at the time of work. Currently, Requirements for Electrical Installations, IET Wiring Regulations, Eighteenth Edition, BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 (Electrical Regulations).

All work undertaken by the Business will comply with the applicable Building Regulations in force at the time of the work.

Acceptance of Work

Written quotations presented via text or email will be accepted by the Customer via text or email. Where a date and/or time for the work to be carried out is arranged between the Business and the Customer, it is accepted by the Business that the Customer has agreed to its quotation and its Terms & Conditions.

The Business may refuse any work at its discretion. The Business is also not bound to provide any quotation, if it does not wish to carry out the subsequent works based on any grounds.

Charges for Labour

The Business has a transparent and consistent charge for labour, its charges for the current year are displayed on the front page of its website. www.gavinowenelectrical.co.uk. These charges are reviewed each January and are normally fixed for the calendar year.

The Business applies a minimum 1st hour labour charge, regardless of work carried out or the limited time spent on site. If, for any reason, the Business is unable to carry out work during the allocated time on-site, the minimum 1st hour charge will still be applicable together with the cost of any materials.

Any additional full hour/part hour labour ,exceeding the first hour, will be charged at the standard full hourly labour rate.

Labour Day Rate is based upon a maximum of 6 hours of labour.

Where ‘Time At Customer Site’ is used as the method of charging. Google Maps shall be used as the Businesses definitive method of timekeeping.

Where a date and/or time for the work to be carried out is agreed between the Business and the Customer, the Business shall use its best endeavors to ensure that the Engineer attends at the date and time agreed. However, the Business accepts no liability in respect of the non-attendance or late attendance on site of the Engineer or for the late or non-delivery of materials.

Outdoor work scheduled at the Customers property is deemed to be weather dependent, and is subject to rescheduling at short notice, the Business accepts no liability in respect of this rescheduling.

Where pricing has not been provided in a quotation beforehand, for a set piece of work, or where fault-finding is required, the Business standard hourly labour charges will apply.

Fault finding

When attending a property for the purpose of fault finding, a fault will be treated, by the Business, as being perceived until such a time that a definite cause of the fault can be established. For the purpose of fault finding, the Business standard labour charge will be applied, even in the event of ‘no fault’ being found.

Short Order Work

Due to the nature of some work, the Business may often be invited by the Customer to attend a property and undertake smaller work immediately. It shall be understood by the Customer that by allowing the Engineer to progress, the Customer is agreeing to the Business ’Terms & Conditions’ and is accepting that a charge for labour & materials will be applied.

Payments

Payment is due immediately upon presentation of the invoice.

The Business will not request a deposit or upfront payment for any work.

If a job is complete, but there is snagging of any kind, the customer shall still pay 90% of the total invoice amount upon completion of the works. The customer should then allow the Business sufficient and fair access to correct any snagging, the customer shall then pay the remaining 10% immediately upon completion.

Staged payments may be required for large or open-ended work, as such, invoices may be issued for completed sections of the work as it progresses or may be invoiced at defined time periods scheduled at the discretion of the Business.

Staged payments will be required for the comprehensive wire or re-wire of a property. The schedule for such staged payments will be

Stage 1: full material cost (only), seven days prior to the scheduled commencement of the work;
Stage 2: half of the total cost of labour, on completion of the 1st fix of the electrical wiring;
Stage 3: remaining balance on completion of the work.

The Business will not provide any guarantees, extended warranties, certificates, or any other documentation, unless the balance of the invoice has been satisfied completely.

The Business is not registered for VAT. All charges are subject to the appropriate VAT rates. A VAT invoice will not be supplied and VAT cannot be reclaimed.

Materials

Should materials be required to carry out the work, where the Engineer does not have stock items on his vehicle, the Engineer will collect them from an appropriate local merchant, and incorporate this time into the final labour costs.

