Well folks, here is my blog for April and May. My mum and
dad always said that “time goes faster as you get older” and as a spotty youth
I used to laugh at this but my goodness they weren’t wrong. Mind you, if you
imagine a world with two TV channels and where everything closed on a Sunday,
then the world did move pretty slowly. Now I can go down to my local Wickes and
buy a boiler on a Sunday afternoon! Yet I can remember when you could hardly buy
a brick on a Saturday morning. Which I suppose leads me into an area of a lot of interest
to sparkies these days and that is Licensing. I think it fair to say that most
of us in the trade are rather less than impressed with the changes that Part P
brought about. I think that Part P was probably well-intentioned but the
concept must have been dreamt up by an accountant or a group of people with
little industry/real world experience. For one thing, Part P only applied to
Domestic work and whoever would have considered using the local Planning Office
(who are good with building regs but somewhat lacking in electrical
installation experience) as an integral part of this process! I’m pretty sure I
speak with the authority gained from speaking to a groundswell of electricians
who want licensing per individuals so that person is licensed to install. I
think this could be achieved using an improved JIB type registration system
coupled with our existing ECS card requirements for safety testing every three
years. I hear sparkies saying “the DIY shacks must stop selling
electrical gear” well I suppose that would be a bit of a deterrent but probably
bring about a black market in parts anyway. I can just imagine it – there you
are stood in the pub and a shifty looking individual sidles up to you “Psst, wanna
buy a switch fused spur?” only to find it’s a set up by the electric bits squad
and the next thing you’re handcuffed to a radiator in a cold, dark cell having
seven barrels beaten out of you. Or is that my over-active imagination getting
the better of me again. Anyway, lets be realistic, even Woolies were selling
light switches back in the 60s. I would say let’s limit the sale of cable, switchgear
and consumer units etc to the electrical wholesalers and ensure that only
properly licensed individuals or companies can use the wholesalers for the
supply of any materials. An aspect of this I find of particular concern is that of
foreign nationals carrying out works without any knowledge of our regulations
or requirements. It must also be said that many of these guys are bringing bad
practice with them as well. However, I would not just hang them out to dry. I
propose that we run “Conversion” courses for those that are qualified in their
country of origin to ensure they are safe to practice in this country. And,
after training, individual licensing would kick in again. I would also ensure a really intensive advertising campaign
to raise public understanding of electrical safety and look at the creation of
an independent referral service as an interface between the public and contractors
who are properly approved. I would also ask that this body does not charge
massive fees for contractor registration and not be just another money-making
machine that has lost its “raison d'être”. For those of you that do follow my adventures and rants I do
apologise for being a tad late with April’s report and leapfrogging over May
but my first holiday of the year came about and I just had to get down to Spain
I’m afraid. |
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CategoriesElectricalMy Diary |
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