Help Needed

Do you mean the inspection organisations? Belgium has bureaux e.g. Verbruggen, Vincotte, SGS e.g. They inspect the work of the electrical contractors before commissioning.

Or do you mean the 20 different power suppliers, that work over your one and only grid at competitive prices?

This problem should be tackled at various levels. First wireman to be certified.Secondly Inspectors/Engineers who test & approve should be honest,otherwise punished for approving low quality work. Finally authorities should check randomly certified work by Inspectors & Engineers and if fire or accidents happen the wireman as well as Inspector/Engineer should be called to give evidence.

Read up on self-certification under British Standard 7671 and Part P of the Building Regulations, which in particular applies to domestic stuff, and NICEIC. There's a raft of this stuff on the world-wide-wait.

Of all people you should know part P of the building regulations is one of the reasons standards have fallen.

It due to part P the various registration schemes have the power they have.

Please explain.

But it's the British Standard 7671, you'll ultimately by judged by in a court of law, if you're shoddy workmanship brings about legal action.

These standards have been fine tuned over the years, with the implementation of new edition and ammendments, to adapt to technical advancements and other unforseen oversights.

So regardless of what registration scheme you're affiliated with, you will be judged by British Standard 7671.

Can you give examples of these falling standards and, who's bringing the to light?

Exactly. It isn't the standards in themselves that are the problem, it's the application of those standards to everyday installations.

The National Fire Protection Agency(NFPA) is a world wide organization. They have complied standards for the electrical trades. National Electric Code(NEC).

I would start there and contact them.

Then address it with your municipality. It will be up to them to enact the code and set up a means to ensure it's followed.

It sounds like your problem is not in the specific code chosen. It sounds like your problem is in there being multiple authorities claiming jurisdiction over the electrical trade. Comparing other national code standards will not help, it will only compound your problem.

Maybe you could elaborate on how this failing "various scheme operators" and "half a dozen representative bodies" attempts to work. This will help us to answer your question how our oversight bodies integrate.

Tony... are you looking for...

Comments on minimum training and certification that someone must have in order to be considered as a certified "electrician", or

Comments on minimum standards for training inspectors must have, or

Comments on inspection practices, or

The national codes in place?

Not sure what you are looking for.

Irrespective of knowledge and experience bribery & corruption can ruin any profession including politics.

Since when is politics a profession?

After WW2,when UN was formed & democracy started practiced by developing countries.

Really?

Here in India we Indian Electricity Act 2003. It is available on Google, Wikipedia. Must be based on British Standards.

The government has the ultimate authority, Their power is in they can condem the house until it's fixed. The house gets inspected every time it's sold.

We always talk about the AHJ or the Authority Having Jusrisdiction, The power company has certain rules to follow and they make them regarding service to the premisis. They make and enforce them. Easy, If it's not followed, the electricity is turned off.

The permit process is the way of getting stuff done safely. Remodeling requires that one bring stuff up to code. I don;t have a GFCI in the bathroom, but I have two outside. No GFCI's in the kitchen, either. There is even a few two prong polarazied outlets still around.

In 50+ years, 3 prong outlets have been added.

The government determines what the requirements are. if it's an incorporated town then the town is responsible, otherwise its the county. If I wanted to turn off the water at the street, I am allowed as a homeowner to put a deposit on the tools and turn it off.

A city nearby has different rules. It was a licensed plumber could turn it on/off, but now only the city employee can turn it on/off, I think.

The government could decide that a homeowner cannot do any electrical work or they could decide that they could do any or some. Replacing a light fixture is not considered something that needs a permit.

Not sure what you mean by "major problems". In any trade there are those who do not perform to the best standards, and others who do the very best work, whether or not they are qualified.

The 17th Edition of the electrical wiring regulations is the standard to which all electrical contractors should work.

I can see why some individuals do not keep up with the 3-yearly renewals - the book has not changed, the exam is open-book, so why spend a week's wage when work is not easy to find at the moment?

Companies usually demand that contractors are certified - and pay a premium for that. Can the average householder afford the more expensive rates?

I have not heard of any increase in fires/electrocutions/etc due to the alleged "lower standards". Some of the work currently traceable to poor providers would fall beneath the radar if too high regulation is introduced.

In the BS7671,latest edition,are lightning & surge protection included to be tested before energising an installation?. They too are important as Earthing & insulation testing.