Cirrus
Distinguished Member
Last week I was called to quote on a garage power job. Walked in and the chap said he had an electrician working at his house for weeks. He was paying him
I would like to think that any sparks going round would more or less echo what I said, however - we all know that there are lots of sparks out there that will do anything for a bunch of
Spot on. Its not as easy to build a good reputation as people think, just going by the book won't do because of characters like this customer. Sadly, these are also the type of people who mouth off to anyone in earshot about 'conmen' etc.There are hidden problems when we walk away refusing to do a job.The customer will never relate the correct story to other people so when asked if they know of a Sparks they will often say "well don't use this one he didn't even know how do do my job" or other such story equally incorrect.
We will never know how many other jobs we have lost because we do things properly but any Sparks who stands by his morals like you have, I admire.
But a major part of Part P is the fact that nobody apart from those in construction actually know about it. Joe public generally doesn't have a clue what Part P is and why they should adhere to it as well as the contractors working in their property. In my mind a lot more needs to be done to educate the public.The tread title is misleading.Your tale has very little to do with part P, and everything to do with how he employed a cowboy sparks who knows very little about wiring regs and good practice.
It would have been exactly the same up here in Scotland where we don't have Part P, but wiring regs still apply.
Regardless of Part P or not though, you were right to walk away, but you walked away because the customer was not prepared to pay for the work to be done to current wiring regs, not because of a part P issue, though no doubt Part P will raise it's head when he asks building control for a completion certificate for the conversion.
What I would do (and have previously done in this situation), is to write a follow-up letter from my visit, explaining my concerns in writing. State on the letter that you have sent duplicates to BRCS and your scheme provider, and stating your capabilites and professional status very strongly.There are hidden problems when we walk away refusing to do a job.The customer will never relate the correct story to other people so when asked if they know of a Sparks they will often say "well don't use this one he didn't even know how do do my job" or other such story equally incorrect.
We will never know how many other jobs we have lost because we do things properly but any Sparks who stands by his morals like you have, I admire.
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