unhappy customer

[murdock]

i am busy trying to put together a monthly meeting or something which electrical contractors can get together once a month or every 2 months and discuss issues with regards to electrical installations...safety issues or any relevant problems which occur in the electrical industry with regards to the standards...testing installations etc...i belong to the ECA and attend their meeting but find the meetings boring because they maily discuss labour issues etc...i am more interested in technical issues.

i am hoping to get suppliers to sponsor the meeting.

the idea is to get a small groups together with experienced people working in the field and discuss issues for example generators...in the real world not to come up with ideas created by people who sit in offices all day and dont know what it is like out in the field...i want to get together with people who are out there working in the field experiencing the problems which we face everyday the dangers and most importantly come up with realistic solutions.

i hear electricians complaining everyday but nobody actually doing anything to prevent future problems and no policing of exsisting problems...i think the way forward is educate people and have a call centre where if you are uncertain about a regulation you can contact a help line and clarify a clause or rule which you dont understand...and most importantly to procecute people who blatently disregard the rules...i of all people am not perfect and i make mistakes but you can see when a person is pulling the as* out of the regulations...these people need to be dealt with severly because electricity kills people.

watch this clip to get an idea of what dangers we are faced with on a daily basis and why i get angry when companies send unskilled staff to site creating an even more dangerous enviroment for us to work in.

http://esasafe.com/Contractors/ets_004.php?s=24


i have also attached a picture of a changeover switch which caught on fire costing a company over R30000 in damages...but more importantly...it could have arced and burnt the electrician...the breaker feeding the switch is rated at 500 amps...so you can imagine the masive explosion it would have caused.

[Dave A]

i am busy trying to put together a monthly meeting or something which electrical contractors can get together once a month or every 2 months and discuss issues with regards to electrical installations...safety issues or any relevant problems which occur in the electrical industry with regards to the standards...testing installations etc.

I'm sure my electricians would be interested. Let me know if you get something together, Murdock.

[Leecatt]

I came into the electrical industry about 6 years ago at a time when electricians would not venture anywhere near signing a certificate for fear of prosecution. I went in head first and specialised in the certificate, what a way to start a new business - very little competition. For years i was at it, never made a mistake or even had a single comeback. I offered a quality service and i made sure the job was done correctly, not difficult as i was the only one doing the work. As time went by the fear of prosecution waned and now everyone is doing it again. Now the customer has a choice between me and the cheapie and it is an uphill battle to stay in business as i am not prepared to compromise my principals. How many times do i come across a place where the seller has inherited a substandard certificate and now, years later is handed a hefty bill for repairs. They look at me as if i am making it up and recently, due to the rising cost of things it has led to heated debates as people are trying to cut corners everywhere and fixing up the house so someone else can live in it is not high on their priority list. Its about time the infamouse "Roadshow" went around the country again just to drive home the realistion that issuing a certificate that is not 100% correct is fraud and nothing else. Time for a beer

[murdock]

no punishment...no law.