electrical safety

More powers are needed to protect householders against dangerous electrical work

gazza — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

More powers are needed to protect householders against dangerous electrical work

gazza Mon, 19/01/2015

A report published by the Electrical Safety Roundtable (ESR) reveals damning evidence that 72% of Local Authorities had taken no action against Part P non-compliance between 2011 and 2013. The report also highlighted that only 2% of Local Authorities had attempted to prosecute under Part P with only one successful prosecution during the entire 3 year period.
These figures appear to make a mockery of a very important building regulation, designed to protect householders against dangerous electrical work. Such lack of enforcement control is paving the way for more rogue traders and unregistered electricians to continue to put unsuspecting householders at risk as their work is going unchecked and unchallenged.
Why are Local Authorities not doing more?
On the face of it, it seems ludicrous that Local Authorities are turning what appears to be a blind eye towards Part P standards, however it seems that Local Authorities have a lack of effective deterrence powers available to them. Additionally, there have been funding cuts to housing services of 34% over the last 5 years so resources are being stretched to the limit. At the moment it seems that even the Local Authority have their hands tied to a large extent.
The publication of the report by the ESR provides ground based evidence to the Government that the current strategies in place to address non-compliance with Part P are too thin on the ground and are proving ineffective. This follows a survey of enforcement practices of every Local Authority in England and which returned an 87% response rate. This proved to be one of the largest studies of its kind.
As a result of the findings, the ESR have urged the Government to carefully consider the findings and recommendations within the report. One of the main recommendations is to give Local Authorities and scheme providers appropriate powers and support to enforce Part P effectively.
Can scheme providers do more then?
Scheme providers are a gateway for genuine electricians to register themselves on the Part P register which allows them to self certify their work as being compliant with the Part P building regulations. It would make sense therefore that if the Local Authority cannot help then the scheme provider could instead.
Unfortunately this is not an option either and there is no shortage of scheme provider members who agree that Part P is not being enforced as effectively as it should be. As a result of this concern, NAPIT sponsored the investigation that lead to the publication of the report. Unsurprisingly, the report highlighted that scheme operators have a key role to play in influencing positive change but also lack any legal enforcement powers or the ability to carry out safety checks on work carried out by unregistered contractors.
The recommendations
The central aim of the report was to gather data on enforcement in a subject area of public interest for which only small studies and anecdotal evidence have previously been available. It also aims to provide recommendations on how enforcement of Part P could be improved, including:
Giving local authorities greater powers, such as the ability to issue on-the-spot fines, fixed monetary penalties or stop notices to those responsible for sub-standard work.
Requiring electrical installers to report on dangerous situations found as gas installers are currently required to do.
Bringing DCLG, LABC and Competent Person Scheme Operators together to discuss whether agreement on how and when referrals to the Building Control Departments of local authorities should be used by scheme operators and how the local authority should act on the information.
Suggesting that Government could look into making it a legal requirement for all electrical work which falls under Part P of the Building Regulations to be carried out by a registered, competent electrical installer.
Considering the implementation of a “Local Government Transparency Scheme”, where local authority Building Control departments could name and shame those responsible for non-compliant electrical work.
All of the recommendations within the report were based on the principles of encouraging cooperation between industry, Government and local authorities and proposing solutions that take account of and seek to remove the obstacles to effective enforcement.
More stringent enforcement is needed
With current statistics suggesting that up to 20,000 unregistered electricians are carrying out electrical work in homes across the UK on a daily basis, it is clear to see that more needs to be done to tackle the growing problem of Part P non-compliance.
More Governmental support is required to at least bring electrical regulations in line with those of Gas. Most householders comply with gas safety recommendations and appear to understand the role of the Gas Safe scheme. A similar model is required for electrical regulations with a model that customers can understand to ensure their electrical safety.
Round 1 has begun....lets see where it takes us!

