How Come Builders Are Not Regulated ?

[Evans Electric]

If you look at the rules & regulations & the 5 million seperate bodies all looking over our shoulders  plus the costly re- training imposed upon gas fitters ........................how come builders are left alone to do as they please without any training or previous knowledge ..anyone can be a builder overnight . 

Who has ever met a builder with a copy of the Building Regs  ?  

I think ALL builders should have to do ..at least... a building regs course similar to our 17th edition one ...AND there should be a similar competent person's scheme for them .  ( Not the Master Builders Federation )

Just stirring .

 

[M107]

Stir away ........i totally agree

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Except for the very minor building projects any significant building work does need notification and inspections by the appropriate local council...

Different councils sometimes apply more emphasis on certain bits of the building regs ...

or be more lax on other bits...

But..

I most certainly have seen numerous times where builders have had to change something they were doing as the LABC inspector deemed it not compliant in its current state...

Building works by there very nature can be very labour intensive involving numerous manual trades working on the same project..

are you suggesting everyone needs some "qualification" and "regs book" ??

or just the project manager......    (we could call him/her the QS)..?

:innocent

 

[apprentice87]

No qualifications SHOULd equal no job, end of....

I understand this is the way it is in most other countries, [obviously not mickey mouse ones]

I have endless arguments with unqualified halfwits that tell you that; "bits of paper do not matter" it is whether you can do the job. Thing is, these deluded individuals CANNOT do the job.

You know yourselves, there is a world of difference between, "bob down the pub" and you lot. Hence all the questions on here about; "what size cable do i need" If you cannot work it out for yourself you are not competant to install it....

You all know that i have not even got the 2382, but i have had to physically prevent the DNO from fitting the wrong size service cable on one occasion, so, so much for "whether they can do the job" I, "john from down the pub" should not have to correct the DNO.....

The ONLY people that say qualifications are worthless, are those that have not got any. I am sick of telling them; IF they think they are just as good as a qualified person, then why do they not go to college and take the exams... All talk, that is why.

Now, I did it, i put my money where my mouth was....... [in the field of welding] I did the City and Guilds 229 part 2, 229 part 3, and something called "City and Guilds 219, level 4 [Career extension] Welding and fabrication inspection and quality control, which if nothing else, should get me a certificate in having a certificate with the worlds longest title!!!!

Anyway, this little lot normally take 4 years, i did the lot in one go, and had 12 distinctions and 2 credits. Did not have to do the vast majority of the practical tests/work, on account of all the course work i had already done some years before for the EMFEC 165 [another welding scheme] oh, and i got a "free" NVQ into the bargain.

If i can do it, so can anyone....... [apart from the chancers] So, to any builders/plumbers/electrician 5ww wonders out there. THINK YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH??????? THEN GO AND PROVE IT.....

As it is with builders. I can lay bricks, does not make me a builder. They can lay bricks infinitely better then me, STILL does not make them builders. Go and ask one; "what is a low sulphate brick, where would it be used, and why. What could happen if the wrong type of brick was used" You will SOON see who is a builder and who is not.

It is a similar think to all those that think they are "engineers" These "builders" are not, they are labourers. Same as teaching assistants think they are teachers etc etc.

Before anyone accuses me of denigrating labourers etc, YES I AM!!!!! If they were too stupid/lazy/in the pub when you lot were doing your day release/ night school, then it is their own fault that they are labourers.....

Me????? You all know that i know a fair bit about electrical stuff, BUT, do i go around telling people i am an electrician??? Of course not. Do i go around doing electrical work and taking work away from those quaified to do it?? of course not.

Only time i do any electrical stuff is as a favour, for one firm, [nothing domestic] and in return they do me favours back...

john...

 

[Sharpend]

Do you weld all electrical connections John

 

[dave2]

In Germany there is no such thing as builder, I am told.

There are trickiest, plumbers, joiners etc. etc.

 

[apprentice87]

Do I weld connections!!! I would if I could!!!! tend to use DIN rail connectors though!! At the moment i am re-wiring my steam cleaner, just because i thought that the inside of the electrical box looked tatty!! Now it looks like an advert for DIN rail connectors!!!! I will post a picture when it is finished!!!!

john..

 

[Evans Electric]

A lot of builders are very good , they know what they're doing , turn out a good job , properly done but the only ones with any qualifications, in my experience are the Project Engineer Types  who work for the bigger companies .

Your average small local builder picked it all up from working for someone else , often their dad ,  and from other workers  until they felt they had enough knowledge to have a go on their own.     But qualifications ..no .

We did some electrics for a Jamaican builder once, who talked a good job ............knew ****** all ....an absolute disgrace to the trade TBH  ... had money up front from customers ....and wasn't finishing jobs .........we dropped him like a hot brick TBH .

Trouble with Building Control is they are not there to protect the customer really ....just as long as its barely within the regs  they don't take it any further.  

 

[apprentice87]

A building inspector told me once; "I can always tell if something is done by a DIY type or a builder. The DIY type tend to make FAR better jobs as they go and research the regs first. We have to make many more builders change things than DIYer's"

Says it all........

 

[ProDave]

Unlike the wiring regs, the building regulations are there as a free download for everyone to read and comply with. and you can even phone your local building control duty officer to ask him questions if there's something you don't understand.

I wonder how much better DIY wiring might be if the wiring regs were a free download?

P.S Scottish building regs are different to English ones, but I won't say exactly how.

 

[Evans Electric]

Oh  And why's that PD  ?    Something to do with the electrical side of things is it ? :innocent

 

[ProDave]

No. In fact ours are totally different, we don't have lettered "parts" It's all numbers. So for instance we don't have a "Part L" 

 

[Evans Electric]

What about a "Part P "?

 

[apprentice87]

Structural requirements are tougher in scotland too, roof design for instance....

john...

 

[ProDave]

Yes we make things better up here.

But we also have to content with a lot more "accessibility" stuff which is now severely limiting what you can and cannot do. e.g. a downstairs WC  MUST be provided and it MUST have space so that at a later date you can fit a shower, with all the accessibility requirements. We have "solved" that one with a combined WC / utility room.

The only mention of electrics is they must conform to BS7671 and the usual restrictions on minimum and maximum switch and socket heights.  Oh and smoke alarms in just about every room now, not just one in the hall and one on the landing.