Your answers Gentlemen, please. This is indicating a serious problem in the Industry. Trust is now zero. I am disgusted with the behavior of these alleged "inspectors" who are dim, dumb, deaf and blind, and cannot read the BBB. It is not good enough is it?
Well put Jaymack. The job is not very suitable for the "metal basher" types is it, good and useful as they are? Failing 2382 takes some effort, particularly the bit about not being able to read! Exactly the opposite method to get more inspectors has been applied, by (guess who).
There should be a standard assessment procedure for electricians to complete landlords electrical safety reports to ensure compliance with a defined set of requirements and these reports should be produced by skilled and qualified electricians with experience of working in domestic properties who have had specific training and qualifications for producing these reports.
These electricians should be individually registered with a competent person scheme who should monitor quality of reporting and adjudicate if complaints are raised.
If landlords and letting agents had ensured that the electrical installations in the rented homes under their control are in satisfactory condition without being pushed into having to get a compulsory EICR this would just be a tick box exercise.
We, electricians, are not going to do anything about the standard of reporting, the only organisation that can change anything is the government, no one else can take control of the process.
Back when I was doing the C&G 2360 with two evening classes each week there was an evening when only only two of us turned up, the head of department who was our tutor came into the workshop and found us looking at the Inspection and Testing exam board that the workshop technician had just finished.
The tutor said as there was only two of us we could have a go at doing the inspection whilst he did something else, as you can guess we found too many faults, but everyone of these was rectified by the technician before it was used for the real exam. After all a exam board should only have the planned faults on it, no more, no less, otherwise it becomes a meaningless exercise.
I've been pondering this - I think the bottom line is that those doing the inspections don't fully understand what is expected of them (and a parallel is that those ordering the work don't have a clue whether what they've been given at the end is reasonable or not). GN 3 is all very well but its very nature as a GN means it has to cover (at least in principle) a very wide range of installations and is perhaps perceived as an office reference book or course text book rather than something to be referred to on an on-going basis, perhaps on site.
So perhaps one positive move might be an introduction of an "On-Site Guide to Periodic Inspections" - like the OSG it would concentrate on <=100A/phase installations and take a more informal/readable approach concentrating on the down to earth practicalities of carrying out a Periodic Inspection and the kinds of problems likely to be found in domestics, reasonable approaches to be taken (e.g. sampling), alternative methods that might still give a reasonable level of safety despite not complying with the latest regulations, emphasising that Periodic Inspection is a whole different ball game to Initial Verifications, and yes giving lists of common items with suggested Codes - (or more importantly explaining why it's not codeable). Sort of bringing together the relevant bits of BS 7671, GN 3, best practice guides/'code breakers' and so on into one place and trying to make it readable.
For sure it wouldn't of itself address the basic problem of competence, but it might help nudge many back onto the correct course - and in the same way that the OSG gets picked up by DIYers, it could serve in part as a source of information for those ordering EICRs.
We, electricians, are not going to do anything about the standard of reporting, the only organisation that can change anything is the government, no one else can take control of the process.
The controlling bodies must surely appreciate that there is a problem, they should be in the driving seat as an amalgamation. Simples!
Without a domestic rented sector electrical installation compliance guide stating what the standard is to be for electrical installations in tenanted properties no one knows what is required.
The reference to compliance with BS7671 The Wiring Regulations is not sufficient. What does it mean?
Does it mean a forty year old old installation with a rewirable fuse board completely lacking RCD protection is acceptable, because it is still as it was when it was originally installed or not?
If by the “two controlling bodies” you mean Certsure and NAPIT they could not even launch an online joint register of their scheme members without a fight with Certsure trying to go it alone and launching one just for their brands.
I don’t really have an answer to David’s question other than to say that I believe that there are very few electricians capable of producing a competent report. That is not to do down the trade, quite the contrary, they are generally excellent at practical activities but very much less capable when pressed into something a tad more academic such as the compilation of a written report.
I have been a tutor on the 2391 since it’s inception. I have had the pleasure of teaching some very fine lads over the years. However, even seeing them through to a successful outcome as far as the course is concerned, I would not be offering the majority of them a job as an inspector. Most, will readily admit that they lack the ability to communicate in a written format. Many do not fully understand the electrical systems on which they work let alone report on the safety of such systems. Yet they eventually struggle through the assessment protocols and I sign them off as having fulfilled the relevant criteria.
So if you are looking for someone to blame, perhaps start with tutors like me who know damn well that even the successful candidate needs years of additional mentoring before they would be ready to be let loose to carry out electrical safety inspections.
In the meantime, perhaps it is not the best idea to use the 2391 or it’s equivalent as a single benchmark for assessing the capability of an electrician to conduct an EICR. Come to think of it, if it is an EICR that is required, perhaps it would be best not to use installation electricians at all!
If the reports are being produced by the incompetent people who installed the shoddy installations in the first place it unlikely that there will be a good outcome.
Back when I was doing the C&G 2360 with two evening classes each week there was an evening when only only two of us turned up, the head of department who was our tutor came into the workshop and found us looking at the Inspection and Testing exam board that the workshop technician had just finished.
The tutor said as there was only two of us we could have a go at doing the inspection whilst he did something else, as you can guess we found too many faults, but everyone of these was rectified by the technician before it was used for the real exam. After all a exam board should only have the planned faults on it, no more, no less, otherwise it becomes a meaningless exercise."
