Discuss would you tell a diy'er how to rewire his or her house? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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firstly i mean by diy'er a person with little or no knowledge of electrics.
not a person undergoing training or an electrician,enginneer working in other feilds.

alot of posts i have read warn the person to get a qualified person in,warn about the dangers then someone nearly always discusses how to do the job.
some people have mentioned that they do this as the person would do the work anyways and they are now better prepared not to have an accident, or cause one.
some people state that there would be no one using this forum if we don't advise the diy'er.
are these facts true or is it the ego of an electrician to jump in and save the day for some sorry soul.
i am not pointing any fingers or judgments as i believe we are all to blame.
should we point out how to complete such works without the knowledge of safe isolation, and the tools to do the job testers etc.
another point is people say if it was'nt for diyers then they wouldn't get half there calls when something goes wrong,wouldn't an electrician get more calls before an accident occured if people used them when required as in part p guidelines.
i don't know any other trades that cut there own throats by giving free advise to there customers on how not to use there services
would i chuff!!..they`l end up taking work from me that i have trained and gone without to get the certs & experience to do.....its like saying to someone `well here we are, i`v spent time at college n all that but i`ll just show you how to get along..hell, i`ll even tell you where to get all the stuff from do do the job`...not a chance..lol...
 
As has been said before chances are a DIY'er are going to have a go any way. i think your best trying to warn them off or failing that enough advice to stop them doing some thing horrible.
 
As far as I'm concerned, there's no yes or no answer to this one...

If someone with zero experience asks for advice about a full rewire I tell them straight that it would be A) stupid and B) dangerous to attempt it, then point them in the right direction.

If someone with experience and knowledge but without the formal qualifications asks, then I'd help them as best I could, but still remind them of the need to notify and get the work checked.

Until recently I was the latter and the advice given to me on here and other forums was invaluable (and helped me on the road to qualification and registration) so I would always want to repay the favour and help out others (subject to ability and experience)
 
I help people at my discretion, I rarely pay for other trades to work for me, based on the favour system. I occassionaly give advice to other trades if they show an interest in doing it properly. I rarely help other trades who give it the 'I know it all approach' and question my advice.
In doing I&T's I have seen a lot of bodged DIY which is not dangerous but certainly recognisable as DIY
A fair amount of 'decent' DIY barely distinguishable from sparks work.
A faily small amount of outright dangerous work!
 
I priced a rewire last week for a shopkeeper who has property, he said that he thought my price was fair but has decided that he wanted to replace the CU which I could do (very gracious of him I know). Knowing this isn't going to sort his problems out I refused.
I went up yesterday for a few beers and he asked me how it should be done, obviously he is intending to try this himself.
After I stopped laughing at him what do you think my reply was
 
I priced a rewire last week for a shopkeeper who has property, he said that he thought my price was fair but has decided that he wanted to replace the CU which I could do (very gracious of him I know). Knowing this isn't going to sort his problems out I refused.
I went up yesterday for a few beers and he asked me how it should be done, obviously he is intending to try this himself.
After I stopped laughing at him what do you think my reply was

Foxtrot Oscar ??
 
If I decide to do the brakes on my car and they fail and kill myself or one of the family I have to live with that choice, guess what I employ a competent mechanic, I don't buy into this mindset ' well he will do it anyway'..that's his choice and his alone , you have absolutely no guarantee it will make it safer in fact I would argue the opposite by bolstering their confidence with advice you are encouraging them to exceed their abilities, it may not have happened yet but one day someone will die as a result of advice gleaned off the net, just ask yourself one question, how would you like to be involved with that ? We all moan about part P and yet some are happy to advise those with zero experience ....that is their choice but not me thanks very much.
J
 
Here's a scenario...

Bloke asks me if it's ok to rewire his cooker in 1.5mm T+E...

2 options...

A) I refuse to help, tell him he needs a proper sparks and he goes and does it anyway (because he's a ---)... Fire, dead kids etc...

B) I tell him he's a prat for trying it, but also say that the cable needs sizing correctly and that 6mm would be suitable BUT he should still get a sparks to do it for him. He ignores the last bit of advice and does it himself, but he thinks "that guy said I need a 6mm cable, fair enough, I'll do as he says, it doesn't cost much more"

Neither are ideal, but I know which situation is safer...
 
without looking at the job getting all information you have decided that its a cooker circuit so 6mm i know its highly unlikely for this to be wrong but if a bigger size was actually needed you have told someone wrong info and if anything goes wrong will he be knocking on your door?
 
there was a post on a site the other day allegedly from a spark advising the diyer how to do a pyro cable without the correct tools, he then explained how to find which conductor was which using a multimeter then mark one as red for live the other black as neutral,connect up and away you go.At no point did he mention ir test on cable,truly shocking for a spark I thought,
 
I realise I'm a little new to this forum, but I hope noone minds me voting. It looks like I'm massively in the minority with my 'yes' vote, perhaps thats down to my inexperience and my vote may become a 'No' in a few years.

If a Diyer is asking for advice then I think you should first try and assess his experience a little. If he clearly has no experience then he wont understand what you are saying anyway and I would then vote 'No'. If he has some experience then I think it is safer to give some advice to stop him doing something dangerous.

However, I would say to him in very clear and blunt terms that he is a very silly man for attempting the work himself. I would strongly try to put him off doing it himself by making him aware of the dangers and perhaps even using some strong language!!! He would then be making an informed choice, his responsibility.

But I would give him the advice, if he had some understanding.... that is when I get it myself, being a Electrical Trainee as you experienced hands put it..
 
As far as I'm concerned, there's no yes or no answer to this one...

If someone with zero experience asks for advice about a full rewire I tell them straight that it would be A) stupid and B) dangerous to attempt it, then point them in the right direction.

If someone with experience and knowledge but without the formal qualifications asks, then I'd help them as best I could, but still remind them of the need to notify and get the work checked.

Until recently I was the latter and the advice given to me on here and other forums was invaluable (and helped me on the road to qualification and registration) so I would always want to repay the favour and help out others (subject to ability and experience)
yes but that is someone bettering themselves isn`t it......not some timewaster in the bar....
 

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