Hi everyone Any help really appreciated with this scenario. I have a friend who is a very reputable electrician in our local town. He approached me for advice on what to do because he knows of another electrician who is producing sub standard dangerous work when doing jobs for clients in domestic properties. He and I might add a lot of other people in the building industry know of this electrician but the issue is trying to prove that the rogue electrician is responsible for dangerous work. He has approached the HSE who have said that short of catching the guy red handed there is not a lot they can do. It seems quite straight forward to myself that he reports the company (sole trader) to the relevant authority who will then take appropriate remedial action, but ALAS this don't not seem to be the case. Any thoughts please Thanks g

I would imagine LA planning/building control might be interested if he is as bad as you make out - I guess his work will not comply with Part P???

Gordon, You will struggle to get ANYONE to do anything about this legitimately. The ONLY way you can get anything done is in a "grey" area, think that he may be operating in the "grey" economy, then some people/companies are willing to work in a "grey" area to get the people shopped. What he is doing is wrong, and immoral, it could even be classed as obtaining money by deception. The electrical industry, especially that operating in the domestic marked is only about money it is not concerned with safety what so ever at this point in time, and there seems to be little chance of that changing.

If this person is 'known' to be leaving things in a dangerous state as you say then proving it is relatively simple. The difficulty is however getting anyone to do anything about it because our laws are not set up to quickly move on small operators like this. This is not going to change anytime soon. Really the issue is the person and not the industry and where a person chooses to be rogue then generally the law is reactive rather that proactive. I also tend to think a lot of resource would be required to be more proactive and I cannot see where that resource would come from and even if overall it would make that much difference. It's a tough one really! Regards.

FS, They "SHOULD" be interested, but, they don't have the resources & not just financially, to follow the case through. IMHO he is also committing fraud, and as I have already said obtaining money by deception, and also in breach of Building Regulations possibly, as well as EAWR. However, no one cares unless they know any different. Also the "enforcement authorities" don't have the resource. TBH, I would volunteer my time to my local LA almost to help get these clowns out of the market place. However, the "schemes" / "scams" in the "industry" are not interested, as they are merely profit making enterprises who are not really concerned with safety. GasSafe will investigate a complaint by a "GasSafe" registered person against another, NONE of the electrical schemes will investigate a complaint against an "electrical contractor" made by another "electrical contractor" as they look on it as a commercial issue, not one of safety, and until this changes nothing will change. The LA trading standards & building control do not have the funds nor resources to sort this out, nor to be honest the willing as no-one has died recently, that can be traced back, directly to a poor electrical install of sufficient importance. It seems your "average Jane or Joe" getting hurt or killed is not really important enough it seems. Also whilst there are cases that have gone on and may still be going on, they are not significant enough yet. The electrical industry "controlling / licencing schemes" are more interested in money than safety at this point in time as they are set up as profit making companies, thus, they have a duty to make profit for their shareholders, the safety of the public, may or may not be part of their targets.

FS, Now that is a difference, they are now committing fraud by using logo's that they are not entitled to, that you can get sorted. That is an easy fix, the issue is if they are not. If they are just doing shoddy work and using the logos they are entitled to then no-one will do anything about it. This is ons of the "grey" aspects I talked about earlier, the other is legal, and legitimate, but, is a little dependent upon personalities.

Sorry for the rushed last few lines.. OSH =IOSH would back up a plan to up-date the EWR definitions 23994 = 2394

On a similar topic I recently rang a local gas fitter for some boiler work and mentioned I found his details on the gas-safe register, he seemed impressed I'd gone that route as he'd never knowingly had anyone find his details via the gas-safe website. Unfortunately it is consumer ignorance of these schemes that keeps a lot of the cowboys in work.

Hi everyone I cannot thank you all enough for the feedback. It seems the scenario provoked quite a passionate debate amongst you all. I agree that the situation is immoral but with regards the finer intricacies on how to go about finding a solution; my limited knowledge of the electrical industry and regs cannot allow be to recommend my colleague on the most effective course of action to take. In saying that I will invite him to peruse the comments and make an informed professional judgement with regards the "next step". Thanks again everyone...really do appreciate the feedback and viewpoints g

And another thing to note is that currently the local LA's are getting rid of many many 1000's of staff inclusive of building control officers, clerk-of-work's and H&Safety EHO's so very soon there will be nobody to complaint too in any case! Unfortunately in the last 20 years we have sacrificed 100's of years of progress for a couple of pounds profit and unfortunately the general public as a whole want cheap and not quality!

Yes FS but I'd add more but it seems that when I do I get the posts taken down