Re: Part P

[Mal Lansell <mal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Part P is just the old trades union closed shop in another form. 
There
is no mechanism for proving your competency and being permitted to do
your own work unless you are employed in the trade (the certification
involves being examined ont the job).

I don't see it saving any lives either (and just how many people used to
be killed or injured by DIY electrics anyway?), and if the house I'm
currently renting in is anything to go by, the certifcate means diddly
squat.

It's a new build, but we had trouble with halogen downlighters going
out.  Not wanting to deal with the letting agent's hopless
"handyman", I
decided to take a look myself.  In the bathrooms, the loft insulation
had been laid directly over the lamps, so they were simply overheating
and cutting out.  The kitchen turned out to have a random assortment of
12V and 240V fittings (no correlation to the sink position, so that
can't be the reason), and in all locations I found that almost every
bulb had been connected with a plastic choccy block that had been melted
and charred by the heat from the bulbs.

To cap it all, they had cleverly labeled the consumer unit so that
"smoke alarm" and "upstairs lights" turned off each
others circuit (good
job that I double check that the power really is off).  Mind you, this
house could be a shrine to poor design, shoddy building and
corner-cutting, but that's another story.

Oh, and now my rant is nearly done, can anyone explain why each 12V bulb
should have its own transformer?  It seems so wasteful.

Mal



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