Can I Can't I

[matty198111]

Hi guys, bet you get loads of these questions.

My boss keeps asking me to put plug sockets into garages, we fit garage doors and motors so they need electric sockets put in.

Now I've never done one as I'm not confident enough so keep refusing, but he says it legal and he is within his right to ask.

What it would involve is coming out the back of another socket and putting the new socket near to the garage door.

Is he right in saying I am allowed to do it ?

Any advice is appreciated

 

[Doc Hudson]

Welcome to the forum, there are two subtle sides to this scenario. Legally any DIY person can do anything they want to do in their own home or garage. So the homeowner could install the sort of socket they want for their own door without any issues at all. But the slight difference is, if you are installing something for commercial gain, you also have legal responsibilities under health and safety at work laws. All work you do must be safe and not endanger the customer. Without any correctly calibrated test equipment it is difficult for you to prove your new socket is electrically safe. Wiring regulations recommend an assessment of the existing installation supply and earthing is done before making alterations. Test certificates should be issued after you have completed the work. These are black and white evidence that you have taken all reasonable care to ensure safety under H&S laws. If someone was seriously injured due to your work, what defense do you have to prove your competence at undertaking the work? There is a recent case where a young mother was killed due to incorrectly tested wiring I believe prosecution proceedings are still ongoing. If by your own admission you have no formal training or test gear, your defense would be very dubious. It would probably be more responsible for your boss to come to some arrangement with a local electrician to tie up with your schedule and pop a socket on test & certify it for you and leave the customer and yourself all safely covered.

Doc H.

 

[matty198111]

Cheers for the advice

I wouldn't do any electrical work yet as I've never had training, and tbh don't feel confident enough to do my own let alone someone else's.

I know we don't have any certificates to hand out and I also know they never test the electrics, just wire into an existing socket or fuse box, put new socket up and that's it.

But they have said I should be doing it as its not illegal, my argument is many things are legal, that doesn't make them right though.

And messing with something that could injure or kill without being shown or trained IMO is not right

Once again cheers for the advice

 

[m4tty]

You don't know if the socket your coming off is safe or not without the relevant test equipment. It may not be earthed and if your adding an electric garage door (metal?) to the circuit which most prob requires and earth for safety. It's a disaster waiting to happen tbh. It should be done by someone who's qualified to work on electrics tbh so if anything goes wrong itll come back on your company.

Also if you get hurt when something goes wrong you won't be insured mate so be careful.

 

[Evans Electric]

This country is a joke and so is your boss TBH .    As you say yourself , you have no training in electrical work , you have no test instruments and you don't feel confident in doing it .  That is fair comment on your side , I'm sure you are an excellent door fitter. 

Maybe next week your boss will be branching out into gas fitting  seeing as you are equally qualified to do that too in his eyes . 

Tell him to do it himself.

 

[ProDave]

Sounds to me like "someone" needs to report this company to trading standards for doing (quite possibly) unsafe work that they are not qualified to do.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Cheers for the advice

I wouldn't do any electrical work yet as I've never had training, and tbh don't feel confident enough to do my own let alone someone else's.

I know we don't have any certificates to hand out and I also know they never test the electrics, just wire into an existing socket or fuse box, put new socket up and that's it.

But they have said I should be doing it as its not illegal, my argument is many things are legal, that doesn't make them right though.

And messing with something that could injure or kill without being shown or trained IMO is not right

Once again cheers for the advice

By your own admission you are not competent..

as has been mentioned earlier if you are doing paid work that involves electricity then you will be working in breach of the Electricity At Work Regulations 1989....

Specifically Regulation 16: which states that persons MUST be competent to avoid danger and injury..

So yes you are breaking a law!!!!

BS7671 wiring regulation is non statutory  and

EAWR 1989 does not apply to DIY persons doing jobs in their own home..

But EAWR 1989 does apply to you as soon as you start working with electrical installtions..

and it IS statutory!!!

Get yourself or your boss to buy and read this

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsr25.htm

reg 16 starts on page 39 of mine..

electricity can kill a healthy adult in less than half a second....

so if you do balls something up....

it could be the point of no return for you or your customer.. whoever is the unlucky one!!!

Your boss will probably ignore this Law cuz he sounds like a Cowboy IMHO..

but you legally do NOT have to do the electrical work unless suitably trained!!

Guinness

 

[steptoe]

you can also download EAWR for free from the gov website

 

[binky]

had a recent callout from gardner friend who had cut black felx feeding gate opener. Cables was not suitable for its enviroment, as in not mechnically protected.Typical dodgy gate installer work.

If you modify a circuit, you become legally responsible for it and therefore need to be able to show circuit is safe to use and suitably protected ie correct fuse ratings etc etc when you leave. The only legal way you could do what your boss wants is to plug an extension lead into the existing socket because that way you are not altering the circuit.

In my opinion, the increasingly safety minded general public would appreciate if your boss got real sparky to assess circuit and make any corrective measures needed. It would show he is a professional installer, and means he could probably charge more for his services.