DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 Reg 526.6, 530.4.1; 421.7, 526.5; 416.2.1; 514.1.2; 514.14.1

How many safety issues can you count here? Whatever the count is there are more issues here than we photographed. What you can see here is the (connector strips or chocolate block) that is uncovered and LIVE! This area under the homeowners stairs is where the children store their toys and bike helmets! But wait! There’s more. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad DIY ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 Reg 411.3.1.2

While chatting with the owner of a local plumbing shop earler this week we were sked if we could sort out a small issue. One of the circuit breakers trips every time they turned on the wall mounted heater. We ha a quick look to see what we could see. YIPES!! We wish we hadn’t looked. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad DIY ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 Reg 411.3.1.2

We showed up to a plumbing call on Friday afternoon to install the hookups for a new washing machine. We knew that we would have to create a cold water feed and a new waste hookup. While getting ready to cut into the water pipe work we spied the earth cable shown below! continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad DIY ‘Gas Engineers’
Regulations broken: The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 : PART B Gas Fittings – General Provisions(Qualification and supervision, Materials and workmanship, General safety precautions, Protection against damage, Existing gas fittings) / PART E: Gas Appliances – Flues/ Regulation H1 – Paragraph 1.14

While working on a re-wire last week we spied this pooly installed boiler across the alley from where we were working. Our first impression was that it was installed with much haste and with little background knowledge. After speaking with the tenant all was confirmed. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad DIY ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken: BS7671-2008; Regulation 543.3.2; 514

We were asked to undertake an electrical Periodic Inspection Report (PIR) last year for a client who was moving out of their property in Salford and then renting it. We completed the PIR and sent along the report which also includes our easy read version of urgent items that need putting right quickly. We heard back that the property had been rented but we could not gain access to make the repairs. So…a year on we receive another call…this time more panicky. Salford council gave the landlord a year to get the PIR and repair any inadequacies. The PIR was obtained but they never called us back to sort out the inadequacies. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Wave after Wave after Wave of Bad ‘Electricians’
Regulations broken:

One of our clients rang us a couple of weeks ago to do a few minor electrical jobs in a new house he had purchased to rent out. The property is located in Salford, Manchester and a license is required before the new owner can rent the property. In order to get that license one of the items Salford Council requires is a Periodic Inspection Report or PIR. We went over to undertake that inspection and were surprised at just how many faults we found. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad Relatives Who Think They’re Gas Fitters
Regulations broken: The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 : PART B Gas Fittings – General Provisions(Qualification and supervision, Materials and workmanship, General safety precautions, Protection against damage, Existing gas fittings)/PART D Installation Pipework (Safe use of pipes, Enclosed pipes, Testing and purging of pipes)/PART E Gas Appliances (Gas appliances – safety precautions, Testing of appliances)

We received a call this week and asked for a price to replace a gas fire with a ‘like-for-like’ unit. Our response is always the same. We must always view the existing current gas fire and the unit intended to take it’s place before making further comment. When we viewed the existing fire the next day our immediate response was to disconnect it due to safety issues. The gas fire was spilling. In lay terms that means that the products of combustion are ’spilling’ into the room. To further aggravate the issue the fire surround was covered with some sort of stick on vinyl product which had over the years also melted! continue