Electrical advice needed please

[Stevekane]

Just wondering how other countries approach these things, does say the EU insisit on qualified electrjcians or gas fitters, and no diy, what about the US? I think the Aussie's are quite hot on it but I was in LA a few years ago and the local free paper had an article entitled” now is the time to service your furnace” with general instructions on a gas boiler service,,I suppose they are forever blowing themselves up,,,or are they?
Steve.

 

[Spectric]

In the UK you should be gas safe registered for working on gas, but personally even they are not immune from cutting corners. Electrical work should only be done by a competant person, anything that involves a change from original design needs certification and this is where many DIY'ers can come a cropper because they don't have the test equipment to complete the paperwork. If people took the attitude of " just because it works does not mean it is safe " then we would have far fewer incidents. At the end of the day if someone decides to play electrician and injure themselves or a family member then apart from dealing with their conscience they may face a day in court, at least with unsafe behavior with machinery in there own workshop they will only remove their own digits.

 

[Bingy man]

In the UK you should be gas safe registered for working on gas, but personally even they are not immune from cutting corners. Electrical work should only be done by a competant person, anything that involves a change from original design needs certification and this is where many DIY'ers can come a cropper because they don't have the test equipment to complete the paperwork. If people took the attitude of " just because it works does not mean it is safe " then we would have far fewer incidents. At the end of the day if someone decides to play electrician and injure themselves or a family member then apart from dealing with their conscience they may face a day in court, at least with unsafe behavior with machinery in there own workshop they will only remove their own digits.

The problem in this country ( uk) is if a person does a diy job an a gas appliance and in the process kills a customer and or the family then they will be deemed incompetent and will get a fine or a suspended sentence or at worst a year in prison. Now if I ( gas safe registered) cut corners and incorrectly installed a gas appliance which resulted in a death or serious injury ( c/o poisoning) then in court I’d be classed as a competent experienced engineer and as such be classed as negligent. the consequences are a lot more severe. Spectric is spot on - some gas engineers and most likely other trades ( mechanics and electricians etc) are only doing the job to make as much money as possible and ignore obvious safety issues or even worse don’t look for them . I pride myself on paying due diligence to safety and had many conversations with customers pleading with me not to disconnect their dangerous gas installation or appliance. The crazy thing is you have to have the customers permission to disconnect an appliance. In the years I’ve been a gas engineer I know I have prevented many families from c/o poisoning or from a serious gas explosion but I’ve never caused injury. I’ve seen many unsafe electrical installations but as not qualified in this field I could only advise the customer to get a sparky and place a warning label on it . I’m not even sure these electrical advice posts should be allowed than the standard advice to get a qualified professional for gas and electrical advice.