Electrical Fault Finding.

Fault finding is the diagnostic part of electrical work — when something's gone wrong but the cause isn't obvious. We use a methodical process of isolating circuits, testing each one with proper meters, and tracking the fault back to its source whether that's a damaged cable in a wall, a failed appliance, a corroded connection in a junction box, or moisture in an outdoor fitting. The aim is to find the actual cause, not just patch the symptom — so the same fault doesn't keep coming back a month later.

A safety switch trips when it detects current leaking somewhere it shouldn't be — which is exactly what it's designed to do. Common causes include a faulty appliance (kettles, dishwashers, and old fridges are repeat offenders), moisture in an outdoor powerpoint after rain, a damaged cable inside a wall, or a deteriorating circuit that's been close to the limit for a while. We test each circuit individually to identify which one is leaking, then trace the leak back to a specific cause rather than just resetting and hoping.

It depends on how cooperative the fault is. Some faults reveal themselves in the first 30 minutes — a single circuit isolated, a single appliance unplugged, a single junction box opened, and the cause is obvious. Others are intermittent (only fault when it's raining, only when a certain appliance turns on, only at certain times of day) and take longer to track down. We charge by time on these jobs and we're upfront when something is going to take more than the usual visit — you decide whether to keep going or pause.

We don't stop until the fault is identified — but if a fault is genuinely intermittent and refuses to show itself during the visit, we'll explain what we've ruled out, what's still possible, and whether to come back when the conditions are right (e.g. next time it rains) or install monitoring to catch it. You only pay for the time we've spent. We won't invoice you a 'fixed' status if it isn't actually fixed, and we won't recommend a full rewire just to make a problem go away.

We avoid opening up walls and ceilings unless the fault is genuinely traced to a cable inside one — and even then, we make the smallest hole possible at the right location, so any patching afterwards is minor. Most fault finding is done at switchboards, powerpoints, and accessible junction boxes that don't require breaking anything. If we do need to open something, we tell you first, agree on the access location with you, and leave the area as tidy as possible so any plastering touch-up is straightforward.

We quote the fault-find first because we don't know what the repair will be until we've found the fault — quoting both upfront would be guessing. Once we identify the problem, we give you a separate fixed quote for the repair work. You can choose to proceed straight away, get a second opinion, or do the repair in stages. The fault-find time is chargeable whether or not you proceed with the repair, but we'll always tell you the likely repair scope and price range before you commit.