Collection of non-stock items is chargeable but:

(a) Time wil be kept to a minimum & reasonable.
(b) If the collection time is likely to exceed 60 minutes the customer will be informed of the circumstances.

Materials supplied by the customer to be installed by the Business, but found to be incorrect/unsuitable or faulty, and consequently not installed, will still be subject to a minimum charge to cover the Engineers time.

Materials carry a mark-up of 10- 20% to cover the sourcing time, delivery/collection costs.

Supplied materials remain the property of the Business until paid for in full.

Warranty and Defects

Any defects of workmanship must be reported to the Business as soon as is reasonably possible and will be covered by the Business workmanship warranty for 12 months. This warranty will only apply to work carried out and completed by the Business that has been paid for in full. The customer must also allow the Business reasonable time for inspection and repair.

The Customer accepts that if they fail to notify the Business as aforementioned then the Business shall not be liable in respect of any defects in the works carried out.

If an inspection takes place and it becomes apparent that the defect is not the fault or responsibility of the Business, and is not as a result of its workmanship, the Business reserves the right to reasonably charge for the inspection and any work they are asked to carry out as remedial work, as per their standard charges.

The Warranty shall be for labour only in respect of faulty workmanship for 12 months from the date of completion with the manufacturer’s warranty in force.

The Warranty will become null & void if the work or materials, completed or supplied by the Business is:

(a) Subject to misuse or negligence.
(b) Repaired, modified or tampered with by anyone other than the Business Engineer.

The Business will accept no liability for, or guarantee suitability of any materials supplied by the Customer & will accept no liability for any consequential damage or fault.

Work is covered by the Warranty only in respect of work directly undertaken by the Business & that payment in full has been made. Any non-related faults arising from recommended work which has not been undertaken by the Business will not be guaranteed.

The Business shall not be held liable or responsible for any damage or defect resulting from work not fully covered by the Warranty or where recommended work has not been carried out. Work will not carry a Warranty where the customer has been notified by the Engineer either verbally or indicated in ticked boxes or in Comments/Recommendations of any other related work which requires attention.

Limitation of Liability

It is the responsibility of the Customer to ensure all furniture, fixtures and fittings are protected before the Engineer attends. It is also the responsibility of the customer to ensure safe and sufficient access to the area in which the Engineer will work. The Business accepts no responsibility for any accidental damage caused to furniture, fixtures or fittings, should an Engineer need to move them to access the area in which he has been asked to work.

The Business liability is limited to:

Liability for Personal injury or death resulting in the Business’s negligence when on site.
Reasonable and fair costs to repair any damages caused to customers property, should this be as a result of the Business’s negligence.
The Business will not be held responsible for any damages or loss that occurs as a result of pre-existing defects or weaknesses within the property. If damage to brickwork or plaster is caused as a direct result of work carried out, it will be the Business responsibility to make good to a reasonable standard. However, the Business does not accept responsibility for any damage to wall coverings, tiles, carpets or other furnishings as a result.
The Business will not be held responsible or liable for any damage caused as a result of investigative work or repairs carried out whilst on-site. This includes, but is not limited to, any damages caused by the removal of electrical accessories & covers, appliances, tiling, all/any floor coverings, internal and external walls and their respective coverings, cupboards, panels, furniture, fixtures, fittings or ceilings.

Failure of Residual Current Device (RCD)

The electrical installation, full or part, of many residential properties, is protected by an electromechanical safety device, known as a Residual Current Device (RCD). This device is required to be operated by the customer at regular intervals, via a ‘Test’ button on the device. Markings on the device or a label on the associated consumer unit should indicate this. When attending a property, it is most likely that the Engineer will need to operate this device for the purposes of ‘Isolation for safe working’ or ‘Testing’. Given the electromechanical nature of these devices, such a device may have become faulty resulting in it not resetting (turning back on) or the device may not have previously operated in the presence of a ‘fault’, therefore masking an existing fault within the electrical installation. The Business accepts no liability in respect of any loss or inconvenience as a result of such an event.The Customer will be made aware of the issue and their options. The Business will charge for any labour and materials, if requested by the Customer to rectify such an issue.

