raden wrote:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/certifysparks/

The colleague who set this up says:

A couple of years ago the UK Government passed legislation that has the
effect of making it _illegal_ for people to carry out electrical work in
their own homes, without involving the Local Authority and paying a
hefty inspection fee (typically hundreds of pounds). The only people who
will be able to avoid inspection are those deemed competent by a small
number of electrical trade bodies, such as the NICEIC. Understandably,
these trade bodies have refused to create a test of competence for
homeowners. It is only possible to be competent if you happen to work
for one of their members. Academic qualifications and practical
experience count for nothing.

I am petitioning the Prime Minister to take this power away from the
trade bodies, and replace it with an independent, national competence
test for electrical work, accessible to anybody. If you are a DIY
enthusiast, or expect to carry out electrical work in your own home at
any point in the future, please sign my petition, at

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/certifysparks/

It will only take two minutes of your time. Please feel free to contact
me if you are uncertain about the issues involved.


Done!

But I don't think that these online petitions do much good except for
eventually getting a reply, saying that while they hear what you say -
they are not going to change anything.

Maybe big business needs to get involved for things to change.

Perhaps B&Q, Wickes, Homebase and others could be persuaded to make the
petition available for physical signing in their stores and possibly to
lobby for changes themselves. They, surely, must have lost a loads of
trade now that a lot of householders have been frightened off D-I-Y
electrical work by this ill-considered legislation.

Just an idea ...

Steve