Livewire started because I was fed up with local electricians turning down small jobs — or hiking the price if they thought you had no choice. I checked old invoices too. Only 1 out of 3 even showed a proper breakdown of hours, rates and parts. With Livewire, it’s all upfront. Transparency is the motto. No hidden extras. No big mark-ups on parts — I charge them at cost. My rate covers the specialist kit, wear and tear, and recalibration costs.

Monday to Friday I will accept daily emergency call outs if diary suffices. This may mean an after hours visit to accommodate. Call outs for Saturday morning are normally through pre-arrangement from a call received Friday.

Here’s the thing — it’s easiest to explain with two quick examples. A contractor once came to swap a burnt socket front after a washing machine leak. Took five minutes. No electrical testing. Then charged £100 cash and left. The customer didn’t know what to ask, so they got taken for a ride. Then there was my own house. During my training I went to move a socket, thinking it’d be a simple job. It wasn’t. The last “spark” had crammed three different feeds into the back. Old and new wire colours. Nothing labelled. Total mess. A one‑hour job quickly became two… maybe three. That’s fault finding in a nutshell. It’s like walking into a crime scene for the first time. You never know what you’ll uncover — especially if someone’s had a go before and it’s not up to code.

A good electrician thinks past today’s job. So if you’re upgrading your home and you might add an EV charger, solar panels (or both) later, we’ll factor that in now. We can fit a setup that’s ready for those upgrades, without ripping things out again. That’s “future-proofing”.

It’s a legal requirement under the Electricity at Work Act and the Wiring Regulations (BS 7671:2022, amended 2026). An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is usually 7+ pages. But even a small change to your home electrics should still come with a Minor Works Certificate — not just an invoice or receipt. That certificate should record (where possible) what type of earthing system you have. Earthing values matter. If they’re wrong, protective devices may not trip fast enough — putting people and property at serious risk.

It has to be safe. That’s the law — and it’s how we work. Say you want new garden lights on their own mains circuit. The cable may run right round the garden. When we test how quickly the protection cuts off (think: a spade or digger hitting the cable), it can turn out to be too slow — and not safe. Older fuse boards can be an issue too. Things like ceramic fuses often aren’t suitable once you start adding modern kit such as EV chargers or solar. That’s why the regs say we must assess your existing installation properly before adding anything new. And if we add a new circuit, Building Control has to be notified. An independent inspector may check the work — and if it doesn’t meet the legal standard, it can be ordered to be removed.

Yes I am insured under Napit, underwritten by HISCOC: Policy number 8483198.

I’m fully qualified as a domestic installer, but I didn’t take the usual three-year NVQ college route. I qualified later on as an adult student through Access Training, completing their Level 3 QSQ (Qualified Supervisor Qualification). You might hear about the Competent Person Scheme (CPS). It’s an independent scheme electricians can choose to join. It’s not required. Here’s the practical bit: if I install a brand-new circuit, that job has to be notified to Local Authority Building Control. If not fully registered with NAPIT yet, the Building Control notification fee has to be added to the job. That’s normal and very expensive. As a NAPIT member I notify my NAPIT scheme instead, and they handle the Building Control side. The Building Control notification fee is therefore substantially less (subsidised) when passed over to the client.

Have a look at our social media for reels and photos of jobs we’ve done. As well as electrics, I can also help with: small joinery domestic plumbing remedial domestic tiling I trained in each of these with 70 hours of hands-on, face-to-face intensive training at YTA Bradford. I did it for a simple reason: my own kids will be looking to buy their first home soon, and I want to be able to help them do up a cheaper place. You can benefit from those same skills too. My insurance expects most of my work to be electrical, with the rest being odd jobs like handyman work and tiling. Rather than list everything, it’s best to just ask.

The original and complete quote is: "Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.". While the shorter version "Jack of all trades, master of none" is often used, the full quote acknowledges that someone with a broad skill set may still be more capable than a specialist in certain situations.

This came up all the time at sparkie school. If your EICR flags a C1 or C2, it’s a fail. And strictly speaking, the spark who carried out the report shouldn’t then “fix it up” just to turn their own fail into a pass. An EICR can come back as: Pass or Fail, with Recommendations If it’s a fail, the report should include enough detail for another electrician to put it right. That said, you can agree in advance that your spark will do the remedial work straight after—same idea as telling your mechanic to do whatever’s needed to get the MOT through. You don’t need a second EICR to prove it’s now safe. The repairs are written up on an Electrical Works Certificate, which records the remedial work and confirms the installation is no longer a fail. So in the end you’ll have two certificates: 1) The original EICR   2) The Electrical Works Certificate for the fixes

If your home is rental as tenant or landlord the regulations specify every 5 years but the rental agency or landlord should be approached if you are uncertain. As a home owner the recommendation is every 10 years.

our tiler may need to pop round at least twice. Here’s why. 1) The adhesive needs time to set   Once the tiles are on, the adhesive can take a few days to harden properly before grouting. Walls are usually less of a worry. Floors need more care. If you grout too soon, the pressure can shift a tile that hasn’t bonded well. That can lead to tiles cracking, breaking, or even lifting later on. Different adhesives cure at different speeds: Some ready-mixed ones can be set in around 24 hours   Powder-mixed adhesives are often 2–3 days, with full strength up to a week 2) Prep work matters   If the wall or floor isn’t flat, it needs sorting first. That might mean fixing cement board or sturdy ply to create a solid, level base. On walls, an uneven surface can leave tiles sitting proud or not quite flat. On floors, it can lead to cracks when weight goes on. So it’s often: prep, then tiling, a short curing time, then grouting and polishing.