Neverwas, indeed, "inherited" legislation rarely gets reversed :-(


Re "Rogue Trader & Cowboy Builder" programs, they target real abuse.

The companies have already pheonixed more times than a politician
changes policy. They will just change the name to one already "bought
off the shelf". If banned from being a director they will simply get a
relative or employee to act as same.

Such companies screw both customers AND suppliers. Suppliers losing
£12-120k on a bad customer do not expand, do fire staff, do close more
marginal operations affecting market share & growth, do suffer lousy
credit costs re lost working capital, do get shagged by factoring
system requirements.

Rogue Central Heating Repairer.
- Walks in door - "You Need A New Boiler / System"
- "It is your muffler bearing - You Need A New Part"
- "Did Not Fix it - You Need Another New Part"
- Several hundred pound later...

Rogue FAKE Electrician.
- Walks in - Can't Find N-E short in back of socket
- Fits ANCIENT 4-module RCD when no RCD faulty
- Does NOT perform basic installation IR test or RCD test
- NO correct certification provided for SAFETY device change

Rogue Driveway Tarmac.
- Turns up - lays thin tarmac *directly over paving slabs*
- Collects money
- Present physically *rolls up tarmac like carpet*

Rogue Builder.
- Loft conversion without lintel (RSJ, UB) over the window
- Entire roof sags visibly distorting window

Rogue Builder.
- Sticks NON-waterproof loft insulation in a cavity wall
- Occupant left with damp & unmortgageable house
- Walls StrongBoy'd because Inner holding roof/floors
- Inner leaf (wall) has to be *demolished* to remove it

Rogue Builder.
- House left a ruin of cracks
- Person will have to walk away, losing everything
- Put on the Council Housing Waiting List

Rogue Driveway.
- Insufficient hardcore, insufficient MOT, insufficient tarmac
- We do work for motorways... urinating at the kerbside?

Such programs have shown outright, "stir the tools, take you to the
financial cleaners, leave you with a bill bigger than the original job
to redo the job right AND fix the damage they caused".


Case in point.
Many pensioners still "live under a duvet".
The house is heated when the relatives turn up, but freezing
thereafter. Worse often because the now superheated chimney sucks cold
air through the house overnight creating an ice-box the following day
& icy cold floors to really help that borderline blood clot that is
malingering in backside, behind the knee, in calves, feet.

Often they can afford Gas Central Heating but refuse flat out to have
it for 1) risk of flood from bad installation 2) risk of future bills
& maintenance 3) risk of regulation change requiring extensive &
expensive repairs (likely re Lobbyist become Cash-For-Legislation
become Stakeholder-Write-Gravy-Policy Society) 4) insurance schemes do
not cover replacement boilers 5) Boiler quality varies from atrocious-
mid-priced to excellent-only-a-bit-more BUT where the installer will
"I'm not installing a Vaillant, I want a Potterton PCB-Blow-Me-Bank-
Balance-Up-Quick" or "I'm not installing Tracpipe, I want 50 solder
joints to set fire to your curtains / wallpaper / carpet and keep me
in labour longer than most labour party leaders" (Gordon Brown throws
a hammer at the wall).

They do not trust the "Warmup" schemes because a) the invoiced figure
is inflated so requiring a high contribution b) they can not choose
the installer c) the work is often... bleedin awful because of truly
Hard-To-Install houses d) the cost of install is nothing compared to
repaired decoration & wiring from "man with a drill and cables not in
zones or cables in zones but braincell not present". The thing SHOULD
be a proper grant system where you choose the installer - such as one
listed under Age Concern. Likewise grants for internal insulation -
Proctor "Aerogel" is very good re thickness of just 35mm re "no room
by doors & stairs" but expensive so can't get economy of scale or
availability (catch-22).


My mother is one such pensioner, although not for much longer.
Makes do with a grossly undersized storage heater (not for much longer
re 2x Duoheat soon with spares too I might add) and crap insulation
(not for much longer re solid walls being insulated as I type badly
with Keraquick & expanding foam on my fingers, and at last the roof
has been done, but ceiling & loft door plaster wrecked so another
job). Other pensioners merely hide under a duvet and start to eat junk
food - donuts are a short trip to full diabetes from marginal age-
related, then self-service-hospital, then slumped-in-a-chair-in-a-care-
home.

So no, the programs have been targetting the right rip-off merchants.
The GOOD thing about GAS SAFE & PART P is that they give *legal means*
to go after them - before even with Trading Standards in the next room
it was all pretty useless.

Realise cowboys are always given a chance to say "ok, it's crap, I'll
do it again but properly".
Instead when the cameras come out they are seen wheel spinning off
down the road in Black Mitsubishi L200 Truck with "Pensioner Screwed
Tally" on the side or Black Audi S4.

BBC has shown nanny protectionism throughout its history, nothing new.
People must be told how to think. Fine if you want to also have the
job - and cost - of eventually wiping their backside.