Blog tags

electrical safety

My Local Electrician are Blog Award Finalists!

gazza — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

My Local Electrician are Blog Award Finalists!

gazza Thu, 18/12/2014

There is nothing to beat a dreary Monday morning to discover that My Local Electrician became a finalist in the UK Blog Awards!
This is thanks to our very generous readers and followers who took to their screens to kindly vote for us – each of your votes contributed to this momentous achievement and to each and every one of you who voted -THANK YOU- we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your vote – every single one counted!
So what next?
Of course our commitment to promoting electrical safety will continue with increased gusto. It has always been our determination to bring electrical safety to the forefront of peoples minds whether they are a householder or an electrical industry professional who needs support to spread a very important message.
In 2008, we came out of nowhere (well we knew where we were I guess!) and started off as directory pages for electricians. We very soon became an on line magazine promoting exclusive industry news and promoting the electrical industry. Our blog has always been and always will be about promoting electrical safety and we are here to stay – for you, for electricians, for everyone.
Why on earth did we enter these awards anyway?
We never imagined to be finalists, but we thought we'd dip our toes in the water so to speak. For us though, it's about you, and what we can do to change the view on electrical safety. Every person who works in the electrical industry understands the need to educate the public about the dangers of electrical safety. As demonstrated by the public vote, we have a following of dedicated electrical industry professionals who back up our passion for electrical safety.
Being a finalist is for all of our supporters – together we are making a difference!

Blog tags

electrical safety

Signs that you need to call an electrician

gazza — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Signs that you need to call an electrician

gazza Thu, 27/02/2014

I think I relate with practically every electrician when I say I receive messages from friends on a regular basis about electrical problems in their homes. Some are well meaning and make perfect sense that they're seeking reassurance and others are just plain dangerous.
Take a recent Friday evening at home. I was just thinking of ordering my weekly Chinese takeaway when there was a knock on my front door. It was my neighbour from 4 doors down who had arrived home to find a slight problem in his kitchen – well more of an explosion might be a better term.
Enter the chancer
Yes he was having his home renovated. Using professional qualified tradespeople? Of course not. He had hired....wait for it.....a friend, perhaps best described as an odd job man who incidentally had spent the best part of a day re-felting a small porch roof....well ok he hadn't started it until 11am that Sunday, perhaps he'd had a lie in!
Anyway, it transpired that my neighbour had recently had a new kitchen installed and was unable to use the switched fuse spur – this was the reason I was now standing in his kitchen. His well meaning friend had decided to have a go at this unknown electrical phenomenon and thought (perhaps to his joy) that he'd resolved it nicely by placing a fuse inside the said spur and voilà the oven could now be switched on and off!
Fast forward a day....
and yes you've guessed it something awful happened in his absence (he was at work) and had been unharmed. Unfortunately the kitchen was not so lucky – in fact the wall had literally exploded and the said switched fused spur was now in a very sorry state. This horror, better described as the mini blitz had also cut the power off to the rest of his house and there was no RCD incidentally.
His saving grace was the fact that next door had kindly lent an extension lead that was trailing from their house into my neighbours. It was being used to charge a phone and power a lamp – priorities matter you see and oh....it wasn't raining, for once. Perhaps they wouldn't have been so keen to help had they have lost half their house due to this 'minor' episode.
Getting it sorted
Now at past 8pm on a dark Winter evening the chances of getting hold of an electrician to get his power on tonight was pretty slim. Hence why he'd come to me. Unfortunately for him I was unable to help for as you know, I no longer work on the tools, so although I could visually check for danger and give him some advise (call an electrician) that was all I could offer. However electricians, being the amazing folk they are sprung to help my neighbour out.
I phoned my local professional electrician (who is one of my clients) who agreed to come out to him and assess the problem. Well he got his power back on for him and recommended he have a consumer unit upgrade – jobs a good 'un!
This could have caused severe electrical injury or even death. This is why it is so important to only use qualified and registered electricians if you have any concerns about your home electrics.
What happened afterwards
I've no idea how much work was involved in redecorating the nearly new kitchen but my neighbour actually cancelled the consumer unit upgrade on the morning of the job. Clearly a blow to electrical safety.
All we can hope is that a valuable lesson has been learnt in not tampering with home electrics.

Blog tags

electrical safety