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Thread: DIY electrical

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    DIY electrical

    lets say i write a step by step article about how to wire up a generator (just using this as an example)...for the DIY enthusiust...have it printed in one of our local DIY mags...but the article is missing a few key points about the safety...and i forget to mention that you need to earth the unit etc etc...what happens if someone does their own generator connection and one of the members of his family or a friend visiting gets electricuted?

    another question...what happens if one of our local DIY TV programs does an article on how to connect a new security light...but the step by step instalaltion is illegal?

    If one of your customers are one of these DIY type peopel and like to do everything themselves...which i think is great...but he is buying and installing equipment which he has purchased from a DIY store and none of the components are SABS approved...how do you tell the customer that you cannot sign over his house when he sells it because all the components he installed are not sabs approved...and who is responsible for the cost to replace all thes ecomponenets which should never have been sold in south africa to start with?

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by murdock View Post
    how do you tell the customer that you cannot sign over his house when he sells it because all the components he installed are not sabs approved...
    As tough as it is, that's the easiest one of the questions you raise

    Awareness the issue here?

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    then my question is if the DIY programs and articles in the magazines are not correct...how does the customer become aware?

    in the sans book it clearly states that all electrical installations are to be done by a registered electrician...does this not apply to DIY enthusiasts?

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Who has been running these programs then? Maybe someone needs to send them a letter along with a copy of the relevant part of the code.

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    Quote Originally Posted by murdock View Post
    then my question is if the DIY programs and articles in the magazines are not correct...how does the customer become aware?

    in the sans book it clearly states that all electrical installations are to be done by a registered electrician...does this not apply to DIY enthusiasts?
    Does it say that? I've pretty nearly finished reading 10142-1 front to back (minus the part about special installations as I have no such need and all I can find is that a three-phase installation must be done by a registered person. The closest I can find to what you seem to be implying is "clear" is section 5.3 (CONSTRUCTION) of the CoC form, that seems to presuppose registration. (That is, if "responsible for" and "did the work" mean the same thing.)

    Also, there's Annex P, which for single-phase installation includes "any person" as a possibility for "May be installed by", which has the qualifier "on behalf of". But what does that mean if I'm extending my own installation - the "DIY installation" so maligned here?

    I'd appreciate it a lot if you could point me to chapter and verse of a more explicit statement of who may work on the wiring. It's been bugging me for a while now, as I need to know just how far down the ethics ladder I'll have to go eventually when I actually connect the new circuits to the supply. Sorry to sound smug, but I'm 100% certain that I can do at least as safe a job as whoever previously worked on this house's wiring. I don't suppose any one of you guys forgot an empty gin bottle in my roof? :-P

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    Bronze Member mikilianis's Avatar
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    You sure it is a gin bottle normally its a wine bottle with a lable " Bright Spark " It couldnt of been mine or any of my co-workers as we only drink Vodka on the job,why do you want the person responsible to remove the empty.

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    Quote Originally Posted by berndj View Post
    Does it say that? I've pretty nearly finished reading 10142-1 front to back (minus the part about special installations as I have no such need and all I can find is that a three-phase installation must be done by a registered person. The closest I can find to what you seem to be implying is "clear" is section 5.3 (CONSTRUCTION) of the CoC form, that seems to presuppose registration. (That is, if "responsible for" and "did the work" mean the same thing.)

    Also, there's Annex P, which for single-phase installation includes "any person" as a possibility for "May be installed by", which has the qualifier "on behalf of". But what does that mean if I'm extending my own installation - the "DIY installation" so maligned here?

    I'd appreciate it a lot if you could point me to chapter and verse of a more explicit statement of who may work on the wiring. It's been bugging me for a while now, as I need to know just how far down the ethics ladder I'll have to go eventually when I actually connect the new circuits to the supply. Sorry to sound smug, but I'm 100% certain that I can do at least as safe a job as whoever previously worked on this house's wiring. I don't suppose any one of you guys forgot an empty gin bottle in my roof? :-P
    couldnt have been me i didnt go into anyones roof while i worked in cape town...

    will note your comments and take it up with the electrical bargaining council...maybe i can register my bussiness as a diy company and do electrical work...it will save me plenty money in bargaining council fees.

    i wish i had time to read the sans book from cover to cover...maybe you can bring us up to speed with the changes in amendment no 7 i havent even been to collect them yet.

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    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by murdock View Post
    couldnt have been me i didnt go into anyones roof while i worked in cape town...
    Ja.....the problem is that you finished half the bottle before you went into the roof.....that's why you cannot remember !
    Last edited by Martinco; 02-Jun-11 at 05:27 PM.
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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by berndj View Post
    Does it say that? I've pretty nearly finished reading 10142-1 front to back (minus the part about special installations as I have no such need and all I can find is that a three-phase installation must be done by a registered person. The closest I can find to what you seem to be implying is "clear" is section 5.3 (CONSTRUCTION) of the CoC form, that seems to presuppose registration. (That is, if "responsible for" and "did the work" mean the same thing.)

    Also, there's Annex P, which for single-phase installation includes "any person" as a possibility for "May be installed by", which has the qualifier "on behalf of". But what does that mean if I'm extending my own installation - the "DIY installation" so maligned here?

    I'd appreciate it a lot if you could point me to chapter and verse of a more explicit statement of who may work on the wiring.
    I found two threads that go into this in some depth, control and supervision and who may work on an electrical installation.

    There's also something else to bear in mind when it comes to uncertified DIY folk - best illustrated by a tale.

    Years ago I was in a surf shop listening to a youngster trying to get sponsorship. After all the schpiel was over, the shop owner said - "OK. I've heard you tell me how good you are. Trouble is I've had no-one else tell me how good you are."

    DIY is not maligned because of assumed incompetence, it's because there's no verified base line assurance of competence.
    Last edited by Dave A; 02-Jun-11 at 08:19 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Martinco View Post
    Ja.....the problem is that you finished half the bottle before you went into the roof.....that's why you cannot remember !

    is that how i got that bump on my head...it must have been when i fell out the trap door and i thought it was from the headboard

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