Overheard in a diy store

[Percyprod]

Here's a beauty! I overheard this in a store that sells electrical materials as well as lots of other things (not b&q!!)
Customer to assistant:"Don't I have to notify the council when I do wiring to make sure I've complied with the regulations or something"?
Assistant:"Oh no, that only applies to proffesional electricians, if you are a diy person you can do what you want, otherwise we wouldn't be allowed to sell the wiring materials".
Good stuff eh?

 

[telectrix]

the word sex has now evolved into gender.

so now it's "do you like gender?".

(dunno about that, but l like a nice goose.)

 

[Squid]

I suppose the electrical tape comes in handy with the goose........

 

[andyb]

Words evolve eh?

Do you like travel and do you like sex?

So I'm right then.

 

[Squid]

So I'm right then.

You're from West Sussex never met anyone "right" when working down down way.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I do love the convos you hear in the diy stores, its like a snapshot of peoples daily lives..
I have a plumber friend who goes around the diy stores and puts his business card in the showers... he gets maybe 1 or 2 jobs every month from it, nobody has ever moaned about him doing it. He just slides it in the gap on the flap and hopes they call. If hes busy he sends his son out to put them in!
so if you go to a big chain with an orange logo in Bristol, keep an eye out for the business cards!
Its an idea though if you want to generate work by putting your card in all them overpriced lights, cookers and heaters that will confuse the DIY daves of the world.

 

[andyb]

You're from West Sussex never met anyone "right" when working down down way.

To be fair, I don't meet many.

 

[ipf]

Here's a beauty! I overheard this in a store that sells electrical materials as well as lots of other things (not b&q!!)
Customer to assistant:"Don't I have to notify the council when I do wiring to make sure I've complied with the regulations or something"?
Assistant:"Oh no, that only applies to proffesional electricians, if you are a diy person you can do what you want, otherwise we wouldn't be allowed to sell the wiring materials".
Good stuff eh?

Now that's what I call a 'salesman'. Sounds just like one of Alan Sugar's apprentices.

 

[davesparks]

(Whatever a plug top is)

What we now call a socket was originally called a plug and the thing you connect to it with (which we now call a plug) was called a plug top.
Some people still hang on to the old fashioned terminology.

 

[telectrix]

well, i just received a delivery of LED GI10's and on the box it clearly states "LED Light Bulbs", so the "it's not a bulb, it's a lamp" brigade can sod off and plant their lamps in the garden.

 

[pirate]

OK Tel...sex is now gender...
So, where to point Percy, I wonder?
I solved the problem by going to the Gents...and turning modestly to the right while the female lavatory attendant cleaned the adjacent urinal

 

[gazdkw82]

You only have to walk down the electrical section of B&Q/wickes/Homebase etc and see how they package regular electrical installation products and who they are aimed at.

10mm t&e with a large printed discription (suitable for ovens/showers).

2.5mm t&e large print = suitable for electrical sockets.

No information about notification for notifiable work or seeking professional advice.

Point is, anyone who is buying cables should know what it’s used and shouldn’t need a discription or clue as to its use.

and besides, 2.5mm t&e isn’t always suitable for socket outlets.

 

[Santa]

I recall the first time I ever did some DIY plumbing. This was long before the advent of B&Wickes or any other DIY shop, so I went to a plumbers supplies shop. I knew what I wanted: Two 90 degree bends, one straight connector, a couple of yards of pipe and a tap connector.

You may recall the "four candles" skit - well it was nowhere near as funny. I was bombarded with questions "What kind of elbow; what size pipe; what fittings - Yorkshire or what?" It was designed to put me, an obvious amateur, in my place, as once they knew what I wanted to do, the answers were obvious.

If I wanted to add a socket to my kitchen ring, and wired a spur to an existing socket - as a fairly competent amateur, would I need to "notify" anyone?

 

[ipf]

I recall the first time I ever did some DIY plumbing. This was long before the advent of B&Wickes or any other DIY shop, so I went to a plumbers supplies shop. I knew what I wanted: Two 90 degree bends, one straight connector, a couple of yards of pipe and a tap connector.

You may recall the "four candles" skit - well it was nowhere near as funny. I was bombarded with questions "What kind of elbow; what size pipe; what fittings - Yorkshire or what?" It was designed to put me, an obvious amateur, in my place, as once they knew what I wanted to do, the answers were obvious.

If I wanted to add a socket to my kitchen ring, and wired a spur to an existing socket - as a fairly competent amateur, would I need to "notify" anyone?

Not a matter of notifying. What happens if there is a problem with the existing wiring and, as a result, the new installation? It may be a perfectly safe bit of work but without the required test equipment and ability to use it, who knows the overall situation?

 

[davesparks]

If I wanted to add a socket to my kitchen ring, and wired a spur to an existing socket - as a fairly competent amateur, would I need to "notify" anyone?

I think that depends on which version of part P applies, as far as I know in Wales this is still notifiable work whereas in England it is no longer notifiable.

You describe yourself as ‘fairly competent’ which is all well and good, but who has assessed you as being fairly competent and what standard have they used to make the judgement?
By being ‘fairly competent’ there is an implication that there is a gap in your knowledge or experience, could this gap be the vital thing that could make the difference between a safe installation and the death of a member of your family?

 

[Des 56]

You cannot declare your own competence,it can be that you believe and presume yourself to be so,it is for others to make that judgement