House 'Bashing'

[AlanWirral]

Well to help explain what i'm on about...

Over the last 3 years before i got made redundant (boss left to work offshore) the job's i was used to mainly involved Domestic work inc Problem solving/Rewires and working in mansions etc doing posh work if you get me with the odd grotty job maybe once a week. On the Commercial and Industrial side it was the usual stuff like Machine/Motor supplies etc.

I've been doing 'Temp' work for two different contractors over the last 8/9 weeks and i must say i've been doing some proper ****** work

The guys i'm with at the moment are renovating council houses. What they do is the bathroom and the kitchen on the electrical side and also smokes. We have to pull a new ring into the kitchen and then chase out all the sockets/spares inc second fix at the same time....Cooker cable inc switch...change the board...wire in and fit a smoke and heat detector. New pendents and switches on the lights keeping them dropped for the plasterers. All this including cleaning up (which with all the rubble takes ages at times) Loading and unloading the van and of course sorting any problems! Oh and the bodges i've seen already after a week would make you cringe.

How long would that take 3 of you? A day ish? We have to do TWO of these a day or you lose your job glad i don't work for them full time! Now i've done some serious grafting in my last career and also in this one but FFS some lads out there REALLY get crapped on. Not what i imagined how an electrician works day to day. Seriously making me question wether it's worth still doing this job if this is the type of work i'll be doing.

Rant Over...lol

 

[Jas0n7]

is one of them called danney?

 

[AlanWirral]

Hey guys! In regards to the 'Blowing the whistle' I hear all your concerns. The problem I have with this is that the lads I'm with have been forced into this situation, they are young and basically work just for the money like we all did at that age. I'm concerned not only for the customers but for these guys losing there jobs.

I'm sure you can understand it's not an easy decision to make or one that can be taken lightly.

Plus it would be obvious it would be me as I've already made my concerns known. I really don't know what to do :-(

 

[Paul.M]

As you say it is a very difficult decision that effects other peoples jobs. It's a no win situation but I've come up with an idea, see what you all think. Get as much info as you can this next week, write a list (im sure it will be a long one) then make 3 copies. 1 for yourself, 1 for the company and one for a solicitor of you choice signed and dated. This way you have formally presented your concerns to them and if anyone is injured and the company gets taken to court with the possibility of yourself being prosecuted you then have documented evidence of your concerns to the company. This may seem like a bit of "I told you so" if anything dose go wrong in the future but at least your save and the lads that are still on the job under a ridiculous time scale for a proper job to be done. I am no expert on this matter so please get a solicitors advice. You sound like a great sparky and for the case of £50 - £100 solicitors fee to keep yourself away from these cowboys may be well worth it in the long run.

 

[AlanWirral]

That sounds like a really good idea Paul and thanks for taking the time to write it. I'm seriously considering not working for them again but as said the money is needed really badly.

As I'm not officially working for them either this creates more problems. I'll decide what to do before Wednesday.

 

[KWCFC]

I agree that you need to find some way to cover yourself. If something goes seriously wrong and it ends badly, then people will be looking to the electricians that did it.

 

[sliemasteve]

Being a snitch is one thing doing the right thing is a completely different issue. The public has a right to be served by electricians who at a minimum provide the average skill of this trade. Doing the right thing elevates people such that they can say they acted in a professional manner when confronted with their concerns over security of income against the uncertainty associated with acting properly.

Doing work contrary to the regulations makes you and your colleagues vulnerable. Stand up to the boss and address your concerns with him. If this work is for a local authority and there are a number of properties that have bene worked on in an unacceptable manner you have to tell the boss and if no acceptable outcome with him report your concerns to LA. Your first responsibility is to the public who might live in these houses, not to other doing sub-standard work.

Acting in a professional manner is what raises the status of electricians above cowboys.

For evil to succeed it only needs for good men to remain silent

 

[AlanWirral]

Good points there Steve, I'm going to try and find more work for next week but probably not work for these guys either way to be honest.

