Additional information on electrical industry guidance and safety can be found at the NICEIC website niceic.com where they also have a specific area for householders: www.niceic.com/find-a-contractor
The ‘Electrical safety first’ website: electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk has advice for the general public, with numerous download guides: electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guidance/ Additionally some professional guides and resources are available, that can also be accessed by homeowners. These can assist with understanding industry recognised work practices and/or interpretation of current wiring regulations, in relation to specific applications: electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/professional-resources/best-practice-guides/ (1) Replacing consumer units. (2) Safe isolation. (3) Connecting microgeneration systems. (4) Electrical Installation Condition Reporting (AKA Periodic inspection). (5) Fire protection. (6) Portable & Stationary appliance testing. (7) Test instrument accuracy. (8) Plug-in socket testers. (9) Retrofit LED lamps. Also Minimum provision of domestic socket outlets. & Consumer unit connections.
Building regulations guidance can be found in various ‘approved documents’ at the governments planning portal: planningportal.gov.uk
Electricians able to self certify work as compliant with Building regulations, will be members of industry recognised trade bodies. Membership can be verified on the ‘Electrical Competent Person Register’. Contractors can be searched by name or postcode, Search results will list registered electricians able to work and certify Part-P compliance in England and Wales. (Part-P building regulations is not applicable in Scotland.) electricalcompetentperson.co.uk
Building regulations require that newbuild, or major refurbishment of domestic dwellings, should have suitable interlinked smoke detection devices installed. ‘Aico’ are a market leader producing a comprehensive range of smoke/heat/carbon monoxide detectors etc. to meet these requirements. The Aico website: aico.co.uk/homeowner/ has specific guidance for homeowners. Full product specifications: aico.co.uk/homeowner/products/ And a helpful product selector: aico.co.uk/homeowner/product-selector/
{ S.M. Services recommends the use of Aico detectors. }
Rental properties, Landlords & Tenants guidance:
When renting out a property a landlord has additional obligations toward their tenants that do not apply to a private domestic dwelling. Electrical safety first has various pages of guidance and downloads available:
electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guidance/advice-for-you/advice-for-landlords/
Landlords-guide-england-and-wales-june-2020 (PDF)
Landlords-interim-checklist-2014 (PDF)
Government websites also have guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities, relating to the regulations that came into force on 1 June 2020:
Electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector-guidance
Some customers prefer to source their own materials, especially when looking for specific decorative items such as light fittings. The internet provides a wide resource for searching and selecting products to match your taste.
Numerous on-line sites open to trade and the general public are available, some purely web-based, others have outlets offering branch click-and-collect, as well as courier service delivery. Small selection of website links follows:-
{Links alphabetical with no preference or ranking}
Tools, materials, accessories suppliers;
{Links alphabetical with no preference or ranking}
As well as the traditional DIY & warehouse type outlets;
{Links alphabetical with no preference or ranking}
Older properties may still have wiring with no earth on the lighting circuits, where only “double insulated”, (or Class II), fittings may be installed. These items do not require an earth connection and they 
should have a double insulated ‘square’ symbol somewhere on them. Metal fittings that do not have the double insulated symbol, must be connected to electrical earth to prevent the risk of electric shock in the event of a fault.
Various suppliers offer a range of double-insulated fittings;
Light-a-Home – – double-insulated-lights
Lighting and Lights – – double-insulated-lighting
Lighting Company – – double-insulated-lights
Lighting Styles – – double-insulated-ceiling-lighting
Sherwood Lighting – – double-insulated-lighting
{Links alphabetical with no preference or ranking}
Social media, forums & local groups:
Impartial discussion, questions, chat, on electrical related issues can be obtained from internet forums such as: Talk-Electrician-Forum
Social media sites have discussions relating to your local neighbourhood. During 2014 the popular “StreetLife” site was sold to “Nextdoor”. Members are grouped into geographical areas to keep news and comment local to your home area: Nextdoor (Includes some former members adopted from StreetLife) Many towns also have their own Facebook page. Some former “Streetlife” members set up a page for Stourbridge and its surrounding area, following the change to “Nextdoor” Facebook groups “StreetlifersOfStourbridge”
Business signage, advertising, workwear:
The traditional ‘Yellow Pages’ book is now an online only service at Yell.com, SM Services has been listed in yellow pages & yell.com for over 10 years: Yell.com (SM Services listing) 
Signs/Graphics/Labels: SignRight of Fromes Hill, produce all types of advertising signs, in numerous formats, large or small, with on-line design tools to allow easy uploading of your bespoke advertising signage.
