I don't think the guy who did the electrics was a qualified electrician. but i didn't know that til after the fact. I will indeed contact the council. thanks for the advice.

Thanks for your reply. I don't think he is. Do you know how long I have to sue him if he finished the job in December?

...but I need to know what the statute of limitations is. He finished his shoddy work in December. Main thing he did was drill through the damp course all over the flat to put in new sockets. His wiring was also shocking - pun intended but true. There were sparks coming out of the wall and there was damp all round them. Highly dangerous. That set off a chain reaction and I fired him and got another builder in to fix his work and it cost me £10000. The whole flat needed to be done. I already paid him £6500. Apart from the money I also had the inconvenience of living in a building site for 3 months. What is the cut off period. How long do I have before I won't be able to sue him? Is it 6 months? One year? Please advise. Thank you.