Garden PIR Floodlight Needs Installing. How Do I Hire A Good Electrician?

dil1976

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

And given that how can you say;

"Oh - and to the OP - I know some very trustworthy electricians in your area, pm me if you want some numbers."

You won't exactly have seen many examples of their work in that case

Sorry names from a trade list is no guarantee, you can blow your trumpet all you like, self praise and all that.

I recognise his name from a electrical forum I use where there are many people who know there stuff and can recommend them from that.


So before trying to belittle him maybe you should learn about the person first.

nickj_2

Ken68 wrote: »

Customer relations is part of being an electrician, can be learned same as your other skills.But being unclear and frightening folk into spending more money than necessary shouldn't be on the agenda.

i would have thought top priority would be to employ someone who is competent, and qualified , as is paying the going rate

Rockingit

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

:D:D:D:D Just maybe it's 38 years in engineering and a last roll of chief mechanical and electrical engineer that gives me the edge;);)

I've never been an electrician, but I've been directly responsible for a team of them, domestic? no, industrial.

I bet you think we don't have labs, offices?
Lay person?:rotfl::rotfl: I think you miss the point I was making about 'Mrs Jones'. There will always be people, like yourself, who are the exception in my experience. As a nation we are increasingly less technically capable due to the decline of industry, the 'traditional' hand skills passed father to son (not trying to be sexist, it's a historical reference) just don't go on and what we are left with is a plethora of bodge-it-in-sixty-minutes DIY TV shows. So....how is Mrs Jones meant to have any comprehension as to what lurks under the floorboards, any knowledge of the plethora of regulations and so on? A 'good job' is simply only gaugeable by whether it looks good on the surface - but so does an iceberg!

The real problem is and I'll say it again, whilst ever your professional body admits and allows at least some sub standard or under trained individuals to practice, (and I use that in both senses of the word), the trade lack the confidence of Joe Public, the lay person.
Absolutely couldn't agree more. The government managed to mess up and destroy a world class trade when they introduced the Part P scheme, and with it opened the door to lowest denominator training and the various scheme operators (that's the NICEIC/Elecsa/Napit and others) simply seeing it as a massive cash cow. There is a standing joke in what is left of the industry that no-one has ever failed an annual inspection so long as the cheque has cashed. So, Joe Public has no idea when they ring the electrician with all the 'right' logo's whether it's someone like you and I with many years experience, or someone who until 5 weeks ago (or even, yes - it's possible, a few DAYS ago) was selling package holidays.

Net result - we all get tarred by the same brush and confusion ensues.

Rockingit

dil1976 wrote: »

I recognise his name from a electrical forum I use where there are many people who know there stuff and can recommend them from that.


So before trying to belittle him maybe you should learn about the person first.

I thought I was travelling in the cognito tonight....

:wave:

dil1976

Rockingit wrote: »

I thought I was travelling in the cognito tonight....

:wave:

Not at all

:wave:

cyclonebri1

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Why do some people continually refer to tut Tradesmen as if they are some kind of journeyman "tinker" who has to bend his knee in order for you to grant him a living? Just because you push a pen in an office or wear a suit to work,it doesnt make you better or less dispensable. Respect others as you would hope to be respected.

I didn't push pens, it just so happens that I believe Joe Public has a right to expect not to be ripped off by someone who thinks his trade is a black art and others are totally ignorant of how it should be done.

I apologise to any genuine trader, but the black sheep in your families are the reason many are here asking how to find a genuine plumber/sparky/builder etc.

If you disagree fine, it's just my view.

I also do not comment on topics that I have not covered practically, not that it matters but apart from never actually having built a complete house, I don't think there is a building topic I have not completed.

Engineering was my work, construction was my hobby.

I am here to offer options on what is a money saving forum, it's where people come because they are afraid of being ripped off a 1st or 2nd time by someone in the housing game, tell me I'm wrong.
The most money that can be saved is by avoiding such people, recommendations from within a trade are not really independent. I think that needs to be made clear to anyone that asks hence my views.

I don't appreciate being called ignorant Mababejive

cyclonebri1

Rockingit wrote: »

Net result - we all get tarred by the same brush and confusion ensues.

That's a sound reply and I hope we both understand our own positions now.

Yes the trades, and I'm not just talking sparkies here do get tarred by the same brush, and whilst the accreditation bodies are so keen on collecting membership fees membership rather than actually vetting practice it will continue.

The reason I picked up on the post earlier was this.

Someone asks for help, along comes someone not largely known to MSE and offers to supply tel numbers from people in the area that can help.

Now, that gets suspicions going in my mind.
The advice is from the trade
It's from someone that is not giving a personal reco from work that's been done for them
And above all it is common practice on forums to ambulance chase posts such as this 1

It was in a somewhat sarcastic way alerting the OP to this.

I don't tell people what to do, I think the word "advice" has to be used carefully, I prefer the word "view", and these are simply my views.
And views are all they are, I put views in front of the OP, they decide which way to act.

And yep, I get it wrong every now and then, and the apology is given, but if my view has at least alerted someone to be a little less naive (and yes punters also get tarred with the same brush. naive, mugs, gullible, whatever term you wish to use), then I'm fine with that.

Ken68

And bigging up the price by tradespeople is rampant on this board. Time for the forum staff to bring order.

lazer

Rockingit wrote: »

Absolutely! The problem exists though that there is difference of opinion as to what is 'necessary', and Mrs Jones can't be expected to know the answer to that, either.

Hence - and to go back to the OP - the way to hire a good electrician is by recommendation. Forget the Safety Register lists, they are as much use as a chocolate fireguard as the NICEIC, ECA and Napit will let anyone in so long as they pay the money.

This is right - these people do not care about the standard of the work, just the fees - insurance companies and many corporates etc aren't helping this - as they insist work is completed by an electrician who is NICEIC registered - in reality they should insist the electrician is competent - which can be proven without NICEIC registration - ie: with the appropriate qualifications (AFAIK to become an elcetrician you have to do an apprenticeship and submit a portfolio and have work assessed).

Source - husband in a none NICEIC electrician and is having increasing difficulty getting working.

He is considering registering but the fees are high and its a catch 22 situation - you have to have your own job to get assessed by NICEIC but no-one will give you the job because you aren't NICEIC registered.

cyclonebri1

Ken68 wrote: »

And bigging up the price by tradespeople is rampant on this board. Time for the forum staff to bring order.

I don't know if it's a massive problem, but to expect answers from only trades folks is simply not in the MSE's ethic, take the shining example trumpeted my Martin himself in the financial section, ie DIY when faced with compensation claims as an analogy.

But you are correct in one respect, several years ago when I 1st had a little more time to try and add some value to this section of the forum, there where very few tradesman folk replying.
The forum was then becoming more popular as a result of Martins TV exposure and it was targeted by the ambulance chasers, particularly in the motoring sections.

Whether the "staff" can actually do anything? well they do, but it relies totally on someone reporting suspected spam and then it needs several reports for them to act.

But more than anything what is needed is a sensible approach by all, traders need to be aware that they will always be under scrutiny as to whether they do have ulterior motives for posting, that's the same naivety I mentioned earlier, but this time on the part of the trades. And equally, query posters should be aware that to act on suggested service suppliers from an internet forum name is probably about the worst thing you could do without fully researching that individual or company yourself. Failure to do that simply confirms Joe Public as a mug I'm afraid.