ᐅ Electrical Installation by a Friend – Is an Inspection Mandatory for Insurance Purposes?

Hello everyone,

A good friend of mine is a certified electrician and works as an industrial electrician. Since we need a sub-distribution board in the garage, he offered that I could do the cable pulling and he would handle all the connections.

My only concern is whether this might cause problems with the insurance, as I would not have an invoice or documentation for the work done.

Would I then need to have the installation inspected and approved by another electrician afterward?

I can’t quite imagine that another electrician would take responsibility for that.

Best regards

BoPaDi24 schrieb:

The only question I have is whether this could cause problems with the insurance.

The only correct answer is: Yes, because you are neglecting your duty of care and cannot prove that the system was installed properly.

However, what you are doing, although not correct, is common. As a private individual, you are allowed to do things like connect a lamp, replace a light bulb, or plug a toaster into an outlet. Connecting a stove, however, would already be illegal. Or converting a single socket outlet into a double one by yourself — also illegal.

I have even heard that connecting a lamp yourself is illegal if it doesn’t have a plug. Which is somewhat absurd. But I wonder what happens in case of an incident – for example, if the house were to catch fire – would I then have to provide the insurance company with detailed proof of who installed what and when?

BoPaDi24 schrieb:

But I wonder, in case of an emergency – for example, if the house catches fire – do I have to prove to the insurance company who installed what and when?

Here, it depends. It will partly depend on a) the insurance company, b) the extent of the damage, and c) the cause of the fire. For example, if it is determined that the fire was caused by the electrical installation, then definitely yes.

And it probably doesn't matter whether the installation was carried out privately by a certified electrician or by me, right? Is there a possibility to have a private installation inspected and approved afterwards?

BoPaDi24 schrieb:

Is there a way to get a private installation inspected afterwards?

Sure. Find an electrician through classifieds or similar who can inspect the system and provide a test report.
Be careful that the report doesn’t get destroyed in case of fire 😉
Providing proof is actually the biggest challenge (if questions arise), especially if the house burns down along with the documents. It becomes even more complicated with older buildings that have changed ownership multiple times. The documents are almost guaranteed to disappear.

I wouldn’t worry about it at all…
Just do it and be done with it.