Part P.
When this first came out, like most electricians we hoped it would constitute a level playing field and remove the Cowboys from the industry, it did not happen the industry is now infested with competently incompetent people who have a piece of paper.
Unfortunately, all it has done is undermine the very industry that most time served electricians loved and valued.
- It now takes, six weeks to be qualified as an electrician!
- Time served electricians like me who spent 5 years learning, and in my case was not even allowed to install electrical cables till I understood construction, bricklaying, plastering, carpentry, plumbing, and a whole host of other trade-related items to ensure that I could repair the damage if I caused any when installing.
- Children can pass exams, but have no practical experience; an example of this, was an 18-year-old young man who asked to join my company as an electrical tester having passed his 2391 – 10, and technically was now competent to test, so I showed him a board, I have which has various cable types clipped to it with the name hidden by Velcro tab, and asked him to name each one, the only two he could name were armoured, and he couldn’t tell the difference between SWA and XLPE and FP.
He had no idea, of the other types of cable on the board.
Here’s a short list of just a few of them: space-
- VIR
- Rubber
- lead
- Pyro
- FP 200
- HORF
Faced with, the Government’s requirement to reduce the number of unemployed people with promises of £50,000 a year for electricians, their part P qualifications allow them to do electrical work, in a domestic situation only! and only in certain locations.
Even this has its problems the basic part P, only allows you to carry out work in a kitchen, bathroom, and conservatory or garden, you need the extension to carry out the work, in the rest of the house.
So, the general public, being ignorant of the actual qualifications assumes all part P qualified electricians are capable of doing everything, (so much for the dangerous advertising).
In general, anyone who has passed a qualification such as part P, or 2391 – 10 is deemed to be competent. or as most times served Electricians call them technically competently incompetent and a danger to everyone they get involved with.
Furthermore, most of these so-called qualified inexperienced people, don’t have public liability insurance efficacy insurance, are not members of publicly recognised trade bodies, such as the NICEIC/NAPIT, don’t have proper offices, only have mobile phone numbers and therefore only have very small overheads, have been under-pricing work at such a ridiculously dangerous level, they are in my opinion putting at risk the lives of the general public.
I was called in to test and inspect a property that had been rewired by a part P engineer, they did not even have the right extension to this paperwork to allow him to work on the whole property, the homeowner could no longer find them, after a little research, I found that the person was not registered to a trade body, the homeowner had not checked if they were a member of a competent body and they had disappeared out of the country!
I found 6 x C1 items, 8 x C2 items, and 12 x C3 items; on a brand-new installation, was he qualified YES according to the Government he did his six-week course and was a qualified electrician!? did he care about the people in the house NO, did he care about their safety, obviously not, can he now be found NO, he has disappeared back to Europe, is he accountable NO, what can the householder do nothing, except get it put right, at their expense absolutely nothing.
But he was cheap! these people are destroying the industry with their cut-price dangerous work.
I have long been an advocate, for the IEE regulations, to be made LAW.
As per usual, the gut reaction of the government has been to Institute a system, that at first appears to be a good idea, it will reduce the number of cowboys in the industry, unfortunately, all it has done is instigate a false premise, massively reduced truly competent contractors and instigated a full sense of security to homeowners, but these installers are cheap!
Why is it, that GAS is, is a legal requirement, but electricity is only a recommendation?
This allows, fly by night contractors, unqualified individuals, to do what they like; a road sweeper can become an electrician within a day, just by saying he is, and there is nothing legally to say he can’t, in the LAW, an Electrician should be an accountable protected title.
Cost-cutting in our industry has now gone so far that most Bonafede contractors, who carry the overheads and requirements of updating, upgrading, new exams, new certificates, new books and everything else that entails, can no longer do the work for the prices that the large FM companies insist they can be done for, let alone work for wages, or even less than wages, with their overhead costs.
The cowboys are charging in leaving the competent engineers to take the dissension, then have to rip out the shoddy work, and put it right.
Many clients are now lulled into a False Sense of security, and the paperwork to be honest having seen many of these documents in the past six months, might just as well be used for toilet paper.
They won’t stand up in a court of law, insurance companies will not cover you, and there have been several cases recently where electrical fires have occurred, and because the paperwork is not up-to-date and is onerous, to say the least, they refused to payout! (And you thought you were insured)?!
Don’t be deluded by cheap prices, reduce costs by so-called qualified engineers, and cheap testing companies, because the reality is, when it goes wrong, which there are thousands of these occasions every year, you will not be insured, you will lose your home, you will lose your livelihood and you will be put in prison, there are several people that already have, with tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pounds of fines, which the un-insured cannot meet, and therefore lose every asset they have!
I see these comments, and many others all over the Internet, yet as per usual the government take no notice, they were fast enough to instigate part P, when an MP’s daughter got electrocuted, fast enough to instigate separate governing bodies, who are supposed to be our voice, yet when you asked to speak to the person in charge or talk to the MP they’re not interested in listing, you are not big enough they don’t care.
Yet they constantly fall short of making it law, but they make a lot of money, out of the numerous plethora of courses, that take weeks to qualify people to carry out dangerous installations within homes commercial premises and even factories, not the years of installation and practice under supervised experienced engineers that now the minority of contractors have.
Personally, for me, one life is far too precious to lose, let alone the number of people that have been electrocuted due to bad DIY, poor installation work and Fred the guy who read the DIY book that shows you how to install it but has no practical experience whatsoever? But they are cheap.
For further information please visit our website at – www.safe-electric.com
Do something about it rather than live in blissful ignorance until you lose the most expensive object you have in your life, and I’m not talking about your home I’m talking about you!
This is all just my opinion based on decades of seeing it daily and the tears from owners who thought they had it done correctly.
Contact: – 07957-432-981 or email us at [email protected]