I may wait a short while before I do anything about this as it will be obvious it was me and I could very easily be talking myself out of a career in my area by raising the issue. At the end of the day my family is my main concern in life so they will come first. This industry is so messed up I sometimes wish I'd never bothered getting into it. The amount of cowboy work I've seen even off the guys that I've been told are good sparks has been laughable!

 

[electricians]

I'm suprised the Council who are paying for this do not have some fears about the time taken , there is no way it can be tested correctly

 

[jenno]

Hi all first post;
The council who pay for this are on a budget so need jobs done as cheep as poss this will always happen look at news last week house explosion after refurb goverment set rules then they think they can get quality work for peanuts. MRSA in hostpitals lets remove cleaners who care and replace them with less people give them more to do and pay them peanuts and hope for best. is it working NO

 

[IQ Electrical]

In the good old days, the Clerk of Works would check each installation before payment would be authorised, where are these chaps now?

Still a shame that contractors finding shoddy work because they aren't scrutinised.

 

[IQ Electrical]

In the good old days, the Clerk of Works would check each installation before payment would be authorised, where are these chaps now?

Still a shame that contractors install shoddy work because they aren't scrutinised.

 

[electricians]

In the end up , its us , the tax paying public who will pay for it eventually

 

[Marvo]

In the good old days, the Clerk of Works would check each installation before payment would be authorised, where are these chaps now?

This was also my line of thinking, someone must be responsible for quality control of sub contractors surely!?!?

 

[accordfire]

In the good old days, the Clerk of Works would check each installation before payment would be authorised, where are these chaps now?

Still a shame that contractors install shoddy work because they aren't scrutinised.

We did a big contract on door entry a couple of years back for one of the London Boroughs. There were three "sections", each with different contractors. We had 24 blocks, from 6 flats up to around 24, with two blocks containing 200 flats - two of the last few high rises in that part of London. It was around 1500 entry phone handsets in total. And some of it wasn't nice at all - four handed into the flats, just to keep your tools, and in some cases, life.

The other two contracts were much smaller, between 4 flats in a block and 12. Around 300 handset on each.

They had a consultant in who was responsible for the design brief, and for overseeing the work, and ultimately authorising payment.

What a circus.

He had no more idea of what was quality work than what wasn't. He passed the other two contractors off with no comment, despite having galv conduit running up the middle of staircase ceilings, across the door frame tops, containing bends all over the place, no sleeving of the cable between floors (should have been continuous conduit through the floors), unsecured junction boxes (in a contract that called for no junctions anywhere!!!). The list goes on, and I'm sure I still have photos somewhere!

There was a guy came out from the council eventually, because we complained, as tenants from the other flats kept moaning at our guys.

The consultant was forced to employ a Clerk of Works in the end, who immediately went round and condemned the lot out of the other sites. We had him swinging off conduit, pulling at hand sets, planting his size nines in doors, and more too - a real old school Clerk. Little guy, but well aware of his power.

He had us in to re-do the other blocks too, and pushed the consultant to sue the original contractors. I think it cost the consultant in the end. He went out of business anyway.

It doesn't seem to be that common any more though, to have a proper Clerk of Works.

 

[prestige77]

Used to do new kitchens for council houses, just the same new ring main & cooker circuit all chased in. Was a very dirty job and in some of the houses that was before you even began chasing! Was me and a mate and we had 7 1st fixes & 2nd fixes a week including any ccu changes if needed. Use to cope pretty well as most of the time we would do a certain street and all the houses were the same but just found if you get ahead with the 2nd fixes then you would be ok. The good thing was they would take the ceilings down so cables were easy to get in and you could just throw a bit of MT4 down the hall to get back to the ccu (didnt look great but thats what they wanted!) Never done nothing against regs though as i had to sign the test sheets and didnt want to be the one in court!. One of the other lads who was a good spark had a bricklayer labouring for him and he was a grafter, then the spark left and the boss took on the bricklayers brother who was an labourer and had the two of them doing kitchens and signing there work off! There still doing it for him know and ones on £150 a day with a van! Its a joke really as the rest of us have done the 4 years college and the guy just sees it as they earn him money cos there quick when really there unbeleavably rough and corner cutting, i think they didnt have the time to change a ccu one time so they just put 2 rings and a radial on one 32a mcb!!!