Emergency Electrician & Fault Finding in North West London

Is it a power cut or a fault in your home?

Look outside before you call anyone. If the street lights are off or the neighbours have no power, the problem is on the network, and an electrician cannot fix it. Ofgem's advice is to report an unplanned power cut to your network operator, or to call 105 free, which puts you through to the right one. If your neighbours have power and you do not, go to your consumer unit (the fuse box). A main switch or RCD in the down position means your own installation has disconnected itself, and that is our job.

If every switch is up and the house is still dead, check the prepayment meter, if you have one, still has credit. A meter fault or an empty prepayment meter is for your energy supplier, not the network operator. The sealed fuse and the meter, before the consumer unit, belong to the network operator and the supplier. An electrician should not break those seals. If the fault is on their side, we will tell you who to call and what to say.

How do you find what is tripping the RCD?

Use the unplug-and-test method before you call: it often finds the culprit in five minutes and saves you a call-out. An RCD trips when it detects current leaking to earth, so the aim is to find the one thing that is leaking.

• Unplug everything on the affected circuits, and switch off fused spurs for things like the boiler, extractor fans and outside lights
• Reset the RCD or switch. If it will not stay up with nothing connected, stop: the fault is in the fixed wiring, so leave it off and call us
• If it holds, plug items back in one at a time, waiting a minute after each
• When it trips again, the last thing you connected is the likely cause. Leave that item unplugged and get it checked or replaced
• Do not keep forcing a switch that trips straight away, and never hold one up by hand or tape it

What counts as a real electrical emergency?

Anything that could start a fire or give someone a shock is an emergency; an inconvenience is not. Electrical Safety First advises getting a registered electrician to check your electrics as soon as possible if you see burn marks or arcing, or fuses keep blowing or breakers keep tripping. Add a burning smell, a buzzing socket and melted or discoloured plastic to that list. Each means switching off the circuit and not using it until it has been checked.

Other emergencies we attend on the day include a circuit that will not reset, a whole house without power where the network is fine, a damaged cable that has been drilled or nailed, and water reaching a light fitting or the consumer unit. A single dead socket or one light out can usually wait for a normal booking, and we will tell you so on the phone.

Water is coming through a light fitting. What now?

Switch off the electricity at the main switch, as long as you can reach the consumer unit from a dry floor, and do not touch the wet fitting. Electrical Safety First's flood advice is the same: switch off at the consumer unit if it is safe to do so, never touch exposed wires, and have a registered electrician check the wiring before it is used again.

Then stop the water. That usually means the stopcock, or a neighbour upstairs if it is coming from their flat. We test the circuit before restoring power, and replace the fitting once the ceiling has dried out if it needs it. If the leak itself needs a plumber, our plumbers can attend on the same call.

What does making it safe actually involve?

Making safe means removing the immediate danger, not doing the full repair at midnight prices. On an inspection report, danger present is coded C1, which calls for immediate action. On an emergency call, that typically means disconnecting a damaged circuit at the board, removing a scorched accessory and terminating the cable in a proper enclosure, or isolating an outside light that is letting in water.

We label what we have isolated, restore everything that tests healthy, and leave you a written note. The permanent repair, such as a new length of cable, a replacement board or a circuit rerouted away from a leak, is then quoted as a separate job. With the property already safe, you have time to get a second quote.

Are you a 24-hour electrician?

No, and we would rather say so now than at two in the morning. Our phones and electricians work Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 4.30pm, and emergencies in those hours are attended the same day. On Sundays we take emergency calls only. Outside those hours, do this. Call 999 for smoke, fire or anyone hurt.

Call 105 if the power is off across the street. For a fault inside the home, switch off the affected circuit, or the main switch if you cannot tell which circuit it is, and leave it off. Most homes can manage a night with one circuit isolated. Then call us when the lines open.

Who deals with it in a rented home?

In a private let, the landlord is responsible for the fixed wiring. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require the landlord to make sure the electrical safety standards are met throughout the tenancy, not only at the five-yearly inspection. Tenants should report the fault straight away and do only the safe steps on this page: switch off, unplug, reset once.

Landlords and agents can call us directly with the tenant's number, and we arrange access with the tenant. In a shared house, one fault can cut power to several rooms, so tell us when you call.

What about faults that come and go?

Intermittent faults are the hardest to find, because the circuit often tests clear on the day. A trip that only happens when it rains points to an outside light, socket or garden supply taking in water. A trip at the same time every night points to something on a timer, such as an immersion heater, storage heater or dishwasher cycle. Trips when several appliances run together can be leakage adding up across them, or an overloaded circuit breaker rather than the RCD.

Before we visit, write down when it trips, which switch goes and what was running. That log is often worth more than an hour of testing, and it keeps electrical fault finding to the shortest time we can charge for.

What changes the cost of an emergency call?

Mostly how long the fault takes to find. A faulty kettle found by the unplug-and-test method is quick. A cable damaged under a floor or behind a kitchen is not, because every circuit has to be tested and traced. Parts are the other variable. A replacement socket or switch is carried on the van, but a specific RCD or circuit breaker for an older board may need ordering.

If that happens we make the circuit safe first, and the fitting becomes a second, shorter visit. We always tell you what we have found before doing more than diagnosing.

Certificates and defined jobs are a fixed price confirmed before we attend; repairs are charged by the hour, with the rate and an estimate confirmed before we attend.

Where we attend emergencies

Our electricians work from 6 Station Parade on Kenton Lane, so Harrow, Kenton, Stanmore and Edgware are a short drive. We also cover Wembley, Kingsbury, Queensbury, Pinner, Wealdstone, Harrow Weald, Hatch End, North and South Harrow, Rayners Lane, Mill Hill, Burnt Oak, Colindale, Hendon, Northwood, Ruislip, Eastcote, Bushey and Northolt. If you are further out and we cannot reach you the same day, we will say so on the phone so you can call someone else.

Electricians by area: Electrical work in Harrow, Electrical work in Kenton, Electrical work in Stanmore, Electrical work in Edgware, Electrical work in Bushey, Electrical work in Colindale, Electrical work in Hendon, Electrical work in Mill Hill, Electrical work in Northolt, Electrical work in Northwood, Electrical work in Pinner, Electrical work in Ruislip and Electrical work in Wembley.

When to call someone else

We do not work on the network side of the meter: the cable into the house, the sealed fuse, the meter or the street supply. Those belong to the network operator (call 105) or your energy supplier. We do not offer an overnight service. If a fault has caused a fire, the fire brigade comes first, then the insurer.

For a fault in a gas appliance such as a boiler that has stopped working, you need a Gas Safe registered engineer. We can check the electrical supply to the boiler, but we do not repair boilers.

Why people trust us

• Work by registered electricians, certified, and notified to Building Control where the job requires it
• A walk-in office on Kenton Lane, not a serviced address
• The fault found and the options explained before we go further
• A time slot rather than a morning-or-afternoon window
• Work photographed before and after, and reported
• We tell you when you do not need something we sell

We are building a review profile under this name and would rather show you none than borrow someone else's. Ask us for references from landlords and we will put you in touch.

Official sources

• Ofgem: Plan for a power cut (report it, or call 105 free)
• Electrical Safety First: Fuseboxes and RCDs explained
• Electrical Safety First: Flooding advice
• legislation.gov.uk: Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, regulation 3
• Electrical Safety First: Do I need a rewire? (warning signs)
• Electrical Competent Person Register

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.