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

 

[ricardo123]

Reminds me when I worked for a large'ish house bashing company registered with you know who, the things that went on would make your eyebrows rise above your head, they did all council jobs, the regs, well you can forget about the regs. Scary when you see a group of 16 year olds doing what you are doing AlanWirral. I agree commercial/industrial in my opinion is the only place left where you can find some decent companies. I didn't work for them long was able to find a good job with some excellent sparks. Was lucky then maybe wouldn't be so lucky in the current climate.

But this is the nature of the trade, cut throat, backstabbing, cyclical, poorly paid compared to the responsibility. Only until we have our own licensing system like doctors we'll never get what we want.

 

[sliemasteve]

Doctors of medicine, lawyers and some others are described as professional. Car mechanics, plasterers and joiners etc are called tradesmen. Ok a leftover from a class system that we are better off without. But one definition of being a professional is that a professional role was to serve the public before taking a fee. And before you say it what about bankers, I've said it for you. If you want to compare yourself with doctors of medicine get a first degree in electrical engineering and then an M.Sc followed membership of the Inst of E E. and then compare yourself to doctors. An electrician is to a professional member of the IEE what someone less than a qualified nurse is to a doctor, there are nursing degrees but as far as I am aware there are not electrican degrees. This is not to diminish the skill and abilities of electricians it is to demonstrate that we ought to compare like with like.

To act in a professional way is another matter. We can all do that but it means that we adopt a concept such as serving the public by doing the best job possible for a price that permits a reasonable standard of living for us. Most electricians have done this for years. And wherever we meet awful work that is a disservice to the public our professional attitude demands that we inform the authorities so that the public and local authorities in particular are protected. In various threads on this site there is the implication that often this is not done.

If licensing means that the ordinary, knowledgeable person is prevented from doing a competent job in his or her home, why should we stop there? Roofing has the potential for danger to the public as does, plumbing, car mechanicing or the use of sharpe tools and chemicals. Licensed electrician is likley to result in every trade wanting similar staus...and why not. This then takes us down the route of overbearing state control stopping the ordinary guy from doing that which he is often perfectly capable of doing: to be substituted for something which he cannot afford.

The respect that we want for electricians comes from doing good work and not focusing on the antics of the incompetent householder or cowboy. Respect is not achieved by condoning, through silence and lack or whistle blowing the defective work of people who hold the title of electrician.

But hey, most electricians are doing good work and lets remember that.

Cheers

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Whats the difference between an engineer and a chartered engineer??????? In terms of qualifications, skill and competance - nothing!!!!! The chartered engineer just pays an nice annual fee to a club for the privilage of letters after his name and chartered status, stop paying and you loose the status......been there done that (MIIRSM, MIEET, MSOE) didnt make me any better at my job, might have opened a couple of doors.............