Alteration to the building fabric

Whilst undertaking the work, it may often be necessary to make alterations to the building fabric of the Customers property. Examples of this would be drilling a hole through the entirety of a wall for a cable run, core cutting a hole through the entirety of a wall for the fitting of an extractor fan, chasing a channel in a wall for a cable run or for a flush mounted accessories, the cutting and lifting of floorboards for the purpose of access, the moving aside of loft insulation for the purpose of access.

Such material alterations shall be, as far as is reasonably practicable, outlined within the estimate/qoute and also verbally explained to the Customer. Where a date and/or time for the work to be carried out is arranged between the Business and the Customer, it is accepted by the Business that the Customer has agreed to such alterations.

During such alterations, the Business will not be held responsible for any damages or loss that occurs as a result of pre-existing defects or weaknesses within the property, One such example would be poor adhesion of plaster/cement final coat.

Other Notes

The Business will not be held liable for being unable to carry out the work contracted to them by the customer, due to forces beyond their reasonable control.

The Business will not guarantee any work that they have advised against carrying out. Likewise, the Business will not guarantee any work where the Business has advised, either verbally or ‘in writing’, of any remedial work needed, but has not been carried out. Where the Business agrees to carry out work on installations of inferior quality, no warranty is given in respect of such works & the Business accepts no liability in respect of the effectiveness of such works or otherwise.

The Business is not liable for any loss, damage or subsequent repair of any pre existing wiring, electrical accessories or appliances that are connected to the electrical installation, but which are not directly worked upon.

Any tools, equipment, materials or personal items mistakenly left at the Customer property, shall remain the property of the Business. The customer should allow, at the earliest possible time, the Business sufficient and fair opportunity to retrieve such items.

The Engineer will not enter a property where there are minors present, but no persons over the age of 18. Should there be adults present when the Engineer enters the property, but the situation changes for any reason and the adult is to leave the minor unattended within the property, the Engineer will depart the property at the same time as the adult.

The Business will not provide any form of Consumer Credit.

These Terms & Conditions together with all contracts undertaken between the Business & Customer shall be governed & construed in accordance with English law & shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English law.

The Customers Statutory Rights are not affected.

Cancellation Rights

Under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Notice of The Right to Cancel:

Where an quotation has been accepted, under the above regulations the Customer have a right to cancel the contract during a period of 14 calendar days from the day of acceptance. During that period if the Customer choose to cancel the contract, any money paid by the Customer will be refunded.

However, if the Customer has already given written approval for the work to begin before the end of the cancellation period, the Customer may be required to pay for goods or services already provided.

If the Customer wishes to cancel the contract, they must do so in writing and deliver personally or send (which may be by text, email or post) to the person named below.

By Text: 07860 657 935
In Writing: Gavin Owen Electrical Services, 53 Tangmere Drive, Radyr Way, Cardiff, CF5 2PQ
By Email: hello@gavinowenelectrical.co.uk

The notice of cancellation is deemed to be served as soon as it is posted or in the case of an electronic communication from the day it is sent.

Complaints Procedure

In the unlikely event that there is anything that the Customer is not completely satisfied with, they should contact the Business as soon as they can in order that we can rectify any problems as soon as possible.

Step-by-step complaints procedure

If you’re not completely happy with the service you have received ,we would like to hear about it so we can do something to put it right.

We do everything we can to ensure our customers get the best service possible, however, sometimes we understand that we may not get things right. If this happens, please let us know.

We want to:

make it easy for you to tell us what went wrong;
give your complaint the attention it deserves;
resolve your complaint without delay; and
Provide you with the right outcome to your complaint

How and where to complain

If you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service you can tell us in the following ways:

By Telephone: 07860 657 935
In Writing: Gavin Owen Electrical Services, 53 Tangmere Drive, Radyr Way, Cardiff, CF5 2PQ
By Email: hello@gavinowenelectrical.co.uk

How long will it take?

