MR WET PANTS IS NOW PLAYING AT BEING A SPARKY

[JOURNEYMAN]

I received a call yesterday evening from one of my regular customers requesting that I attend a ground floor rental flat that he owns to check the electrical installation which had received yet another soaking as the flat above had another leak from a newly fitted bathroom. Apparently the ground floor flat bathroom light was flickering when in the off position and the bathroom extract fan was continuously running so I immediately called the ground floor tenant, instructed her to switch off the affected lighting and fan circuit via the mcb at the fuse board until I arrived later to check out the issues. This she duly did.
Shortly after my call however, the so called plumber who fitted the new bathroom in the flat above, turned up and stopped the leak and then went downstairs to the ground floor flat and told the tenant he could fix the electrics and supposedly "fixed" the flickering bathroom light and extract fan and left the circuit on declaring that it was now safe. He left no contact details, no paperwork to say what he had done nor used any test equipment to check cables etc.
As I live an hour from the property, I arrived unfortunately after he had gone and after catching up with the ground floor tenant on what had happened carried out checks on all of the lighting, accessories, extract fan, cables, etc. and any other electrical items within the vicinity and found the hall globe light full of water, hall and bathroom light switches soaking wet. Needless to say Mr. Wet Pants left the place in a worse condition and less safe than when he arrived.
I spent well over an hour checking everything was dry, tested and safe and before leaving I asked the tenant why she'd let the plumber carry out electrical works even though I was on my way, to which she replied that it said on the side of his van that he was a plumber and electrician and she thought he knew what he was doing as he reckoned he could fix the electrics! Unbelievable!

 

[Pete999]

I received a call yesterday evening from one of my regular customers requesting that I attend a ground floor rental flat that he owns to check the electrical installation which had received yet another soaking as the flat above had another leak from a newly fitted bathroom. Apparently the ground floor flat bathroom light was flickering when in the off position and the bathroom extract fan was continuously running so I immediately called the ground floor tenant, instructed her to switch off the affected lighting and fan circuit via the mcb at the fuse board until I arrived later to check out the issues. This she duly did.
Shortly after my call however, the so called plumber who fitted the new bathroom in the flat above, turned up and stopped the leak and then went downstairs to the ground floor flat and told the tenant he could fix the electrics and supposedly "fixed" the flickering bathroom light and extract fan and left the circuit on declaring that it was now safe. He left no contact details, no paperwork to say what he had done nor used any test equipment to check cables etc.
As I live an hour from the property, I arrived unfortunately after he had gone and after catching up with the ground floor tenant on what had happened carried out checks on all of the lighting, accessories, extract fan, cables, etc. and any other electrical items within the vicinity and found the hall globe light full of water, hall and bathroom light switches soaking wet. Needless to say Mr. Wet Pants left the place in a worse condition and less safe than when he arrived.
I spent well over an hour checking everything was dry, tested and safe and before leaving I asked the tenant why she'd let the plumber carry out electrical works even though I was on my way, to which she replied that it said on the side of his van that he was a plumber and electrician and she thought he knew what he was doing as he reckoned he could fix the electrics! Unbelievable!

This sort of thing has been going on for ages Mate nothing new and until the powers that be search out these charlatans it will continue I'm afraid, sorry for you bad experience, hope it's all sorted now.

 

[JOURNEYMAN]

Thanks Pete999. All sorted now but it could have ended up much worse.

 

[Pete999]

Thanks Pete999. All sorted now but it could have ended up much worse.

Yes it could have

 

[The Ghost]

Well would you trust someone who had as a plumber fitted a bathroom which then flooded your flat to "fix" the resultant electrical problems? There is just no cure for stupid.

 

[sparkdog]

Another one I keep finding is the builder's "electrician" doing cu changes. No paper work, open it up and its like a rat's nest, loose terminals and no labels. Customer proudly shows me it, " No need to test anything, its all just been done" any paperwork? " Err......"

 

[Parker27]

I was recently contacted by a maintenance company for a quote and asked what other work I do, I asked what did they mean, they said that their plumber fits their fire doors - I did not attend for the quote.

