DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Electricians

Is there anything sadder than a fully grown adult treating someone like dirt. There is! It’s watching a fully grown building professional treating an client like dirt. So having witnessed the exact scenario this week I can safely say ‘there is nothing sadder.’ While working in a council flat this week where we are renovating a bathroom we came across live a ring main cable in Zone 1 of a shower cubicle. On our advice the tenant called the council to have an electrician come around and put it right. The sparks flew when he finally showed up.

To set the stage we were called in to install a new bathroom suite which included all walls to be tiled. We started by removing all unnecessary accessories from the ceilings and walls. When we opened up one of two left over blanking plates we found a live connection to the ring main. In a private home we would have removed the connection to  a safe location (in this case the loft directly above) and terminated the cables into a connector block. This however was a council property and although we’ll happily replace an electric shower or light fitting we are certainly not going to re-route cables. They are responsible for the infrastructure so the tenant rang them to see if someone could come by and sort it out.

The decision as to what to do with a live cable in a shower cubicle doesn’t require too much grey matter. Although the cable was placed behind a blanking plate the assembly wasn’t IP rated (Ingress Protection Rating) and therefore should not be in Zone 1. The ring main was connected with a properly sized connection block but was only wrapped with a bit of tape. The metal back box had not been earthed. Had the bit of tape continued to get damp from the moisture in the bathroom and brittle from the cold of the outside wall the failures could have caused the metal back box and the screws to become live. Our remit was to tile the area where the ring main was located so we would have to move the connection as it would be inaccessible as well as outside of a Permitted Cable Route Zone once tiled over. Also if there were ever an issue troubleshooting an electrical fault it would be difficult to repair without the removing the tiles. That’s if anyone ever found the cables again.

With all that said I introduce to you the most obnoxious, unpleasant and sad electrician I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet. When we found this box we decided to call the council and have their electricians move the box. Why? Simple. Although we’re qualified the council is responsible for the infrastructure. It is their problem. The solution would only take five minutes or so to repair so we carried on with other work we had to complete.

When the electrician shows up he was already huffing and puffing and effing and blinding as he came into the flat. In a surely tone he asked what our problem was and after a quick explanation of what we found he told us, and I quote,  ‘that’s the way they used to do it mate; it’s fine.’ So when I pointed out that it wasn’ t fine. It wasn’t safe, it wasn’t earthed, it wasn’t waterproof  and then asked if he had qualifications his head came off. He again snarled that it WAS safe and that THERE WAS NO ISSUES. I insisted however that he take care of it and after another hissy fit he stormed off to get a ladder and a connection box. We all had a chuckle at his dim view of safety and lack of professionalism in somebodies home. He returned to do the work while muttering under his breath throughout the entire FIVE MINUTE repair. When  he was leaving the tenant said that in a whispered voice he said ‘he would have just tiled over it the wiring.’

Unbelievable! No. We see unsafe, incomplete, poorly thought out and substandard work in council properties all the time. See BLOG on unsafe boiler flues that to date has still not been sorted. Here’s another one. The condsation pipes pictured in the lower left picture are Oldham Town Council entry into the realm of poor work that are NOT to the standard required by the building regulations. Sadly I have hundreds of photos just like these. It’s a shame that most government bodies have let the control of their services trickle away to the point where there are not enough people to inspect the outsourced work adequately and it’s going to get worse. Thank you Darling. I fear that even if there was enough inspectors they certainly wouldn’t know more than a qualified council electrician. They certainly won’t know what to look for in bodges work by contractors who view the world through RUSH coloured glasses. Who wouldn’t see an issue with 240 volts ac in a non-IP rated box installed IN a shower cubicle within easy reach of anybody.

Just to show there are no hard feeling towards our overworked and underpaid electrician lets include the gas fitters and plumbers too. The two remaining pictures were taken in the loft when we were tracing a water pipe that appeared to go nowhere. The first two snaps are of an old steel F&E tank that used to feed the back boiler. The back boiler was replaced with a combi boiler a few years ago but the tank was left in place still full of water and still hooked to the mains with the isolation vale OPEN!  The central heating engineer simply cut the output pipe and left the tank hooked up to freeze, continue to corrode and eventually leak. Second up shows a 22mm  gas pipe being supported by styrofoam blocks! It is unlikely that you’ll find that solution in the building regulations but let me know if you do. We also disconnected an old air extractor control system from the bathroom which was redundant after the window fan was removed earlier this year. And last but not least we repaired a small water leak around the waste stack pipe that was leaking from the roof into the loft space. Someone had broken away the four inch cast iron pipe work , shoved a three inch pipe up the middle and wrapped a bit of asphalt roofing material between the two. We replaced a section of the ceiling which was water damaged by the bodged repair before skimming the bathroom ceiling.

Bodged, unsafe, sloppy and uncaring workmanship seemed to have been the order in this council property. We have now corrected the issues and the electrics are safe, the leaks are gone, and the impending flood from the corroded F&E tank in the loft has been averted.

And the moral to the story is. Even if the council is doing the work you had better keep an eye on what they’re getting up to.

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1. Danger of the Week Award – Dangerous Flue Installation