On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 09:44:18 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

FWIW, some of the most serious bodges in electrics I've seen in my
limited experience were carried out by pros that will presumably be the
very ones who are allowed legally to work on electricity under the new
legislation.

Precisely. Not long ago when flooring my loft, I found at several
light fittings where several cables arrive to create the daisy chain
and switching, that the earths had simply been twisted together behind
the fitting. No sleeving, no terminals. Bodge.

Several weeks ago I put a PC into my daughters bedroom. As I was
sorting out the cabling she remarked "oh yes, that 13A socket doesn't
work". She had never told me previously, but what the heck.

I set to with the screwdriver, to discover that whoever wired up our
house 8 years ago had done a serious bodge job, leaving this socket
either badly or not earthed. And these are definitely people who will
be allowed to continue working on electrical installations.

Coming back on-topic, I think the general tradesman who needs to do
the occasional electrical work might tend to cut less corners than a
sparky who is doing this day-in, day-out. Familiarity breeds apathy.
And don't we see that in our politicians?

PoP