I reg to differ

He and Roger Lovegrove are obviously both members of the same mutual appreciation society. I am all for comments, opinions and advice but I like them to be factual. Mr Knowles tells us of his discussion in a wholesalers with an electrician whom he knows ‘is not regulated'. What the hell does that mean? People in the trade don't speak like that.

Here's the problem - we want to be regulated. All who served an apprenticeship, went to college, took their 16th Edition and Health & Safety Assessment should be registered. We should have one form of identity to prove who we are and what we have done. At one time we thought that this might have been the ECS card, but no, that fell by the wayside.

If proper electricians were ‘regulated' we wouldn't need all this Part P and Part L nonsense. We don't need to be told how to wire a kitchen and similarly we don't want kitchen fitters and carpenters wiring them either.

We all update our skills on a regular basis, both by experience and training. We don't need organisations creaming large sums of money by making us Part P, and presumably soon Part L, ‘compliant'.

The other thing us old boys don't understand is how the copper cores of cables have apparently become smaller over the years. When we get the aforementioned gentlemen telling us to wire 25 A circuits in 4 mm cable, it's time to stop the bus and get off. I guess that after the introduction of Part L we will be soon be wiring circuits in 16 mm. I can't wait to see the size of a 13 A socket in five years - that is unless Mr Lovegrove wants to ban those too?

Great magazine Andrew - keep up the good work!

Andrew Ferguson, Solent Power Systems, Southampton