Wakey wakey

We have commented on both Part P and the harmonised wiring colours for so many months now that there is nothing else left to say. I haven’t met any electrician or director of an electrical installation company that thought Part P was a good idea. Sorry, Mr Reynolds, but if you ‘initially welcomed’ it then you aren’t living in the real world.

To clarify general opinion, an electrician goes through fairly thorough training to gain his qualifications. With a few years’ experience under his belt, there is no need for Part P or anything else. Yes, by all means let’s keep ourselves updated by regular courses on health and safety and things new. Yes, let’s give all registered electricians an identity card with their qualifications listed on it. That’s it. The only change in the law or Building Regulations should be that only electricians carry out electrical work. Simple, isn’t it?

Mr Reynolds then rambles on about the change in the wiring colours. If he had been a regular reader of these pages he would know already what we think about that. None of us wanted it, but it’s history now.

In the next letter, Mr P Knowles enlightens us on the testing of ring circuits. Yawn. I’m keeping his letter by my bed for when I have trouble sleeping. Do wake up people! If an electrician can’t wire and test a ring main, then he should be put in the stocks outside a local wholesaler and publicly humiliated. Despite what some people might call us, we have quite strong wrists, and using a proper sized screwdriver, it’s up to us to tighten the screws on the sockets to make sure that the wires don’t come out. But so what? If Mr Knowles is making money and providing a service by testing installations, then what is he complaining about?

Again, isn’t the solution simple? Fit an rcd at the incoming mains of all domestic properties and that’s it.

Andrew Ferguson, Solent Power Systems, Southampton