Electrical Maintenance in Fraserburgh, AB43

Common questions

Maintenance FAQs for Fraserburgh

• Who actually needs an electrical maintenance contract?

  Three customer types where contracts pay back. One: multi-property landlords (5+ rental units) where rolling EICR + PAT + smoke alarm checks add up. Two: holiday let owners managing 2+ properties remotely where reactive response time matters between guests. Three: commercial premises with fixed wire + fire alarm + emergency lighting + PAT compliance bundles. Single-property owners with reliable wiring almost always do better on reactive pay-as-you-go.

• What's the difference between an annual retainer and PPM contract?

  Retainer (£680/year): you pay for priority response + discounted rates. We attend when you call. Compliance certs bundled in. Good for single-property landlords or busy domestic. PPM (£1,400+/year): we attend on a scheduled cycle (quarterly typical) regardless of whether you've called. We inspect, test, and fix things before they break. Good for multi-property portfolios or commercial premises where unscheduled outages cost real money.

• What does a planned maintenance visit actually involve?

  Standard PPM visit, around 2 to 3 hours: visual inspection of consumer unit and main earthing. Sample testing of 10 to 20% of accessories. Earth bonding continuity check. Lighting circuit walk-through. Fixed appliance verification. Outdoor circuit and EV charger if present. Smoke alarm trigger test. Plus any active repairs needed. Asset register updated with everything found. PDF report emailed within 48 hours.

• How much can a maintenance contract actually save?

  Three saving channels. One: reduced emergency callouts (PPM catches faults early, you don't pay £150 out of hours fee). Two: bundled compliance certs save 25 to 35% vs buying EICR / PAT / smoke alarm checks separately. Three: priority response means downtime is shorter for commercial premises. Typical 4-property portfolio landlord saves £400 to £900/year vs reactive. Typical small commercial premises saves £300 to £600/year. Single-property domestic usually doesn't save much, reactive is fine.

• Can I have you on retainer just for emergencies?

  Yes, this is a common request. £350/year buys priority emergency response inside AB43 (60 to 90 min), no out of hours surcharge for first 2 callouts per year, discounted £100/hr after. No bundled compliance certs, just response priority. About 20% of our retainer customers use this lighter option.

• Do you cover holiday lets remotely if the owner doesn't live in Fraserburgh?

  Yes. We have Sandhaven and Cairnbulg holiday let owners based in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, even Glasgow. We hold a key safe code, attend when guests report problems, send the owner a WhatsApp with what we found and what we fixed. Photos and invoice within 24 hours. Guest doesn't see the bill, owner pays us directly. About 30% of our maintenance customers are remote owners.

• What if I have a problem outside the contract scope?

  Major projects (rewires, consumer unit upgrades, EV charger installs) are quoted separately at our standard rates with a 10% loyalty discount for retainer customers and 15% for PPM contract customers. The contract covers reactive maintenance and compliance, not new installations or major upgrades. We're transparent about what's included and what's extra.

• Can you take over from another electrician's work?

  Yes, we do this regularly. We start with a baseline visit to assess the existing installation: review consumer unit, test sample of accessories, verify earth bonding, check existing certificates if available. Issues found get logged and quoted. Once we have a clean baseline we move into normal maintenance cycle. Baseline visit cost £180 typical, deducted from first year contract value.