{ S.M. Services uses Sign Right for vehicle advertising signage. }
EveryDayWorkwear: provide a comprehensive range of workwear clothing with various combinations, for logo’s and clothing of all common types, to suit all budgets, from small one-man-band businesses to larger organisations. On-line options allow easy uploading of your bespoke advertising signage.
{ S.M. Services uses Everyday Workwear personal branded clothing. }
Fatally Flawed; is a safety campaign to halt the sale and use of dangerous socket covers {BS 1363- is the part of the standard which covers plugs, BS 1363-2 applies to sockets and in the scope includes the following words: 
“Socket-outlets conforming to this standard are shuttered and therefore do not require the use of additional means to shield the current-carrying contacts when no plug is present in the socket-outlet.”} Follow the link to read the full article: Fatally Flawed website
Internet & Broadband related resources:
The internet is a key element of modern life, it has become an essential tool for businesses and a useful resource for leisure, social, hobby and family interactions.
Domain names can be purchased to create personalised e-mail addresses, and an internet presence with blogs and websites that reflect who you are or what you do or where you are located. Various providers offer easy tools to search for and purchase your preferred domain name(s), and host sites if required.
{ SM Services uses 123-reg for managing the domains “fixmywiring.co.uk”, “fixmywiring.com”, “fixmywiring.uk” & “fixmywiring.net” }
Some independent hosting providers may be able to offer a more appropriate package to meet your budget and requirements. Cloud-9-Dynamics offers comprehensive hosting and related services:
{ fixmywiring.co.uk is hosted by Cloud-9-Dynamics }
Home broadband services are a vital link to our internet connectivity and can cause significant issues if they are not working as expected. A core problem many people face are upload & download speeds. To see if your speeds are within the min/max/average range quoted by your service provider, various sites offer applications to measure upload and download speeds, such as Ookla.
Actual speeds will vary during the day dependent upon overall internet traffic in your area and if you are using fixed cable connection or Wi-Fi connection. Internal building structure, position of your router and the number of other devices logged onto your router, (Phones, Pads, PC’s, Wifi security cameras, Alarms, Baby monitors, Game consoles etc.) will all reduce the overall speeds to an individual item.
To verify the speeds into your property it is best to plug a Laptop or PC directly into your router via a RJ45 Patch Lead (make sure the computer is not doing background software updates to its own operating system etc), then logon to Speedtest and click “GO”. The screen will then change to show a speed pointer..
{Ignore other advertising options on the page to scan or analyse your PC}
A ‘Download’ test will be done followed by an ‘Upload’ test, The maximum speeds from each test will then be displayed once both tests are complete.
Remember standard domestic internet connections have much faster download speeds, (the internet sending data to you, webpages, music & video etc), than upload speeds, (you sending data to the internet, e.g. search request, login details etc).
After doing a cable speed test directly at the router, the same application can be run on your mobile phone / pad. Turn mobile data off to ensure you are connecting via Wi-fi. Do a wireless speed test near to your router. Then repeat wireless tests in other parts of your property to check for any areas with a significant reduction of Wi-Fi strength, (and speed). This can help identify any areas that could benefit from Wi-Fi signal strength repeaters/boosters.
Internet service providers may also have their own apps, or website links with resources to help diagnose connection, wi-fi or speed problems. Such as Virgin Media’s help and support page, which offers a menu selection covering various topics, where the fourth selection is for broadband speed issues. Virginmedia -> Help -> Broadband
Virginmedia -> Help -> My broadband speed 
Information includes tips, advice and guidance about improving internal wi-fi coverage and minimising ‘dead-spots’. Also diagnostic tools from service providers can sometimes do more in-depth tests related specifically to your make/model of router. A search of your broadband providers website for all available resources, can reduce the need to wait in queues for telephone support.
( Unfortunately many internet providers customer support via telephone is often on-a-par with other utility providers, where they have lost the concept of “good service to loyal customers”. So you typically sit in a queue for an excessive duration to either be cut-off, told something you already know, or have someone unable to understand or progress your problem. Which is why it can be useful to access any and all possible resources to help you understand, diagnose or fix any problems you have yourself. )
{ SM Services uses Virgin Media cable broadband & some e-mail services to provide some of its on-line communications }
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