OT: Kids driving legalities?

In message , William Black writes

In the year that triggered off all this there were just two deaths due to faulty electrical installation by DIYers. Unfortunately one happened to be the daughter of an MP I believe.

SO when I had my extension built the electrical work was done by a suitably qualified electrician - and so far I've corrected two faulty connections.

Which take us full circle to the original post. No problem with letting a youngster drive round a field in a RR - unless and until something nasty happens.

Is there a law against it? - no one has identified one. Could you be liable and if so what should you do to cover your arse?

IIRC This instance wasn't diy installation, a wire ran at an odd angle behind some units and a screw had penetrated the live wire. People had noticed a tingling when touching the object that the screw was holding and done nothing. The person killed did this but was better earthed and subsequently the shock was fatal.

AJH

In theory that's impossible, and what's more your electrician should have given you the paperwork to say so.

Indeed, without it, these days, you can't sell your house...

"Austin Shackles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Even in new build, I'd imagine they

The installation can be done by anyone.

You only actually need a proper electrician to do the testing and sign off the certificate.

Not if it's anything like part J in the same regulations, fitting solid fuel stoves you can only sign off ones you've done yourself in domestic premises. The only other route is for a building control officer to issue the certificate and they will charge a lot, GBP400 in a case I heard of.

In this respect there is a similarity with how nominet seems to charge.

AJH

On or around Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:46:36 +0000, AJH enlightened us thusly:

I thought this was the case, too. If you install wiring and have a suitably qualified bloke examine the installation, I believe that's legitimate - but if it's installed and plastered over etc, then the person examining it has no way to tell if it's done to code and shouldn't be signing it off. He only knows that if he's done the work himself or seen it done.

That's my understanding of the UK regulations (having just helped a mate learn them before he emigrated to Wales).

"Austin Shackles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Well it's three years since I did this stuff, but my certificates are still valid, and my understanding is that the tests done should indicate that the equipment is working safely and it's a 'clerk of works' issue as to the quality of the materials used.

If you're wiring an office block each sparky doesn't sign off his own work, it's all on one certificate...

On or around Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:04:35 -0000, "William Black" enlightened us thusly:

You can test insulation and other things on a circuit, and I suppose up to a point you could verify cable runs, but if I present you with a plastered wall you have no way to tell what grade of cable has been used, and only limited scope to determine that I've not run cable on a diagonal across the wall, or other non-code stuff.

I know several electricians, and I don't think they're willing to sign off other people's work - probably in part because if anything was wrong and later there was some incident, their name would be on it.

You seem to be implying that it's impossible for a sparky to make a mistake ;)

Things fail even if you have a piece of paper saying they shouldn't ;)

Not quite...

I'm saying he should have detailed all his tests and written them down for every piece of wiring he's signing for.

That you have found mistakes seems to indicate that he didn't do that despite him signing to say he did...

In message , William Black writes

Oh he did. I have all the test results and certificates. The mistakes which showed up later were down to connections not fully screwed down - and I've just found another one.

Except the certificate issued is just to say he has done the installation to the standards that were required, like risk assessments, as William said in a recent thread, it puts all the responsibility on the workman who has self certified the work. Thus it shouldn't fail but the responsibility is his if he does. In the past a BCO may have double checked.

AJH