We always aim to resolve complaints in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of all concerned. We endeavor to resolve complaints quickly, through thorough investigation.

We aim to respond within 48 hrs of receiving your complaint and where possible, will provide you with a date to remedy any issues raised.

Please see timeframes below:

If we are able to resolve a complaint within 3 business days, we will issue the complainant with a summary resolution letter detailing our resolution and advising the customer of their right to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
For every complaint received that cannot be resolved within 3 business days, we will issue the complainant with an acknowledgement letter within 5 business days, along with a copy of our complaint’s procedure.
We will advise the complainant on each communication when they can expect to hear from us next
If after 4 weeks we are still not in a position to resolve a complaint, we will issue the complainant with a ‘4 week holding letter’ advising why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint.
We will endeavour to resolve complaints in a timely manner and within 8 weeks as a maximum.
If we cannot resolve a complaint within 8 weeks then we will remind complainants of their right to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
All complaints received and resolved will be recorded so we are able to identify trends and make the necessary business changes to improve the services to our customers and prevent repeat occurrences.
If a 3rd party is solely responsible for the complaint or the reasons for the complaint, we will refer the complaint to them within 5 business days and write to the customer to make them aware of this.
If a 3rd party is jointly responsible for the complaint with us, we will refer the complaint to them within 5 business days, write to the customer to make them aware of this, and then investigate and handle the complaint points relating to us as per our normal process.

If we cannot resolve your complaint

If we are unable to resolve your complaint within 8 weeks, we will:

Send you a letter explaining our reasons for the delay and an indication of when we expect to provide our final response

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Our aim is to resolve all complaints internally. However, if after receiving our final response letter, or if eight weeks have passed, you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Their contact details are shown overleaf.

Financial Ombudsman Service

If you would like the Financial Ombudsman Service to look into your complaint you must contact them within six months of the date of our final response letter.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Exchange Tower

London, E14 9SR

Telephone: 0800 023 4567

Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Further information can be obtained from the Financial Ombudsman Service’s website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Data Privacy

Under the GDPR Regulations Regarding Data Privacy we now have to tell you what information we collect about you and your property and how we process/store this data.

If you call upon our services, whether for a quotation or for a job to be carried out, we will ask you for contact details including your name, address, phone numbers and email address. We will store this on our cloud-based CRM system that is password protected and assume you are happy with this and that we have your consent to do so.
We may store these and other relevant details about your property deemed useful for our Engineer.
We will assume that you are happy for us to do so, and that you give consent for us to store and use this data for fulfillment of contract. If you do not want us to store any data or you wish us to change any details we have, just drop us an email or phone call, or use the contact form on our secure website. Certain types of data such as financial records for tax reasons cannot be erased.
Whilst carrying out work for you we may need to pass your details on to one of our approved contractors or suppliers under the performance of contract area of the lawful processing of your data.
We may also need to pass you details on to various governing bodies for certain installation registration purposes.
We assume that if we carry out works for you we have your consent to use images of our work within your property for marketing and social media purposes. Every care will be taken not to include any reference to you or your address, pictures, personal effects, persons, pets or belongings in the photo.
As an individual you have strengthened rights under the new General Data Protection Regulations including the right to rectify any incorrect information we hold, transfer this information to another Business, access the information or withdraw the information we hold about you.
If you send in a CV for a job vacancy we will assume that we have your consent to store your data, even if you are unsuccessful so we may contact you if a similar role becomes available in the future.
This Website and its contents including all graphics, Logos and other intellectual property remain property of the Business and must not be copied, distributed or used in any manner other than is intended, without specific prior permission.

Date: 15th February 2021

Last amended: 3rd March 2023

Last reviewed: 8th January 2024