Still chasing your sparky for the certificate weeks after the job's done? Here's why that's on you to fix

The extension's finished, the client's happy, the plasterer's been paid... and then the client asks for the electrical certificate for their file. Simple enough, except you never got it off the sparky. So now you're the one chasing, texting every few days, getting nothing back, while your client waits and quietly wonders whether you run a tight ship. The electrician's gone quiet, but it's your name taking the hit.

I hear this from builders across the Thames Valley more than almost anything. So here's the plain version: what that certificate actually is, what can genuinely be held back, and how I make sure it never lands on you.

What the certificate actually is

When an electrician does notifiable work (a new circuit, a consumer unit, a rewire) they issue an Electrical Installation Certificate, an EIC. It isn't a receipt or a nicety. It's the document that says the work was designed, installed and tested to BS 7671, and it's exactly what your client's solicitor, insurer or building control will ask for later. Don't confuse it with an EICR... that's a condition report on existing wiring, a different job entirely. Smaller alterations get a Minor Works certificate instead... same idea, smaller scale.

What can, and can't, be held back

Here's the bit worth knowing when a certificate goes missing. The safety side isn't a bargaining chip. A registered electrician has to notify notifiable work to building control, through their competent-person scheme, within 30 days of finishing, and the compliance notice follows from that. That duty stands whether or not there's a squabble over money.

The physical certificate is slightly different. An electrician can legitimately hold it back pending payment... but only if that was agreed with you up front, in writing, before the job started. What isn't on is springing it as a surprise, or simply going silent for weeks with no dispute at all. That last one is the common case, and it isn't a legal standoff... it's disorganisation. And if a genuinely registered sparky won't produce the paperwork, you've got real routes: a complaint to their scheme (NAPIT, NICEIC or ELECSA), Trading Standards, and the Consumer Rights Act.

Why it lands on you, not him

None of that helps you in the moment, though. Your client doesn't chase the electrician... they chase you, because you brought him in. Weeks of "I'll sort it" makes a tidy build look shaky right at the end, when the last thing a client remembers is what sticks. The certificate is cheap. The reputation isn't.

How I hand it over

So here's my end of it. On every job I do for a builder, the certificate is emailed to you and to your client before I leave on the last day... the EIC, or a Minor Works certificate on smaller work. Because I'm NAPIT-registered, I notify building control and the compliance notice follows within the month. No chasing, no gone-quiet, nothing for you to have to explain. I keep a filed copy too, so if it goes astray in two years' time, one message and I resend it.

For a builder, that's about the cheapest bit of trust going: the electrical paperwork is done before I'm off site, so your handover stays clean and your client's file is complete the day you hand over the keys.

Want an electrician who leaves the paperwork, not a chase

I'm a NAPIT-registered electrician based in Slough, working with builders and renovators across Windsor, Maidenhead, Bracknell and the Thames Valley. If you'd rather the certificate landed in your inbox than left you chasing, get in touch for a free, no-obligation quote... here's a bit more about how I work.