12 tips to choose a good electrician

Which electrician is the most sought after

When you move on to the search for the master, you will be faced with the first and most important choice - who is better to turn to. And here, in fact, there are a lot of options. We list everything from worst to best:

1. Guest workers. In the pursuit of cheap services, many customers prefer cheap labor in the face of migrant workers and the so-called co-workers. This is far from the best option, because they often do not know what is written in the PUE and do everything as quickly as possible. The result - unsafe twists, diagonal wiring, installation of automatic machines at 25A to protect wires with a cross section of 2.5 mm.kv. etc. You can generally forget about drawing up a wiring diagram, as well as about providing a guarantee for services. Want to choose a good electrician? Then give up guest workers anyway.
2. Electricians with housing. You yourself understand that for a modest salary it is rarely when specialists work, but there are such exceptions. In addition, situations when such masters come to the call with a "darling", and even do everything according to the old rules, you can meet a lot on the Internet. We do not say that the electricians from ZhES are bad, but nevertheless, as statistics show, most of these specialists do not keep up with the times, and in principle they are famous for their low professionalism.
3. Jack of all trades or Husband for an Hour. Such masters, as a rule, are able to do a little bit of everything: he is an electrician, a plumber, and a welder. As a result, the proper level of knowledge in the field of electrical installation will not, as well as the corresponding technical education (most often just crusts). We do not recommend choosing a handyman for the installation of electrical wiring.
4. Builders. Sometimes construction companies in addition to finishing work offer electrical installation services. In this case, there is simply an electrician in the team who can independently come to your home and complete the order. Prices are usually below average, but there is a risk of choosing a so-so specialist.It all depends on the experience, reviews of the entire construction company and the personal qualities of the electrician himself (we will talk about this below). Not the most preferred option, but definitely better than the previous three.
5. An electrician who can work in his spare time. Some manage to negotiate with a specialist who has his own main job, but at the same time he is ready to slowly install wiring on weekends and after work (take a shabashka). Here everything, again, depends on the master himself and his personal qualities, but there is definitely a drawback - if an electrician works in the evenings and on weekends, problems with neighbors cannot be avoided. In a private house, this problem disappears, but in the apartment it is very relevant. As for the price, it should also be lower, because the work will take longer.
6. Firms engaged exclusively in electrical installation. One of the most suitable options, the only drawback of which is the high price. Due to the fact that you contact a company that rents an office and has a staff, the cost of wiring will be significantly higher than the previous options. But there are some significant advantages: the quality of the work performed, the guarantee for the services provided, work experience and qualified personnel.
7. Electricians-merchants. In other words, these are self-employed people (IPs). The obvious advantages of this option are work experience, a guarantee for the services performed, the efficiency of work and an acceptable price. Most often, electricians working on their own do not break the price, but do not lower it than average. Those. This is the best price for this or that region. The disadvantage is that there are a lot of such merchants, and far from all of them differ from handymen and guest workers. You need to know how to choose an electrician, so as not to fall on an unscrupulous artist. We will talk about this below.

Note! The information provided above is not generally accepted. Everything is always purely individual: there are also electricians with housing and communal services, who perform electrical installation at times more qualitatively than specialized companies.

What qualities you need to pay attention to

So, in order to choose a good electrician for wiring in an apartment or a private house, you need to consider the following recommendations. Here are the qualities that a specialist can trust in:

1. Work experience of at least 7 years, preferably more than 10. During this time, a person will fulfill a fairly large number of orders, prepare many examples of work performed and learn from their own mistakes. It is important that there is experience in the field of electrical installation of private facilities, and not just work at state enterprises.
2. There are examples of finished work. Photos on a laptop, a prepared album or a photo gallery on a business card site. If your chosen electrician does not have a so-called portfolio, it is better to refuse his services or at least ask what the reason for the lack of minimal preparation for the first acquaintance with the client is.
3. Availability of appropriate education. It is good if the contractor of your choice will have a specialized technical education, and not just a crust about taking emergency 2-month courses or even worse, when the master is self-taught. Also a plus will be the availability electrical safety approval groupsnot lower than 3.
4. Large arsenal of tools, including measuring. This is of course an indirect indicator, because many mount electricians have a complete set of both manual and power tools. But still, the tool says a lot about its owner and if the kit consists of a small bag in which there is only a tester, a set of screwdrivers and pliers with electrical tape, you should think about choosing this artist. About, what tools should an electrician havewe told separately. Overalls, by the way, are also a good indicator of professionalism.
5. Confident speech and the ability to quickly announce the price for standard services (installation of 1 electric point, ditching a running meter of the wall, etc.). Properly delivered speech, the ability to hear and listen, as well as the provision of advice testifies to the professionalism of the electrician. It will also be good if he can offer several options for wiring, depending on your conditions. It is important to note that experienced electricians rarely announce the final price, as unforeseen situations, difficulties, or for example, the execution of additional customer tasks, can always occur. In addition, a real specialist first fully listens to the wishes of the client, then advises and only then talks about money. If your electrician is only interested in money, you should not hope for a responsible approach to business.
6. Availability of reviews and recommendations. It’s good if the electrician you choose has a website on which satisfied and dissatisfied customers leave honest feedback. Also a plus will be the presence of a personal page of the artist on the services exchange (for example, on pro.ru or other similar services). So you can understand how well your chosen performer does his job.
7. Providing a guarantee for the work performed. In order to protect yourself from the situation when a woe-electrician performs electrical installation and after a month starts to smell like wiring in an apartment, which will entail a call from the master and additional waste, you need to clarify whether your master gives a guarantee for electrical installation. The longer the warranty, the better for you. Just do not confuse the guarantee for wiring with a guarantee for wiring products and cable products.
8. The absence of bad habits, in particular, an electrician should not show excessive love for alcohol. Entrusting such a dangerous business as installing wiring to a drunken performer is not worth it, everything may end not in the best way. Not now, so in a few months the quality of work will show itself.
9. Electrical prices are average or above average. For cheap, no specialist will mount the wiring. Therefore, if the services of an electrician that you decide to choose are suspiciously cheap, something is not right. At a minimum, specify why such a difference in prices.
10. Lack of free time. A demanded electrician is unlikely to be able to start working at your facility 1-2 days after treatment. Most likely, the specialist will have to sign up for a month in advance. If you called the master, and he says that he will be able to start work tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, then it is not easy for him to have such an employment. This is either a beginner electrician, or not particularly reliable.
11. The ability not only to lay the cable, but also to perform design work. A qualified specialist should know how to calculate the cable cross-section, choose the appropriate rating of the machines, the brand of conductors and, most importantly, justify you your opinion. Here, of course, and you should prepare in advance and study the minimum necessary information. For example, how to choose a circuit breaker and how to calculate the cable cross section for current.
12. Own base of reliable suppliers of electrical goods. In no case do not agree to the proposals of your contractor to buy a cable from his some acquaintances or in some strange place. All materials must be certified and accompanied by receipts. The choice of the manufacturer should also be consulted in advance, especially regarding the cable manufacturer.

These are the minimum recommendations that you need to consider in order to choose an electrician to replace wiring in an apartment or house. If you make a brief conclusion, then the contractor must have an education, work experience, portfolio, a full arsenal of tools and a minimum of free time at the time of your first call.In addition, the candidate you choose should be able to perform all the calculations, clearly explain your opinion and be sober. Now let's talk about where to find such a person.

Where to find a good electrician

So, in order to choose a suitable candidate, you first need to find him and it turns out to be not entirely simple either. The search for an electrician should begin with word of mouth - this is the most reliable option. Ask your neighbors, friends, work colleagues, acquaintances, etc., maybe someone knows a good electrician, used his services.

The next step is groups in VK, Odnoklassniki, Facebook, the search for an electrician through the search engines Yandex and Google, as well as YouTube. Everything is simple here, write in the appropriate search engine “Electric Moscow” or “Electric Installation Tula” (depending on what city of residence you have) and see all suitable offers. On sites you can immediately compare prices, which will be very useful.

It’s good to search through social networks for the reason that you can determine the popularity of artists by the number of subscribers, there are also examples of finished work. In YouTube it’s still more interesting, because You can view not only photos of works, but also video examples of wiring, the number of likes and dislikes, which directly indicates the quality of the wiring.

In addition to this, an electrician can be found through sites such as Avito, Yula, OLX, etc. There will no longer be any reviews or ready-made examples of work (in rare cases). So the first impression of the master you will receive only after talking on the phone and in person.

Well, the last one is an advertisement in newspapers and on the streets of the city (banners, pasted up announcements on poles, other types of advertising). It is important to note that only very successful electricians and electrical companies can afford big advertising. The so-called shabashniks the maximum that they can afford is to be placed in the column of ads in the newspaper, but here you can find a good electrician.

Finally, we recommend watching a video on which a few more recommendations are provided that will help you choose an electrician for wiring in an apartment or your house:

That is where we end our small consultation on how to choose an electrician and where it is best to look for a reliable master. Remember that if you want to conduct electrical wiring in a house or apartment, you need an electrician. The profession of an electrician is divided into a sufficiently large number of specialties and it is far from the fact that an electrician who has been engaged in the maintenance of electrical installations for 20 years will be better than an electrician with experience in private facilities for about 5 years. If you have questions, ask us for comments, it will be interesting to discuss!