Competent person & electrics

[mattylad]

Sorry - meant swapping wires in sockets.

Bas, plugging in a molded plug would not likely fall foul of anything. if the molded on plug is wired wrong then its obviously the manufacturers fault so the person plugging it in would not be liable. you dont need to be silly now

 

[Anteaus]

If there were an accident, your best defence is to be able to show that you were duly diligent in your work. That would mean being able to state that you for example:

• Double checked wires on right terminals before closing up (or better still, had someone else confirm)
• Ensured no loose terminations.
  
• Checked earthing of appliance with an ohmmeter.
  
• Visually checked for damaged insulation, etc.

The H&S people are generally willing to recognise that no-one is perfect, but will come down like a ton of bricks on anyone who adopts a devil-may-care attitude. If you can show that you thought about the safety aspects of the job and tried to ensure they were covered, then they are a lot less likely to prosecute. BTW there are only about ten electrocutions a year in the UK. Fires through loose terminations arcing on high current supplies are far more common.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Bas, plugging in a molded plug would not likely fall foul of anything. if the molded on plug is wired wrong then its obviously the manufacturers fault so the person plugging it in would not be liable. you dont need to be silly now

I'm not being silly - just taking issue with the idea that someone needs a nationally recognised qualification to be "allowed" to connect an appliance to an FCU.