Dodgy electrician n watchdog
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Tony is trying to do us a favour by not giving rediculously low prices, thereby genereting the expectation from joe public for everything for a tenner. And lets face it London is generally a lot more expensive than the rest of the country. I also know what I get charged by other trades - so
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Just been reading this and had a look at the watchdog program on i-player..
TBH I think some of the people referring to Tony Cable's price guidance of
TBH I think some of the people referring to Tony Cable's price guidance of
well said KME
Revved Up Sparky
Senior Member
In most cases I don't think sparks charge enough. When I go to the dentist for a check up and scale and polish I am in the chair for 15 minutes and get charged
Just read the thread. Don`t know where the infraction came in, but you were a bit harsh on the vetster,IMO....
Testing- no argument. The tester goes into every job, regardless of "like-for-like" swap, or full rewire.
Cert - different animal. For a standard swap of a fitting (including class 1 to 2) - no cert. is likely to be issued, unless testing shows up dangerous condition.
Case in point: 3 weeks ago, call off a regular customer to replace a pendant - lamp falls out of lampholder.
When I attend, I use "voltage pen" to verify pendant dead (I`m not replacing the rose, just the lampholder.) I have live at lampholder, irrespective of switch setting. Ah, says I, we have a switch polarity issue. Open switch up - 2 no. singles. Both red. Both neutral.
Replace lampholder, fit lamp myself, describe problem to householder.
Next morning, Mrs. KME arrives with a danger notice for him to sign, he keeps a copy, we keep t`other.
If I hadn`t tested, I wouldn`t have found that fault, which was potentially life-threatening.
n.b. Since been back to resolve switches in neutral in 5 different lights around the house.
KME
Theorysparky
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Pricing
replacing pendant and ZS
1 Hour
replacing pendant and ZS
1 Hour
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But when people talk about "testing" they are usually thinking of R1+R2 and insulation. Not just testing with a volt stick.
What you did (barely) comes under "test for dead" before working on a circuit.
Welllll
Excuuuse me for not being explicit in every single step I took mate. I noted what I considered salient points, relevant to the discussion.
But, if we`re going to be retentive about it......
It WAS a flaming "test for dead" as you call it (I was always taught "safe isolation", but maybe it was different when you did it?). I was replacing a lampholder (2 pin bayonet thingy on a bit of flex....you know the item in question?).
I wouldn`t do "R1+R2, insulation etc" at that point, as I haven`t done anything to warrant that - the customer isn`t paying for a PIR of the ground floor lighting circuit!
The "(barely) test for dead" that I did highlighted an issue; the customer hadn`t been advised of a problem, or quoted for a repair cost, as no-one knew of the issue up to that time.
So we issue a danger notice. With me so far?
When I returned to do the remedial works, I carried out further testing to determine the location of the problem, and verification of correct connection of the other conductors associated with the circuit.
The original point I was making is that, had I gone in, switched off EITHER the MCB or main switch, I could have replaced the part, re-energised and walked away without finding the fault.
Does the "extended" version help, mate??
KME
n.b. There`s no "confusion" on my part
:innocent Graham Lister
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Just because you found another fault does not make using a volt stick to prove for dead acceptable. Using an approved test lamp on the fitting would also have proved the same thing assuming an earth was present.WelllllExcuuuse me for not being explicit in every single step I took mate. I noted what I considered salient points, relevant to the discussion.
But, if we`re going to be retentive about it......
It WAS a flaming "test for dead" as you call it (I was always taught "safe isolation", but maybe it was different when you did it?). I was replacing a lampholder (2 pin bayonet thingy on a bit of flex....you know the item in question?).
I wouldn`t do "R1+R2, insulation etc" at that point, as I haven`t done anything to warrant that - the customer isn`t paying for a PIR of the ground floor lighting circuit!
The "(barely) test for dead" that I did highlighted an issue; the customer hadn`t been advised of a problem, or quoted for a repair cost, as no-one knew of the issue up to that time.
So we issue a danger notice. With me so far?
When I returned to do the remedial works, I carried out further testing to determine the location of the problem, and verification of correct connection of the other conductors associated with the circuit.
The original point I was making is that, had I gone in, switched off EITHER the MCB or main switch, I could have replaced the part, re-energised and walked away without finding the fault.
Does the "extended" version help, mate??
KME
n.b. There`s no "confusion" on my part
If you actually READ what you quote, you will note that, at that time I was replacing a lampholder - there was 2 way switching, so I needed to verify "off". There wasn`t an earth available; therefore a test lamp may well NOT have shown the live. Furthermore, even if I HAD opened up the ceiling rose (artexed into the ceiling, so we were trying to avoid disturbing it!), suppose the earth was non-continuous to the fitting. Would the test lamp have operated? Possibly not.
I will repeat: under the circumstances, I only needed to verify the switches had isolated the live, to replace the holder. In my opinion, the non-contact voltage detector was the most appropriate piece of test equipment to use.
You may have smashed the ceiling rose out of the artex, to find an earth to test to. That is up to you. Or, you may have isolated the customers installation to replace the lampholder. Again, your choice.
KME
