Trade skills have carried out a survey to determine which jobs electricians get called out to the most due to poor handy work by DIY enthusiasts or untrained electricians. As a result of all of this it often costs the home owner more than they expected in order to repair the poor work.

The top two jobs that got the highest percentages were light fittings and lighting circuits. It is believed that the temptation of home owners to update their lighting systems can have a costly effect especially if they are not fitted by a professional.

The most typical problem encountered was that were brass fittings becoming live, nails being used to mount the light fittings and many more. The problem with this is that it often causes fires and the light fixtures to stop working altogether.

The survey found that over 29 per cent of electricians regularly get called to repair botched lighting circuits.  This is normally seen when householders attempt to replace their lighting and they have more cables than they know what to do with.  The consequences of incorrect wiring can cause expensive damage and risk of fire.

DIY blunders account for over half of serious electrical shocks according to the Electrical Safety Council.  Typical mistakes include drilling through wiring in walls, repairing an electrical appliance while it is still switched on and cutting through power leads.

One fifth of people with no electrical training say they will confidently attempt to install lighting in their home and one tenth would happily install new wiring.

A third of electricians recently surveyed by the ESC say they are now spending a quarter of their time fixing DIY jobs and this amount of time has increased over the last 5 years.  

Many of these jobs are a simple job for an electrician to carry out and as a result have cost the householder far more than it would have done to call an electrician in to do the job in the first place.