Finding a good electrician in Leeds should be simple. Search online, pick someone with decent reviews, get them booked in. In practice it rarely feels that simple, because unlike choosing a solicitor or an accountant, most people have no easy way to tell a qualified, registered electrician from someone with a van and a business card. Get it wrong and the cost isn’t just financial. Uncertified electrical work can leave you unable to sell a property, unable to let it legally or living with a fire risk you don’t know is there. Here’s what actually matters when you’re vetting an electrician in Leeds, in the order it’s worth checking.
Check they’re registered with a recognised competent person scheme
Anyone can call themselves an electrician. Not everyone is registered with a body that actually inspects and assesses their work on an ongoing basis. NICEIC is the best-known of these schemes in the UK, and registration means a contractor’s work is regularly checked against the wiring regulations, not just self-certified.
Registration also matters for Part P, the part of the Building Regulations in England that covers electrical safety in homes. Most significant domestic electrical work is notifiable under it, and an electrician registered with a competent person scheme can self-certify the work and handle the notification as part of the job. Use one who isn’t registered and you may need to arrange separate Building Control sign-off yourself, at extra cost and extra hassle. Our guide to NICEIC and Part P qualifications explains what each one actually covers and how to check any electrician’s registration for yourself before you book.
Ask to see proof of insurance
Public liability insurance covers the cost if something goes wrong on the job, damage to your property or worse. An established electrician won’t hesitate to tell you what level of cover they carry and put it in writing. If an electrician is vague about insurance or won’t confirm it, treat that as a warning sign, not a small detail. We carry £5,000,000 of public liability cover on every job we do in Leeds, and we’re happy to confirm that in writing before any work starts.
Look past the star rating
A high star rating on its own tells you very little. A handful of five-star reviews can be arranged. What’s harder to fake is volume, consistency and recency together, a large number of reviews built up over years, not a burst of activity in one month. We’re rated 4.9 stars from 215 reviews and currently rank 3rd of 848 UK electricians, and we’d encourage you to read a sample on our reviews page rather than take any single number at face value, ours included.
Get a written estimate before you agree to anything
A good electrician prices the job, not just the hour. An open-ended hourly rate with no estimated total leaves you exposed to a bill that grows the longer the job takes, and gives you no easy way to compare one price against another. Ask for a written estimate before any work begins, ask what could change it and be wary of anyone reluctant to put a number on paper. An estimate is not a fixed price, but it should be clear about what it covers. Our guide to electrician costs in Leeds explains what drives pricing on common jobs and how our written estimates work, so you know what you’re comparing when you get more than one.
Ask how long they’ve been trading locally
Longevity isn’t proof of quality on its own, but a contractor who’s been trading in the same area for years, with a steady stream of repeat and referred customers, has a track record you can actually check. A business that’s changed its name twice in three years or has almost no local footprint is harder to hold accountable if something goes wrong later. We’ve been working on homes across Leeds for over 30 years and complete around 400 jobs across the city every year, which gives you a body of local work to check against, not just a claim on a website.
Make sure they can certify the specific job you need
Not every piece of electrical work needs the same certificate, and it’s worth confirming upfront that the electrician you’re considering can issue the one you actually need. A landlord needs an EICR. A new circuit needs Building Regulations sign-off, which a registered electrician can self-certify. A straightforward repair might need neither. Ask directly what certificate you’ll receive at the end of the job and when, and be cautious of anyone who can’t answer clearly.
How do you know if an electrician is good?
Put together, the checklist above is the whole answer: current registration with a recognised scheme, confirmed insurance, a review history you can actually verify, a written estimate, a real local track record and clarity on what certificate you’ll get. If you’re searching for a registered electrician near you, the NICEIC’s own online register lets you check any contractor’s current registration status directly, which is worth doing before you commit to anyone, us included.
Get an estimate from Martin Day Electricians
We’re an NICEIC Approved Contractor and Part P registered, Martin is JIB Approved and on the Register of Electricians, we carry £5,000,000 of public liability cover and have been working across Leeds for over 30 years. We’re rated 4.9 stars from 215 reviews, ranked 3rd of 848 UK electricians. You can read more about how we work on our Why Choose Us page, or put the checklist above to the test directly.
Whatever the job, an EICR, a full rewire, or an emergency callout, the next step is the same: get in touch for an estimate. We’ll answer the questions in this checklist and give you a written estimate after studying the photographs and information you send us, before anything starts.
