If it's dangerous right now
Fire, smoke or someone hurt: call 111, and don't touch a person who may still be in contact with the power. Burn marks, a strange smell or crackling at the switchboard: don't touch it, and contact your lines company straight away. Anything that's been in water stays off until a licensed electrician has checked it.
A problem with the electrician's work
Tell the electrician, in writing
Say what's wrong, what you'd like done about it, and a reasonable date. Photos help. Keep a copy.
Know what the law gives you
Under the Consumer Guarantees Act, a service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill and be fit for the purpose you asked for. If a fault can be fixed, the business has to fix it within a reasonable time. If it doesn't, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the cost, or cancel.
Ask for your certificates
Certificates are due as soon as possible after the work is finished, within a time limit the EWRB sets. If yours haven't arrived, ask. Our guide to electrical certificates shows which ones your job needed.
Take it to the Disputes Tribunal
If you can't sort it out, the Disputes Tribunal settles claims up to $60,000, including whether a tradesperson did the work properly and what was charged for it. Larger claims usually go to the District Court.
Tell us as well
We want to know when a job we matched goes wrong. Note the electrician's business name, your suburb and what happened, then see how to reach us below.
Unsafe or unlicensed work goes to the EWRB
You can complain to the EWRB about an electrical worker's conduct or work, and it publishes past complaint decisions. It also asks the public to report anyone doing prescribed electrical work without a licence, or claiming to be licensed when they're not, and it can investigate and prosecute.
The EWRB warns that insurance can be affected when electrical work isn't done by a licensed electrical worker who issues the certificates for it.
Telling us, or complaining about us
Sparky Next Door NZ is run by Blufire. To tell us about a job that went wrong, or to complain about how we matched your job or handled your details, get in touch with Blufire. Its privacy policy at blufire.com.au/privacy explains how.
Privacy complaints have their own steps, set out in our privacy policy.