They are not ALL incompetent, lazy or just useless, but a worrying number are.

"Lazy" is rather subjective and can mean "wont work for the inadequate sum that I am offering"

But a worrying number are incompetent.

Recent examples include

Inability to carry out simple and approximate electrical calculations by mental arithmetic.

A belief that "tri rated" wires have three times the current carrying capacity of other types.

Complete failure to understand diversity, and in particular believing that diversity means that a 20 amp circuit can supply a 30 amp load "due to diversity" or that a lighting circuit need only be sized for say 60% of the connected load "due to diversity" The only common example were this is correct is an electric cooker, which could be considered as a number of appliances assembled in one case.

Inability to understand two way light switching, and as for switching from MORE THAN two places, forget it.

Inability to locate faults in existing circuits.

I have an opinion that because of the current mass of 'one man bands' pita jobs get little or no responce, I blame the domestic installer schemes for the ammount of one man bands and therefore the lack of micro businesses that would have tackle this type of more awkward project in the past.

It's also very easy to set up as an electrician one man band business. Then cherry pick the work and offer no general public or community service.

But in defence the client may be the problem here 

Gut feelings may have sent up some red flags.

Maybe most electricians are just getting old with the majority approaching retirement and are just fed up with sorting other people’s problems out.

Any combination you stated is possible along with some customers are complete pratts anyway. Then of course there are some decent tradesmen too. Happens in any trade

Somebody previously had connected into a switched fused connection unit to supply a back room kitchen/utility room. The new wiring had not been fully completed there. Presumably some of the new unfinished wiring was to be powered up via the switched fused connection unit. The only problem was that the switched fused connection unit was for a removed storage heater and so was just "off peak" only, so no good for a 24 hour  supply, temporary or permanent.. Doh!

Z.

“Somebody previously had connected into a switched fused connection unit to supply a back room kitchen/utility room. The new wiring had not been fully completed there. Presumably some of the new unfinished wiring was to be powered up via the switched fused connection unit. The only problem was that the switched fused connection unit was for a removed storage heater and so was just "off peak" only, so no good for a 24 hour  supply, temporary or permanent.. Doh!”

As I suspected, a job that involves sorting out other people’s problems, do you really expect electricians to get enthusiastic about jobs like this?

I tend to not get enthusiastic if someone has a problem to sort out if it is part of a job done by a n other rather than me because they were cheaper then they have trouble getting hold of them to rectify it or they ask on behalf of the "electrician" on site because they need "advice" of something you might know about their installation cos you worked on it not that long ago and the question is the most simple basic question you`d expect half decent sparks not to need to ask. the mind boggles

Zoomup said:

Are modern sparks incompetent, lazy or just useless?

All three! Well at least some are, and presumably, some were 50 years ago. If this forum is anything to go by, only old folk know what they are doing ('cos most of us in here are old) but that may simply be a feature of forums.

I am guilty of being old, reached state pension age half way thru last year

Gas Safe had an issue a few years ago, registered installers were retiring at faster rate than they were being replaced by younger guys.

With all the hype about gas boilers being phased out there isn’t really much of an incentive for younger guys to train and register. There seems to be a bit of an assumption that the older guys will hang about until there isn’t actually any work for them to do, but why should they?

I am now quite convinced that older registered electricians are now retiring at a faster rate than younger guys are registering at, which is not helped the changes in entry requirements for the Competence Schemes last year.

Either something needs to be done to get more electricians working as domestic electricians and registered with the Competence Schemes or the Government may have to pull the plug on the registration schemes, letting it become a complete free for all again.