When looking for an Electrician in the UK, the first thing you must consider are the required qualifications to carry out the work. All qualified electricians should be registered with a governing body who regulate genuine skilled electricians. The main ones are the NICEIC, NAPIT, and TRUST MARK.
A good competent electrician will be a member of one of the above, the main one to look for is NICEIC approved. To be a member of the NIC you really have to know your electrical installation. You can rest assured when employing an electrician associated with one of those organisations you will be getting a quality competent electrician who knows what he is doing.
If you ever employ an electrician you need to make sure they have credentials, some form of certification that says they have been to college and passed the relevant courses.
All Electricians should be qualified under the current wiring regulations, this is currently the 17th Edition IEE Wiring Regulations and they should be able to produce a certificate or card to confirm this qualification.
Good electricians are always busy and do not canvass for work, so don't ever use an electrician that knocks your door asking for work.
References from previous customers are a good sign. If an electrician is reluctant to provide references then clearly there is something not right. A good electrician should have pages of references they can offer you.
And the best tip is to use electricians that have been recommended to you by family and friends. If the person recommending them to you has had a fantastic trouble free installation then you are onto a winner.
Brought to you by bright spark Mitch Pendry -Sutton Coldfield Electricians