ECA Guarantee of Works Scheme replaces Warranty

The Guarantee Scheme is an automatic guarantee given by ECA that covers all members’ work up to a value of £50 000, or £100 000 for multiple contracts for the same customer, in any calendar year.

There is no need to issue any documentation for it to be effective.

The fundamental difference is that the warranty is an insurance product which in order to be valid has to be signed by the Electrical Contractors’ Insurance Company (ECIC), the insurer, the member and its customer. This often does not happen.

ECA chief executive David Pollock said: “This is a situation that ECA has been trying to achieve for a number of years and I’m delighted that we can now claim that all our members’ work up to a value of £50 000 is automatically guaranteed.

“As with all guarantees, there are certain conditions to be met, which are essentially a matter of good practice.”

While the warranty will be discontinued, the ECA Bond will continue as before.

The guarantee meets the requirements of Part P and Trustmark, and its terms and conditions will be available on the ECA website as a download which can be handed to customers.