That to me shown in the photogrpah is just very very poor workmanship and poor practice.

Just another example of the handskills of a tradesperson going downhill!! Why? to save a few minutes.

Look at the potential hazard left behind for future persons working in that consumer unit, and yes, we shouldnt be working on or enar any energised part, but I can see the skin getting ripped off somebody's knuckles working on that consumer unit in the future.

From a earth continuity point of view, yes, the thread of the screw will be making good contact with the inside metal edge of the wall of the consumer unit, only other contact is the underside of the screw head on the earth tag itself.

Now compare that to a brass nut and bolt and washer arrangement. the brass head of the bolt gives equal contact to earth tag as the self tapper, but with scraping some paint, a small serrated washer, a flat washer and a brass nut tightened down then to me far better contact with the consumer unit metal itself. Also more importantly if the length of that brass bolt is appropriate very little in the way of the bolt will protrude thru the nut leaving something to be injured on.   

I wouldnt be happy with that, difficult to give it a coding though as far as BS7671 unless you want to try poor workmanship, but from leaving behind a hazard for others then yes, I wouldnt accept that on one of my projects. 

GTB

That to me shown in the photogrpah is just very very poor workmanship and poor practice.

Just another example of the handskills of a tradesperson going downhill!! Why? to save a few minutes.

Look at the potential hazard left behind for future persons working in that consumer unit, and yes, we shouldnt be working on or enar any energised part, but I can see the skin getting ripped off somebody's knuckles working on that consumer unit in the future.

From a earth continuity point of view, yes, the thread of the screw will be making good contact with the inside metal edge of the wall of the consumer unit, only other contact is the underside of the screw head on the earth tag itself.

Now compare that to a brass nut and bolt and washer arrangement. the brass head of the bolt gives equal contact to earth tag as the self tapper, but with scraping some paint, a small serrated washer, a flat washer and a brass nut tightened down then to me far better contact with the consumer unit metal itself. Also more importantly if the length of that brass bolt is appropriate very little in the way of the bolt will protrude thru the nut leaving something to be injured on.   

I wouldnt be happy with that, difficult to give it a coding though as far as BS7671 unless you want to try poor workmanship, but from leaving behind a hazard for others then yes, I wouldnt accept that on one of my projects. 

GTB

Hi GTB. Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful response – I appreciate the depth of your analysis. You’ve raised several critical points, particularly regarding workmanship, safety, and the potential hazards left behind for future installers.

I agree on your stance on not accepting such work on your projects is entirely reasonable, and it sets a high standard for safety and quality.

Do you think there’s room for industry-wide guidelines or best practices to address these kinds of issues more explicitly, or is it more about individual accountability and training to ensure better workmanship

- Andrew