 

[johnduffell]

I was recently contacted by a maintenance company for a quote and asked what other work I do, I asked what did they mean, they said that their plumber fits their fire doors - I did not attend for the quote.

Did you think they'd recognised you from your weekend special service job?

 

[pirate]

If the guy who did the plumbing upstairs, cured the problems downstairs, I think it's fair to assume he has much prior experience in this!
So, yes...trust the bodger, cos he has bodged so often he knows exactly what to do!
It's called "Multi-trades!"

 

[Squid]

If the guy who did the plumbing upstairs, cured the problems downstairs, I think it's fair to assume he has much prior experience in this!
So, yes...trust the bodger, cos he has bodged so often he knows exactly what to do!
It's called "Multi-pass!"

 

[gnuuser]

Well would you trust someone who had as a plumber fitted a bathroom which then flooded your flat to "fix" the resultant electrical problems? There is just no cure for stupid.

correction! you can't cure stupid without committing a capital crime!

 

[Sparksaflyin]

I received a call yesterday evening from one of my regular customers requesting that I attend a ground floor rental flat that he owns to check the electrical installation which had received yet another soaking as the flat above had another leak from a newly fitted bathroom. Apparently the ground floor flat bathroom light was flickering when in the off position and the bathroom extract fan was continuously running so I immediately called the ground floor tenant, instructed her to switch off the affected lighting and fan circuit via the mcb at the fuse board until I arrived later to check out the issues. This she duly did.
Shortly after my call however, the so called plumber who fitted the new bathroom in the flat above, turned up and stopped the leak and then went downstairs to the ground floor flat and told the tenant he could fix the electrics and supposedly "fixed" the flickering bathroom light and extract fan and left the circuit on declaring that it was now safe. He left no contact details, no paperwork to say what he had done nor used any test equipment to check cables etc.
As I live an hour from the property, I arrived unfortunately after he had gone and after catching up with the ground floor tenant on what had happened carried out checks on all of the lighting, accessories, extract fan, cables, etc. and any other electrical items within the vicinity and found the hall globe light full of water, hall and bathroom light switches soaking wet. Needless to say Mr. Wet Pants left the place in a worse condition and less safe than when he arrived.
I spent well over an hour checking everything was dry, tested and safe and before leaving I asked the tenant why she'd let the plumber carry out electrical works even though I was on my way, to which she replied that it said on the side of his van that he was a plumber and electrician and she thought he knew what he was doing as he reckoned he could fix the electrics! Unbelievable!

Oh the joys of part p qualification!

 

[Sparksaflyin]

Where anyone with a screwdriver and brain cell can become a Sparkie

 

[elsparko]

Another one I keep finding is the builder's "electrician" doing cu changes. No paper work, open it up and its like a rat's nest, loose terminals and no labels. Customer proudly shows me it, " No need to test anything, its all just been done" any paperwork? " Err......"

yeah the paperwork they end up showing you is the sticker sheet..

 

[elsparko]

Where anyone with a screwdriver and brain cell can become a Sparkie

i seen a video of an american electrician, none of his tools were insulated and he had the gall to make how to videos, he also wore denim shorts and was bald.

 

[sparkdog]

Yes, that's all the paperwork they left, sticker sheet on top on the cu and no labels actually stuck on it, not even the RCD test one.

 

[Squid]

i seen a video of an american electrician, none of his tools were insulated and he had the gall to make how to videos, he also wore denim shorts and was bald.

Back in the day we all used uninsulated screwdrivers.......

 

[Strima]

If you isolate correctly you don’t need insulated tools.

 

[elsparko]

If you isolate correctly you don’t need insulated tools.

may not need them , but it hardly looks professional

and youre honestly going to tell me youve never worked live before?

 

[elsparko]

guy i work with dismantled and fitted a shower he thought was off, turns out it was live the whole time, his tester probe wasnt plugged in correctly, (i know not correct procedure blah blah should have used proving unit blah blah) but mistakes happen, and had he not had insulated tools that day i may have had to call an ambulance for him

 

[Strima]

may not need them , but it hardly looks professional

and youre honestly going to tell me youve never worked live before?

I do work live with the appropriate training, PPE and tooling.

