Landlord/Owner responsibilities regarding electrical wiring

[zayne]

Hi all,

I had an electrician go out by my PM to my IP today to have a look at a faulty outdoor light and to replace a blown transformer on one of the down lights. The electrician advised my PM that all the electrical wiring for all the down lights were an "amature" job and obviously not done by a licensed professional electrician. He said that all the down lights in the house will need to be re-wired and is going to charge $2200 to do so. The house is a single story 3 bedroom approx 15 sq meters. Does this sound reasonable? What are my responsibilities as the landlord to have the lights re-wired? If I do get it done, is this claimable on tax as maintainance/repairs?

Thanks for your help.

 

[evand]

It depends on the quantity of lights but sounds way over the top. How many lights? Did you get a written quote? Can you scan it and post it here? If you didnt get one, ask for one. You should have received one for a $2200 job.

Best thing is to get another electrician to go out and do a visual inspection of the wiring in question and do a few tests and get back to you. Shouldnt cost you much but could save you a lot of $.

If he says the wiring is dodgy as well, ask him for a quote to rewire.

Are the lights in question the standard room lights or downlights that have been added on at a later date? This will make a big difference. How old is the house? Is it a project home?

If you're close by to the house see if you can take a few digital shots of the wiring and i'll give you a more accurate answer. Need more info/pictures.

By the way, downlights used to be about $100 per light to wire from new. Depending on the switching configuration.

 

[zayne]

Thanks for that. I spoke to the electricial directly this morning rather then going through the PM so I could get the full story. Apparently the person who did it did a really dodgy job. From what he said the transformers are the incorrect ones used, the wiring used is the incorrect wiring and many of the lights are wires are loose being a hazard. He quoted $100 per downlight to rewire so $2200 all up since there are 22 downlights. Does this sound reasonable? Wouldnt this be classified as a repair for taxation purposes?

The downlights were not the standard lights with the house. They were added later on by the previous owner who was a builder. Im assuming he did it all himself by the sounds of things. Not sure when exactly the lights were wired but the house was built approx 15-20 years ago.

 

[RumpledElf]

Electricians and plumbers are generally required to fix anything really really dodgy they find when they're out for another job. The chappy who installed my hot water service a few years back *had* to put my hot/cold taps the right way around, fix some exposed wires that were a fire hazard etc. Made the bill really blow out.

I've bought a house with some quite obvious illegal wiring that is on the rent cap order, I'm going to have a fun time with the electrician. Who fortunately is the father-in-law, so at least it won't be expensive.

 

[units4me]

I'm an electrical contractor in the Doncaster area and that q does sound very excessive.
There are a lot of panic merchants out there in this game. "Your house will burn down blah blah" is the cry.
Now i accept that there may be something not right about your lights, any defects with downlights can generally be fixed at a reasonable cost.
I,m very curious as to what type of wiring is the "wrong type" as lighting will run on any thing from 1mm2 upward, as long as it has active, neutral and an earth (which is not actually even req'd to be connected to the double insulated trannies).
Biggest thing is make sure that trannies and globes are clear of insulation and that there is no exposed wiring.
Pay another eletrician for his visit to check the downlights, but don't mention the $2200 quote. A second opinion may surprise you.
PM me for my phone no. if you need more advice.