There are many jobs around the house that you can easily do yourself and you can get a lot of satisfaction from doing DIY – painting and decorating, putting up shelves, fitting flat-pack furniture together, even changing a washer all come under the ‘let’s do it’ banner. Electrical work is very much the exception to this case – although it is easy to hurt yourself doing DIY with most A&E admissions being due to accidents in the home, there is no job that runs such a high risk of death as fiddling with wiring. And death really means death – not ricking an ankle or pinching a finger – death. Calling in a professional makes sense on that score alone, but there are others.

#1 – Safety

As already mentioned, electricity is lethal if not treated with respect. There is a risk of electrocution not only when doing work but afterwards if things have not been done correctly. A qualified and registered electrician will have had extensive training and so everything will be safe to use after he has done.

#2 – Hidden problems

An amateur trying to work with wiring may not be able to tell if what has been done is safe in the long term. Everything may work well at first, but an overloaded system may well cause problems down the line, even to an extreme extent like causing a fire which could damage the house and even result in fatalities.

#3 – Guaranteed work

When you call in a professional, you will get guaranteed work which will be handy when you come to sell your house. Having a paper trail for work done in a property is always a selling point – saying you did your own wiring is likely to be a red flag to a buyer.

#4 – Guaranteed price

As any DIYer knows, a job can spiral out of control when extra tools are needed or material is wasted through mistakes. When you get a quote from a qualified electrician, you don’t get extras added on – you know what you will be paying from day one.

#5 – Less mess and upheaval

Because for any tradesperson time is money, a qualified electrician will do the work quickly and be in and out of your house in the time it would take an amateur to gather their tools together. It is a matter of pride to them to leave a job in a neat and acceptable condition.

#6 – Checkable credentials

A qualified electrician will be a member of a number of professional bodies – for example, NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) or NAPIT (National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers) – and so you can check their professional standing.

#7 – Insured work

If the worst happens and something goes wrong, work done by a qualified electrician and any damage caused by a malfunction will be covered by their insurance. This often is better than relying on your home insurance which would be void if you had done defective work yourself.

#8 – Word of mouth

A good qualified electrician will not mind you contacting previous customers to check the quality of their work.

#9 – Latest innovations

Qualified electricians are kept up to speed by their professional body and so they know all the latest ways of saving energy and money. They are also kept abreast of health and safety issues.

#10 – Arbitration

If you have a problem with a qualified electrician and they won’t come to terms with you, you have recourse to their professional body who will assess the situation without prejudice. This gives peace of mind, especially if the job is an expensive undertaking.