Does that not amount to the same thing?
That is how it works in just about every state here: To trade as an electrician for remuneration one is required to pass the relevant exams and obtain a state license. Additionally, for work which requires a building permit, the appropriate county or city building inspector will check the work in all cases, whether carried out by a homeowner or by a licensed electrician (the same applies to plumbing and any other trades).
Register with whom, and for what purpose?
I can but presume that you're again talking about notification (self-certification), which is nothing to do with what I'm talking about. My concern is that a person does not have to 'register' with anyone (or, indeed, necessarily have any qualifications experience at all) in order to be allowed to trade in the UK as an 'electrician' and to sell his/her electrical services to the public.
That's what I would expect in any country, and in relation to a wide range of trades and professions.
Good to see you - it's been quite a long time. So long that it's probably appropriate to wish you a belated Happy New Year!
Yes, the schemes in order to self-certify.
Surely it was an attempt to achieve what you are advocating - now watered down for some reason.
If you mean because it is not actually statutory, there is nothing to stop anyone doing electrical work then you must be correct.
Many of them cannot be trusted to realise that they are actually not electricians.
That's a bit like trying to cure obesity by buying larger trousers.
There is no requirement for anyone to be registered with a self-cert scheme in order to trade as an electrician, a kitchen fitter or anything else. All non-registration (with such a scheme) means is that if the person undertakes notifiable work, then it has to be notified.
No, it had nothing to do with what I'm talking about ('advocating') - which is that it would be desirable for everyone who undertook electrical work/payment to be required to be 'registered'/'licensed' in some way
Exactly - that is what I'm saying. There is a statutory requirement for some sort of registration/licensing of people working in many trades/professions, so why not electricians? One of the greatest values of registration/licensing is that it can, if/when necessary, be revoked.
The "people not dropping like flies" argument is a potentially dangerous one, since it can be used as an argument for abandoning almost any rules/regulations/practices relating to electrical safety. The only real reason for not 'being perturbed' would be if one did not feel there was any problem in allowing people with little/no qualifications/experience (and hence maybe little/no knowledge or competence) selling their services as 'an electrician' to the general public. You probably would not be too comfortable if you discovered that your gas fitter, doctor, the pilot of the plane you were in or the driver of the bus you were in was not registered/licensed to be doing that job, would you??
The only reason that people on US Airways Flight 1549 survived was that the pilot was also an experienced glider pilot, and his skills and experience allowed him to glide the plane onto the Hudson River rather than fly it to the scene of the crash.
Very probably true and, even if he had not been an experienced glider pilot, he was of an age that presumably means that he would have gained considerable experience of "actually flying an aircraft". A friend of mine who is a fairly junior airline pilot says that most of his experience of "real flying" of large aircraft has been in simulators.
I'd say it prob had little to do with how many gliders he had flown before and more to do with the fact that he was an extremely experienced pilot.
I don't know.
That does not follow. It surely is testament that things are not in need of further regulation.
A doctor is obviously different than the others.
Sure - that (increasing regulation) is one of the ideas that one could 'abandon' on such a basis. However, people were not "dropping like flies" as a result of electrical installations 30, 40 or 50 years ago (and, in fact, probably ever) - so you could use that "not dropping like flies" argument to suggest that all the additional requirements (e.g. in Wiring Regs/BS7671) introduced in the name of 'safety' in the last few decades were essentially 'unnecessary', and therefore should be 'abandoned'.
I'm not sure I understand why you say that. Would you be more uneasy if you discovered that your doctor was 'unlicensed' (and never had been significantly trained or licensed) or that the pilot of your aircraft was unlicensed (and never had been significantly trained or licensed)?
Yes, very probably, but the concept exists in many fields in which safety/injuries/deaths are not an issue - one has to have a 'registration'/'licence' (which can be revoked if one does not act properly/competently) in order to do all sorts of things - be a debt collector or financial advisor, be the landlord of a pub, drive a taxi etc. etc. etc.
I've no idea, but if you measured it by (the tiny number, in the UK, of) domestic electrocutions, it would be impossible for it to be a lot 'better' anywhere else!
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