Quality work by a electrical trainee.....

[-Matt]

I thought you guys may be interested in these pics from a "spark" who did one of these 4 week courses and went straight to self employed!

This was for a house Re-wire, I actually quoted for this job originally but the house owner chose this contractor instead, but then contacted me afterwards to take a look as they were concerned by the work completed.

When I walked in and saw the work, I was truly shocked, it was truly dangerous!
I contacted the Niceic for the homeowner who have now completely Re-wired the house with another contractor under the platinum guarantee.
Original "Spark" is no longer registered, so its good to see the Niceic do take action!

This was apparently a finished job which she has been paid in full for

Anyway have fun with these :

C/U was moved, so quite rightly a switch fuse was installed, not so sure on the insulation methods mind:

Urm...., oh and thats data going behind the C/U there...

Wet pants is always wrapping his pipes around my cables, I know I will wrap my spaghetti around his pipes..

Meter tails and more chased horizontally through wall, not in a safe zone..

Now what is that bare wire for, lets poke it back out of the box...

Expanding foam doesn't seem to be working at fixing the boxes..., oh and that damn bare wire again! and no grommet!

Well the expanding foam wasn't working, lets just leave them hanging...

Its all too much work chopping the boxes into the wall..

Wago boxes are over-rated...

This surely has to be up there with the worst?

 

[Deuce]

You could argue, whats completed can't really be inspected.

I would argue the bit about it being completed.

 

[Fitzy]

Clearly that contractor skipped the week where they mentioned professionalism. A course can teach you all you like but you have to care about what you're leaving behind.

I whole heartedly agree John, but professionalism cannot be taught, you’ve either got it or you haven’t.

It’s the same with attitude and common sense. My own perfectionalism (probably OCD) would never allow me to even think about doing it that way. The half a dozen jobs or so I’ve done so far have all taken longer than I quoted for as I take pride in my work, even to the point that the spirit levels bubble HAS to be exactly between the 2 lines evenly, even when clipping cables behind cabinets and plasterboard, it has to be perfectly straight and level, with perfect curves as well, even though it’s never gonna be seen. Over time I know I’ll get quicker and get the job completed within the quoted time. But I’ll only leave the site once the work is completed to a standard I would expect in my own home.

 

[johnduffell]

the spirit levels bubble HAS to be exactly between the 2 lines evenly, even when clipping cables behind cabinets and plasterboard

haha, I know what you mean, but you can get over that one by getting yourself a laser cross level, it can help no end on long runs!

 

[Deuce]

haha, I know what you mean, but you can get over that one by getting yourself a laser cross level, it can help no end on long runs!

£50 odd and all of a sudden everything you do just looks spot on

Also c'mon, what sort of customer isn't slightly impressed if you rock up with a laser

 

[Marvo]

Someone who leaves any job looking like that obviously couldn't give a flying ----. Those pictures are a result of character defecits or just plain bone-idle laziness. Anyone who's so devoid of personal traits like job pride and customer empathy is going to do a shoddy job like that regardless of what qualifications or electrical knowledge they have.

 

[Fitzy]

haha, I know what you mean, but you can get over that one by getting yourself a laser cross level, it can help no end on long runs!

I have got a Bosch laser level, but for 1 or 2 sockets it’s quicker to just use a small spirit level.

 

[SparkyChick]

So for a bit of balance (as requested by @happyhippydad ) and because I'm a little tired of short coursers being blamed for all things bad in the industry (it's not like there aren't time served apprenticed sparks out there doing bad work is it?)... I'm a short courser, here's a few examples of some of my work.

From this...

To this...


New kitchen appliance supply (the original plan was somewhat ambiguous so a 10mm cable was installed, when the plan was finalised this was split as required for the new appliances - 3 x 16A supplies)


Sub board in a swimming pool plant room


Selection of photos from a rewire (all surface due to asbestos in the Artex - yes I cut the openings in the ceiling as I'm authorised to carry out non-licensed works)


And something a little different (no I didn't lay the fibre conduits in the trench... I'm the one driving the mini excavator - and yes, I did hit a cable which WPD didn't know about that didn't show up when I scanned the route with a locator - found and manually dug out the live supply cable)


Enjoy and feel free to offer constructive criticism or ask questions.

 

[Deuce]

I suppose in fairness, the courses are designed as a starting point. In the same way as a driving test is designed to check the fundamental abilities of a driver. It's not going to deliver a seasoned driver..

I'm sure there must be benefits for someone taking on an apprentice if they have done a course and at least have their head around the theory, even if their experience of real life work is zero.

To stick with the driving test analogy, when I passed my test I assumed I was a confirmed driving god and was subsequently invincible. Looking back and recalling a few 'incidents', I can see now that wasn't the case

 

[gazdkw82]

The problem is a combination of the courses and the attitude of the people taking them.

I did a 5week course. It wasn't an intensive course though. It was spread over 18 months but only 5 weeks of actual training. On my course some of the students were just waiting to finish and then going alone doing installs. The tutors didn't talk sense into them. None of us were experienced enough for that.

I thought a competent person as someone with sufficient technical knowledge and experience. The latter lacking in a Electrical Trainee

 

[Pete999]

I suppose in fairness, the courses are designed as a starting point. In the same way as a driving test is designed to check the fundamental abilities of a driver. It's not going to deliver a seasoned driver..

I'm sure there must be benefits for someone taking on an apprentice if they have done a course and at least have their head around the theory, even if their experience of real life work is zero.

To stick with the driving test analogy, when I passed my test I assumed I was a confirmed driving god and was subsequently invincible. Looking back and recalling a few 'incidents', I can see now that wasn't the case

Trouble is Deuce the courses you talk of give you the qualifications that allow you to become qualified, and as such allow you to do electrical work with very little experience and only classroom and workshop knowledge.

 

[SparkyChick]

@Deuce , @gazdkw82 and @Pete999 ...

Based on the fact you're all saying short coursers lacking sufficient practical experience and knowledge, is it entirely inconceivable for you that some may have sufficient practical experience and knowledge before they go that route?

This is often something that's stated... insufficient practical skills and experience... so what practical skills and experience do you believe are required?

 

[Octopus]

The schemes need to see more evidence of installation work before they let people "in" imho

The UK has an awful history of not training people, then we all complain ............ we can't have it both ways ............

Companies with over 10 sparks need to offer apprenticeships ..........

 

[SparkyChick]

The schemes need to see more evidence of installation work before they let people "in" imho

The UK has an awful history of not training people, then we all complain ............ we can't have it both ways ............

Companies with over 10 sparks need to offer apprenticeships ..........

The problem with that, particularly for people like me who wanted to go self-employed is it's tricky because jobs worthy of being inspected are normally ones that require notification (I know that's not always the case).

Perhaps a better approach is more frequent assessments in the first couple of years?

 

[Toneyz]

Not disputing the workmanship at all as its atrocious but was it defiantly a electrical trainee who done this work, I know they can become easy targets.

I just cant imagine someone turning up to a re-wire a house and admitting they have 4 weeks of training and 3 of them was in the classroom.

How come its 4 weeks now 5 was not enough.

 

[Toneyz]

Perhaps a better approach is more frequent assessments in the first couple of years?

If they did it would be better to see a job in progress.