Social housing rewires a warning

[Theorysparky]

work was slack for a few weeks so i got onto a social housing rewire job

First day 3.5 hrs hanging around,,induction etc

get a rewire to do starting in the afternoon paired up with another spark and a mate

get there to find we can only work 9-4 due to the tenants circumstances ,,,advise foreman of this

following day sparky mate doesnt turn up van broke down

next day foreman says will you be finished today ? er no Tuesday we think 7 hours on site 1 hour of which is carpet pulling and floor boards etc 6 hours total

over is head and far away

next day get a call from his boss telling me its to be done by end of day told him my woes and didnt know about it

another spark and mate turn up and we dont leave until 7pm still not done

this new spark can see where the problem lies and its not with me !!!!

Foreman decides to make a new team for the following day great i thought

drive home and get a call that im off the job !!!!!!!

how much did i get paid ????

 

[gavindrummond]

I was doing that domestic council rewires in 1 day. It's a process that needs speed.

Was it price work?

They don't care about the quality so much as long as its done as fast as possible lol it's not about quality any more it's about how fast can you turn the work over with meeting scraping past the standards.

 

[samson337]

A builder I no asked me the same thing about 1 day rewires of social housing a few months ago, but for what he was paying I wasn't willing to kill my self doing it so turned it down. I would of got more stacking shelves in tesco

 

[Theorysparky]

yep it was price work

 

[Jono Pashley]

I walked off a job because of the down right dangerous practices that were being undertaken to finish these so called 1 day rewires not worth the time and risk. Agency didnt take too kindly when i threatened to issue a EDN for what id seen done.

 

[ProDave]

[No message]

 

[batty]

Somebody is making a lot of money out of that set up and they won't give a damn whether the job is done to a poor or a very poor standard after all it's only social housing they probably think. They probably want a high turn over of staff so nobody asks to many questions.

 

[Sharpend]

Crumbs it was taking two sparks and a mate two days to rewire two or small three bed flats/houses and that was without the kitchen which was chased and done by another team of two. I was subbing on a day rate at the time, however if it over ran it over ran, didn't seem to be too big a deal. However this was for a large electrical contractor, 80+ staff. I guess a smaller outfit may be more inflexible and therefore have tighter time constraints.

 

[Kalzac811]

The company I work for has a section dedicated to one day rewires . They work from 8am until completion All about speed no quality . But we did have the largest social housing stock In Europe at one point

 

[Manator]

A few years ago I was called by an electrician friend of mine to help out on one of these so called jobs, whilst on site I started a debate with the operations manager for the works and basically called him a cowboy and told him he was a shame to the electrical trade, all this was said in front of the local works department officer for the council, he got a few choice words as well.

I would never put my name on any certificate for any of these shoddy jobs, done with speed and profit in mind because the original tenders do not reflect the true cost, nor provides any allowance for any job over running.

 

[jakecameron]

I work as part of a 3 man squad in (2 sparks 1 labourer) we do rewires in a day and all trunking some are dff and get cove trunking some are 3 bed houses wen I first joined the squad I thought no way a rewire a day. We have a way of working now and head down and get on is the best. Price is between 600-800 a house and we definitely take pride in making it look as good as possible and it is all done to a high standard. anything is possible!!!

 

[Andy™]

working at morrison a few years back we done 2 re-wires a week. 2 sparks & apprentice.

there were others who were doing 1 house per day. the standard was shocking.

also came accross the odd 're-wire' that had a new CU and a few sockets / switches replaced, and that was it

 

[jakecameron]

Equally seen rewires done to a 'shocking' standard where they have taken a week so it's all to do with each team. Don't tar each person with same brush. People can learn to b a spark in 4 weeks now??

 

[steptoe]

I can do a 3 bed rewire in 3 days on my own if pushed,

void property though, I have helped some of our lads out on the 1 dayers though if they have had a bad house, 3 of them were doing a normal one in a day, albeit 12/14 hr days though, and it wasn't to a 'bad' standard, then again, it wasnt going to win any skills prizes either.

 

[jakecameron]

Granted trunking etc ain't pretty but if that is wat people pay u to do and it's done in accordance to bs7671 then ther is no problem. We as a team do it to the best the council will allow. Trying to use back to back etc as much as possible. Some rewires are fully piped and also done in one day and to a really good spec. How would you describe a 'bad' rewire?

 

[batty]

Equally seen rewires done to a 'shocking' standard where they have taken a week so it's all to do with each team. Don't tar each person with same brush. People can learn to b a spark in 4 weeks now??

Now come on you know that's not true it takes at least 5 weeks.

 

[Evans Electric]

Equally seen rewires done to a 'shocking' standard where they have taken a week so it's all to do with each team. Don't tar each person with same brush. People can learn to b a spark in 4 weeks now??

Really !!

So thats proficient in :-

Steel conduit work

Plastic conduit.

Steel trunking .

Tray

MICC

SWA

3ph distribution and control wiring.

Industrial breakdowns.

Commercial work.

Sports floodlighting .

Fire Alarms

Emergency lighting .

Control and schematics

Panel building and wiring .

Cable jointing

Sub station work.

Etc ..etc..

And take and pass all relevent qualifications .

All in 4 weeks.

It took me that long to remember who took sugar and who didn't TBH :C

 

[gavindrummond]

Down down down with the 4/5 weeks wonder courses complete rip off. Always looking for a quick fix. There is no quick fix it's plain old hard work on site with years in collage so get used to it.

 

[Nicky Tesla]

It took me 3 days to fit a kitchen once. The neighbour came over and said im no kitchen fitter cos his mate fits a kitchen in a single day.

I said does he rip out the old one...........No

Does he go to Howdens and pick it all up himself..........No

Does he Fit extra sockets when say there isnt one for the washing machine..........No

Does he do the Tiling..........No

Does he fit new vinyl flooring.............No

Well no wonder he can do it in one day then cos I have to do all that.

 

[kme]

Theo, I feel really sorry you got stuffed over on that job mate - you don`t deserve that!

I agree with a lot of the comments in this thread - and I`m afraid I wouldn`t take that sort of contract -