Before everybody gets this all out of proportion, it was about time the industry was regulated. On a regular basis I come across frankly dangerous installations supposedly carried out by professionals. And of course there are all those other trades who regularly do a bit of electrical work without the necessary knowledge or equipment. I'm not suggesting for one minute that any honest tradesman would deliberately carry out dangerous work, just that (as with all trades) there is more to it than meets the untrained eye.
I actually think that including electrical work in the Building Regulations makes a lot of sense and the only things that are 'wrong' with it are the confusing ways in which notifiable and non-notifiable work are defined, the multiplicity of recognised self-certification schemes and the lack of general publicity. But all this will sort itself out in time; the public will eventually come to recognise certain organisations and the others will merge or fold. Eventually, those who employ electricians will (in the main) choose registered electricians as a matter of course, just as they employ CORGI registered gas installers.
Nobody is outlawing DIY work - simply bringing it under a degree of control. Most homes' installations have been bu**ered about with to some degree and many are just dreadful. A lot of this is to do with DIY-ers who don't know what they are doing and don't ask questions. Because the majority of the cabling is concealed, bodgers have been getting away with it up until now and nobody ever seems to take seriously the advice of many surveyors to get a specialist report on domestic services. How would you feel when the home you've just bought turns out to have a dangerous mess of potentially lethal electrci spaghetti, covered up with laminate flooring, pretty lights and shiny switchplates?
And back once more to the DIY-ers and other trades. I have many times been told by such people that they know exactly what they are doing and then I've seen the results. Some have been fine, most have been far from it.
If you feel you understand and have the necessary skills then notify LABC and get on with the job. If you're not sure, then call in somebody who does know what to do. If you're really mad about it then continue to trade illegally, or write to your MP, or bury your DIY under old colours and laminate floors and hope you don't get found out. But for pity's sake stop whinging on and on about it on these forums. It's here, it's the law and it won't be going away.
I actually think that including electrical work in the Building Regulations makes a lot of sense and the only things that are 'wrong' with it are the confusing ways in which notifiable and non-notifiable work are defined, the multiplicity of recognised self-certification schemes and the lack of general publicity. But all this will sort itself out in time; the public will eventually come to recognise certain organisations and the others will merge or fold. Eventually, those who employ electricians will (in the main) choose registered electricians as a matter of course, just as they employ CORGI registered gas installers.
Nobody is outlawing DIY work - simply bringing it under a degree of control. Most homes' installations have been bu**ered about with to some degree and many are just dreadful. A lot of this is to do with DIY-ers who don't know what they are doing and don't ask questions. Because the majority of the cabling is concealed, bodgers have been getting away with it up until now and nobody ever seems to take seriously the advice of many surveyors to get a specialist report on domestic services. How would you feel when the home you've just bought turns out to have a dangerous mess of potentially lethal electrci spaghetti, covered up with laminate flooring, pretty lights and shiny switchplates?
And back once more to the DIY-ers and other trades. I have many times been told by such people that they know exactly what they are doing and then I've seen the results. Some have been fine, most have been far from it.
If you feel you understand and have the necessary skills then notify LABC and get on with the job. If you're not sure, then call in somebody who does know what to do. If you're really mad about it then continue to trade illegally, or write to your MP, or bury your DIY under old colours and laminate floors and hope you don't get found out. But for pity's sake stop whinging on and on about it on these forums. It's here, it's the law and it won't be going away.