Why does it look unprofessional to use non-insulated tools?

Due to the annealing process of insulated tools they are more brittle and often fail a lot sooner that non-insulated tools. Financially it makes sense.

I select my tools appropriate to task and level of risk.

 

[elsparko]

I do work live with the appropriate training, PPE and tooling.

Why does it look unprofessional to use non-insulated tools?

Due to the annealing process of insulated tools they are more brittle and often fail a lot sooner that non-insulated tools. Financially it makes sense.

I select my tools appropriate to task and level of risk.

it just looks cheap imo, customers expect to see us with decent tools

i still see people cutting out backboxes with just a stanley knife, how long does that take vs a multitool/padsaw?!

 

[Strima]

it just looks cheap imo, customers expect to see us with decent tools

i still see people cutting out backboxes with just a stanley knife, how long does that take vs a multitool/padsaw?!

My customers don't give a crap about my tools, they expect a good job at reasonable cost.

 

[johnduffell]

it just looks cheap imo, customers expect to see us with decent tools

i still see people cutting out backboxes with just a stanley knife

nothing wrong with a stanley knife on thermalites is there? although I bet you impress the customer more when you get the 6kg breaker out at lunch time to cut up your mars bar

 

[telectrix]

sockets i'm doing at this time in a 1950's house.. engineering brick, them black in the miidle things, only thing that works is scutch on 110V makita, and even then takes 20 minutes to chop in a box.

 

[johnduffell]

sockets i'm doing at this time in a 1950's house.. engineering brick, them black in the miidle things, only thing that works is scutch on 110V makita, and even then takes 20 minutes to chop in a box.

while we're on the impressive tools, I heard they have a few of the tunnel boring machines they used on the thames super sewer going spare, could chop enough space for a thousand sockets in a moment

 

[ruston]

sockets i'm doing at this time in a 1950's house.. engineering brick, them black in the miidle things, only thing that works is scutch on 110V makita, and even then takes 20 minutes to chop in a box.

We have rows and rows of old Pit houses built with those bricks . Some of them are held in with lime . They are so hard it is easy to knock them into the cavity , if the house has one . They are definitely a challenge.

 

[elsparko]

nothing wrong with a stanley knife on thermalites is there? although I bet you impress the customer more when you get the 6kg breaker out at lunch time to cut up your mars bar

with the size mars bars are now they can be devoured in a bite

 

[elsparko]

We have rows and rows of old Pit houses built with those bricks . Some of them are held in with lime . They are so hard it is easy to knock them into the cavity , if the house has one . They are definitely a challenge.

1/2 inch stick, some plasterboard and voila end of the challenge

 

[telectrix]

with the size mars bars are now they can be devoured in a bite

with a gob like yours, i'm not surprised. .

 

[elsparko]

with a gob like yours, i'm not surprised. .

:O

 

[JK-Electrical]

I'm deeply concerned by just how easy it is for people to become electricians these days. As some of you will already be aware, anyone can operate in Scotland as an electrician. No qualifications, training, or experience is necessary. You just set yourself up, advertise yourself, and off you go to do rewires and EICRs. Up here, we have wetpants calling themselves 'electricians' and advertising their services as such on the basis that they are a 'qualified' "domestic electrical installer" because they did the BS 7671 course. I despair.

The sooner we get protection of title, the better.

 

[JK-Electrical]

Duplicate post

 

[oracle]

If plumbers can do a 5 day Part P course why isn't there a 5 day plumbing course? We could do wetpants and mess up their credibility like they have done to us

 

[Strima]

I did a one day plumbing course, it was very easy...

 

[oracle]

I did a one day plumbing course, it was very easy...

What did you do on the course, fit a tap?

 

[Strima]

What did you do on the course, fit a tap?

And some soldering, I was let loose with a blow lamp...

 

[ruston]

And some soldering, I was let loose with a blow lamp...

Not as dangerous as some of the kit you have been let loose with.

 

[Strima]

Not as dangerous as some of the kit you have been let loose with.

I must admit the bangs were a bit better...

 

['mr2'gd4u]

nothing wrong with a stanley knife on thermalites is there?

I thought I was the only one...