Electrician fined for EICR.

I see another problem showing its head here. There are two groups, one that is capable of making their own assessment and one that is incapable of doing so. This can probably be approximated to “I can decide if the installation is safe for continued use”, and "this installation does not meet every detail of the latest regulations so must be replaced completely". From this, it is immediately obvious that the first group think that they understand the necessary nuances of professional judgement, but the second are simply " box tickers". I can and will relate this directly to competence, the first is and the second is not, immediately obvious from inference.

The old 2391 attempted to sort these two groups, if one knew the basic theory and practice it was not “hard”, the pass mark was 65%ish percent but the pass rate was very low, somewhere around 15% for most classes. Due to some more box tickers (persons that do not understand the purpose of an examination) the exam was reduced to a trivial exercise in basic electrical trade skills, with many references to “standard designs” (The OSG), a good book but never intended to be the standard required for proper inspection. It should be noted at this point that very few candidates OWNED a copy of BS7671, or had read and UNDERSTOOD it.

Clearly, this is the disaster area we now have, particularly as the Government has seen fit to regulate inspection of private rented dwellings. I am disappointed at many of the questions raised here from Electricians running their own businesses. Many show a lack of understanding of basic science, but I am not surprised, this has been equally “dumbed down” in schools, again because it is “too difficult”. The next lot of questions usually relate to failure to read and UNDERSTAND BS7671, easy answers. The next group wants to understand the nuances found in places in the regs. Fair enough that is perfectly understandable, because some parts are not at all simple. The last part is based on misunderstanding and fear. This is always knowledge of what happens if cables are operated at currents higher than the tabulated values for short periods, an inherent part of electrical systems. You know what happens because it is normal in your car wiring, the ratings used for cable sizes are considerably higher than BS7671 tables. because the designer understands cable ratings, the effects of bunching, the importance of time, and thermal mass. It is these things that produce good electrical designs, that are safe yet economic. It is very easy to design something that uses all possible worst-case values for everything, it is very much more difficult to design a sensible and economic design.

Enough for now, but I suggest this as homework, why do the things I said above matter, and where do you see them in action?

I see another problem showing its head here. There are two groups, one that is capable of making their own assessment and one that is incapable of doing so. This can probably be approximated to “I can decide if the installation is safe for continued use”, and "this installation does not meet every detail of the latest regulations so must be replaced completely". From this, it is immediately obvious that the first group think that they understand the necessary nuances of professional judgement, but the second are simply " box tickers". I can and will relate this directly to competence, the first is and the second is not, immediately obvious from inference.

The old 2391 attempted to sort these two groups, if one knew the basic theory and practice it was not “hard”, the pass mark was 65%ish percent but the pass rate was very low, somewhere around 15% for most classes. Due to some more box tickers (persons that do not understand the purpose of an examination) the exam was reduced to a trivial exercise in basic electrical trade skills, with many references to “standard designs” (The OSG), a good book but never intended to be the standard required for proper inspection. It should be noted at this point that very few candidates OWNED a copy of BS7671, or had read and UNDERSTOOD it.

Clearly, this is the disaster area we now have, particularly as the Government has seen fit to regulate inspection of private rented dwellings. I am disappointed at many of the questions raised here from Electricians running their own businesses. Many show a lack of understanding of basic science, but I am not surprised, this has been equally “dumbed down” in schools, again because it is “too difficult”. The next lot of questions usually relate to failure to read and UNDERSTAND BS7671, easy answers. The next group wants to understand the nuances found in places in the regs. Fair enough that is perfectly understandable, because some parts are not at all simple. The last part is based on misunderstanding and fear. This is always knowledge of what happens if cables are operated at currents higher than the tabulated values for short periods, an inherent part of electrical systems. You know what happens because it is normal in your car wiring, the ratings used for cable sizes are considerably higher than BS7671 tables. because the designer understands cable ratings, the effects of bunching, the importance of time, and thermal mass. It is these things that produce good electrical designs, that are safe yet economic. It is very easy to design something that uses all possible worst-case values for everything, it is very much more difficult to design a sensible and economic design.

Enough for now, but I suggest this as homework, why do the things I said above matter, and where do you see them in action?