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Thread: electrical installations

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    electrical installations

    please make sure you get your electrical installtions in order before you pay the contractor and get a second opinion especially if you are having a house built and you have decided to use the builders electrician...make sure you check the electrical contractors qualification...because if you dont i feel sorry for you and all the problems you are going to experience.

    at the very top of the COC it clearly states notes

    "1. In terms of the electrical installations regulations of the OHS act (occupational health and safety act 1993 (act 85 of1993) the user or lessor is responsible for the safety of the electrical installation."

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by murdock View Post
    especially if you are having a house built and you have decided to use the builders electrician...make sure you check the electrical contractors qualification...
    That deserves being reinforced.

    What is happening is a lot of builders are not using qualified electricians to do the installation work. Right at the end they'll call a wireman to test and issue a COC. By my understanding the correct COC for a new installation should have the new installation details completed, but I can only guess that a test only COC is being accepted by the supply authority.

    In theory is looks like a storm in a tea cup, but the practical implications are not as small as they might seem.

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    This sucks to start with. Now before I lease or buy a home I need to get inspectors in and check the place out? Otherwise I am pin with the restoration charges. Who the hell came up with these laws? Clearly this is Bullsh*t. But again this is South Africa, land of the corrupted and home to the brave and broke.

    A stupid question if I may: who can you call to check if your electrician is registered?

    Second stupid question is: who can you call to get an inspector out to check on the property?

    Thanks.

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    you can contact your local electrical contractors board who will have a list of all the registered contractors...

    one of the biggest problems with the electrical installations now days is not whether or not the contractor is registered (anyone can register you just need a mate with a license they never check either...i have a company been using my license for about 10 years now he doesnt even have an electrician working for him) it is the person who was dropped off on your site to carry out the work... is he actually qualified to do the task he has been given.

    i have people calling me and asking me for a job all the time...they all say they are electricians...they have done a bit of tube and wiring so now they are electricians...one of the staff i had working for me had a brilliant cv with tech qualification matric certificates the works...couldnt produce the originals...turns out he had taken someone elses scanned them changed the name and printed them.

    the SABS rules keep changing and improving...the problem is there is nobody to police them...or should i say nobody qualified to enfore them...as i have just found on the most recent project i am busy with not even the AIA is legit...apparently the inspector wants to give the customers money back...i think he has realised that the sh*t has hit the fan and the customer has now called for a full investigation independent contractors and inspectors and lawyers are now involved...i suppose i would also be peeed off if the AIA had approved the house to be reasonably safe and the final payment had been made...now i have to spend R50000.00 which could even go to R100000.00 if it goes to court...to fix something which was declared safe and the case is closed.

    the problem at the end of the day is that only one person looses in this whole mess and thats the customer because he has to pay for everything...so we all gona make money and if he doesnt win the case he foots the bill for everything he even has to pay for all the repairs to the reasonble safe electrical installtion he has already paid for.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Well, the consumer protection act is coming. We'll have to see how that goes, I guess, but it does raise the possibility of another route for consumers to get redress.

    I'm afraid the electrical contracting industry has become something of an example that regulation doesn't always ensure satisfactory standards.

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Fact is everyone is demanding qualifications and if you know the right people you can get legit papers without ever being trained. Then you get the mess that most of us are in right now. The truth is we got eat and pay the bills so ethic falls out of the bus. I still stand if proper training is available and it is provided free of charge by the government more people will take the time to train and become qualified and you will have less trouble in the future because of abundant training and proper knowhow.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Just add pride about your workmanship and you've got the mix about right, tec0.

    Trouble is too many people are just happy to take the money - there's not enough sense of pride in the work.

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    and people who do take pride are thinking why do we waste our time...

    here is an example i convert an old house into an office i spend weeks chasing all the walls making sure that you dont see any pipes or wires etc...all the intercom wires you name it...a length of trunking through the middle of the roof space with all the pipes coming off at 90 degrees...i leave site and return a week later to fianlise a few items.

    i climb into the roof and look at the mess the alarm company...aircon company and electric fence company has made and i think why did i waste my time...i go out to the front gate and the gate people and electric fence company have just mounted their pipes all surface not even straight wires clipped on the wall...the thing that amazes me is let me fit my pipes like that and the customer is all over me a wet rag yet all the other companies get away with it

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    Needless to say if everyone did their job then the world will be a better place. But again I will say training, training and yes training. See I know that some people really want to do a good job but lack the knowhow to do it. But pressing times demands that we take changes. Some will fail others will set your house on fire but the truth is Education cost... This is the single most important element that will come back and bite you in the end of the day. To get trained in South Africa you need to have millions on standby...

    Fact is if there is training facilities provided free of charge then I can go and get my skills and do a good job for you. In the end you will get a contractor in knowing it is going to be installed correctly and it will look nice. So perhaps it is time for developers to demand skills and training by government so that we can once again provide qualification and proper knowhow. The truth is that South Africa became money hungry and everyone wants something at a price. If training becomes free then you will see less problems more jobs and a better living standard for all of us.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    I'm afraid it isn't just about training when we talk about high quality standards. There has to be a desire, a sense of pride in your work.

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