Another Bloody Cowboy, is this the worst CU change ever ???

[bwm730]

Came across this recent CU change yesterday while quoting to replace some Storage Heaters.
The builder had replaced the original Main CU and seperate Economy7 CU with the unit pictured below.
He crammed both sets of tails into the mainswitch by cutting some cores off of each tail and put a strip of wood between the tails as extra insulation.
He installed the 1mm lighting circuit on a 20A MCB, the 6mm Cooker circuit on a 63A MCB and put 2 seperate ring circuits on 1 32A MCB.
Obviously no testing or certificates, he even mounted the new CU lower than the old ones so that now the door hit it when fully opened.
I advised the customer to contact LABC and Trading Standards and wait to see any results.

I have now replaced this with 2 seperate CU's, fully tested and certificated ( 2 IR faults found ) .

The Cowboy's skills are not limited to electrics as he also stuck some ceramic floor tiles down in the bathroom and kitchen with NO NAILS which have now started to crack and the laminate floor in the bedroom has been laid so tight to the wall that it is now rising in the middle.

 

[jimmymac]

Terrible!

 

[sparks1973]

well...pics say it all really dont they....would be worth sending em in to PE for the `caught on camera` pages...

 

[Adam W]

I think the simple answer to that is, to be comm/ind, you invariably have to go through the interview/references process etc., whereas, it appears to me, virtually anyone can walk into someones house claiming to be an electrician, and by the looks of it, do whatever (and charge) they like.

Just to add to that I think to a certain extent the commercial & Industrial sectors are 'self-policing', ie the person responsible for employing the electrical contractor is paid to know what they're doing and should be able to sniff out the cowboys, thereby starving them of work and forcing them out of business.
In the domestic sector however the cowboy could be and are preying on the most vulnerable - the elderly, mentally ill, and just poorly informed people. Part P seems to have been implemented partly to protect these people.
This could be why on 'Matt Alright BBC Rogue Traders' we hear of 'fly-by-night' contractors (often roofing and driveways) ripping off domestic customers, but you never hear of them turning up on a site and ripping off the main contractor.

Speaking of 'Matt Alright BBC Rogue Traders' and misappropriating funds, that guy who rides the bike in Rogue Traders recently got 12 weeks for benefit fraud.
How ironic.

 

[parkerbloggs]

No problem- if cover doesn't fit, a bit of pruning is needed. Reach for the secateurs!!!

 

[i=p/u]

i am decent spark, looking at those pictures, i must start charging more

 

[Silly Sausage]

Adam, exactly, if you did work like this you'd get a severe ballocking as min, then be down the road if you carried on.
Domestics, they can just move on from one rubbish job to the next, and so it seems, get away with it.

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Adam, exactly, if you did work like this you'd get a severe ballocking as min, then be down the road if you carried on.
Domestics, they can just move on from one rubbish job to the next, and so it seems, get away with it.

Yes.

If someone did work like that on my behalf, they'd get the bullet

 

[Guitarist]

Trouble is, as already pointed out, old Mrs Jones doesn't know any better, and trusts her qualified tradesman. How do these guys even sleep at night?

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Night nurse!

 

[Crosswire]

Holy Christ! That is seriously bad.

 

[Adam W]

Trouble is, as already pointed out, old Mrs Jones doesn't know any better, and trusts her qualified tradesman. How do these guys even sleep at night?

Chances are 'old Mrs Jones' has shopped around and in the absence of any other method of measurement has gone with the cheapest.

 

[Farmelectrics]

hes a better joiner than spark the wood looks good lol

 

[Guitarist]

I have just been fortunate enough to work for a nice old Lady who got 2 quotes (one was mine), then went with me (the dearer quote) because she couldn't see how the other guy could do the work for the price he quoted. I have no idea how he could have done it either, as there was a lot of work involved and I went over time as it was, to get it done to a high standard. Needless to say, she is very pleased.

 

[sparks1973]

typical of some builders,once I had one who asked for a price for a job labour only then turned up with a load of secondhand gear,some of it covered in paint saw him once buying second hand gear from car boot sales.needless to say I walked away from it.but builders seem to be wanting maximum profit with minimum outlay and the electrics seem to be the favourite area for savings.

because their just Turnips Phil....and thats what it is......

 

[Jimmy Boy]

It would be good to think that customers had 'Values' too..Why is it always the tradesmen that have to have 'Values' ? it really ****es me off..some num nut gets two quotes one is half the other, hello ? a lot of the time I have no fkn sympathy for these idiots, get Billy Bob Builder in to do the leccy..when your kids are toast have a party on what you have saved !
J