Terms and conditions

These terms apply to all work we carry out for you. Please read them before accepting a quotation. If anything is unclear, ask us and we'll explain it.

In these terms, we, us and our mean MA Electricals & Gas Works Ltd. You means the customer named on the quotation or invoice. A consumer is someone buying work for their own home rather than for a business.

1. About us

MA Electricals & Gas Works Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Our company number and registered office are shown at the bottom of every page of this website. We are registered with the Gas Safe Register, an NICEIC Approved Contractor and F-Gas certified.

2. Quotations and how a contract is formed

• A written quotation is an offer to carry out the work described in it. A contract is formed when you accept it in writing, by email or text, by signing it, or by paying a deposit.
• Quotations are valid for 30 days unless we state otherwise.
• Prices generated by the instant price tools on this website are indicative until we have reviewed your answers and photos and confirmed them in writing. They are not an offer.
• A quotation covers only the work described in it. Anything else is a variation (see section 5).
• We may withdraw or correct a quotation containing an obvious error, even after you have accepted it, provided we tell you promptly.

3. Prices, VAT and deposits

• All prices include VAT at the current rate where VAT applies.
• We normally ask for a deposit of 50% before ordering materials or booking a start date. Your start date is held once the deposit reaches our account.
• The balance is due on completion unless the quotation says otherwise. For larger jobs we may agree staged payments in writing.
• Payment is by bank transfer to the account shown on your quotation and invoice. Our bank details never change: if you receive a message saying they have, do not pay it, and call us to check.

4. Late payment

• If you are a business, interest and reasonable recovery costs on overdue invoices are charged under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
• If you are a consumer, we may charge interest on overdue amounts at 5% a year above the Bank of England base rate, calculated daily from the due date until payment. We will always contact you before charging interest.
• Materials and equipment we supply remain our property until they are paid for in full, so far as the law allows once they are installed.

5. Changes to the work (variations)

Occasionally work is needed that could not reasonably have been seen when we quoted, for example a fault revealed by testing, hidden pipework, or a system that turns out not to match what we were told. If that happens we will stop, explain the position, and give you a price for the extra work. We will not carry out extra work, or charge you for it, without your agreement.

Where a change is agreed on site, we will confirm it by email or text before continuing, so there is a written record.

6. What is not included

Unless your quotation specifically says otherwise, our price does not include:

• Making good decoration, plaster, tiling, flooring or fitted furniture affected by the work. We take reasonable care, but some disturbance is unavoidable.
• Repairing pre-existing faults, or parts of a system we did not install.
• Removing or working with asbestos. If we suspect asbestos we will stop work and you will need a licensed specialist.
• Upgrading a gas supply pipe, electrical supply, earthing or bonding, unless the quotation says so.
• Work required by your energy network operator, water supplier or freeholder.
• Builders' work such as lifting fixed floors, structural alterations or scaffolding.
• Parking charges, permits and congestion or emission zone charges, which are added at cost where they apply.

7. Access and your responsibilities

• Please give us clear, safe access to the work area at the agreed time, along with electricity, water and, where needed, parking.
• Please move valuables, breakables and personal items from the work area before we arrive.
• Please tell us in advance about anything that affects the work, such as asbestos, structural problems, previous repairs, or restrictions imposed by a freeholder, landlord or managing agent.
• If you are not the owner of the property, you confirm that you have permission for the work to be carried out.
• If we cannot start or finish because access is not available, or the property is not ready, we may charge a wasted visit fee of £99 and re-book.

8. Appointments, delays and cancellations by you

• Please give us at least 48 hours' notice to change or cancel a booked appointment. Less than that, and we may charge a wasted visit fee of £99.
• If you cancel an agreed job after materials have been ordered, we may charge for those materials and for work already carried out.
• Consumers have separate legal cancellation rights, which are explained on our cancellation rights page. Nothing in this section affects those rights.
• Timescales we give are estimates made in good faith. We are not responsible for delays outside our control, such as supplier shortages, weather, or waiting on your network operator, but we will keep you informed.

9. Safety: work we may have to stop

We have legal duties that override your instructions and this contract. If we find a gas appliance or installation that is immediately dangerous or at risk, we must make it safe, and we may have to disconnect it or turn off the gas supply. The same applies to dangerous electrical work. We cannot ignore a danger, leave an unsafe appliance working, or issue a certificate that does not reflect what we found.

We may also stop work and leave site if conditions are unsafe, if we are subjected to abuse or threatening behaviour, or if continuing would breach our registrations or the law. Where we have to do this, you remain liable for work properly carried out up to that point.

10. Certificates and notification

Where the work requires it, we issue the relevant certificate or record, and notify Building Control through our registration scheme. Certificates are issued once the work is complete and paid for in full. A certificate records the condition of the installation at the time of the work, and is not a guarantee against future faults.

11. Our guarantee

• We guarantee our workmanship for 12 months from completion. If something fails because of our work in that time, we will put it right free of charge.
• Equipment we supply carries the manufacturer's warranty. We register it for you where the manufacturer requires it. Manufacturer warranties usually require an annual service, and are the manufacturer's responsibility, not ours.
• Our guarantee does not cover: fair wear and tear; damage caused by misuse, accident, freezing, or someone else working on the installation; problems caused by parts of the system we did not install or were not asked to work on; system sludge or limescale where we recommended a clean and it was declined; or failure to service the equipment as the manufacturer requires.
• Please report any problem to us first, and give us a fair chance to inspect and put it right before arranging anyone else. If you do not, we may not be responsible for another contractor's costs.

12. Your rights if something goes wrong

If you are a consumer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you rights that these terms do not affect. In particular, our service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and any goods we supply must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. If work falls short, you are entitled to have it put right, or to a price reduction where that is not possible in a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience.

If you are a business, these terms set out our full responsibility to you, and the statutory implied terms are excluded so far as the law allows.

13. Our liability

• We hold public liability insurance. Details are available on request.
• We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or failing to use reasonable care and skill.
• We do not limit or exclude our liability in any way for: death or personal injury caused by our negligence; fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; breach of your statutory rights as a consumer; or anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
• Subject to the point above, our total liability for any one job is limited to the greater of the price of that job or the amount payable under our public liability insurance.
• We are not liable for business losses. If you are a business customer, we are not liable for loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of opportunity.
• We are not liable for damage to, or failure of, parts of an installation that were already faulty, at the end of their life, or not installed by us, where that failure would have happened anyway.

14. Photographs

We may photograph work we have carried out for our records and, unless you ask us not to, for our website and marketing. Photographs never identify your address or show anything that could identify you. Tell us at any time if you would prefer us not to, and we will remove them.

15. Your information

We use your details only to quote for, carry out and follow up your work, and to meet our legal obligations. Our privacy policy explains how we handle your information and your rights over it.

16. Complaints

If you are unhappy with anything, please tell us. Our complaints procedure sets out how we handle complaints and how long each stage takes.

17. Events outside our control

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as severe weather, accidents, illness, supplier failure, industrial action or utility outages. If such an event happens we will contact you as soon as possible and agree a new date. If the delay is substantial, either of us may cancel, and we will refund anything you have paid for work not carried out.

18. General

• We may transfer this contract to another business, for example if our business is sold. Your rights will not be affected.
• You may only transfer your rights under it to someone else with our written agreement.
• This contract is between you and us. No one else can enforce it.
• If a court finds any part of these terms unlawful, the rest continues to apply.
• If we do not insist on something straight away, that does not prevent us from insisting on it later.
• These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.