Telling people about their bad electrical work you see...

[JAmmmmm]

So wondering how you handle the situation of telling people about bad electrical work you see on their houses, not customers but such as if you go around to a friends and see a lashup they've made of something, do you risk offending them and put them straight?

 

[cumbriahandyman]

So wondering how you handle the situation of telling people about bad electrical work you see on their houses, not customers but such as if you go around to a friends and see a lashup they've made of something, do you risk offending them and put them straight?

By lashup do you mean dangerous? If so I would tell them, if they took offence, they would be ex friends.

That said, I have advised family, friends and customers about dangers I have noticed. None have ever taken offence.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

So wondering how you handle the situation of telling people about bad electrical work you see on their houses, not customers but such as if you go around to a friends and see a lashup they've made of something, do you risk offending them and put them straight?

If the installation is a safety risk. You tell them it's dangerous and you wouldn't allow it your house!
Offended or not, better alive than dead!

 

[1550]

If you were not to comment on a dangerous situation you see a friend in , I think you would fail in your duty if you did not comment on it. On the other hand if it is just a bit rough you may offend them. Dangerous tell them every time.

 

[sparkwright]

So wondering how you handle the situation of telling people about bad electrical work you see on their houses, not customers but such as if you go around to a friends and see a lashup they've made of something, do you risk offending them and put them straight?

As an electrician I don't hesitate in telling a friend or family member if something is a complete lash-up, and often end up putting it right for free.

It might be a good idea to discuss their handiwork, and ask how they did, and how you would have done it, then start insisting that they may be wrong, and that they should check it out.

 

[sparkwright]

If you were not to comment on a dangerous situation you see a friend in , I think you would fail in your duty if you did not comment on it. On the other hand if it is just a bit rough you may offend them. Dangerous tell them every time.

Good point; it could be right but just a bit messy, in which case you can decide for yourself if it's worth mentioning. There's some people you can say anything to, others where you have to be a bit diplomatic. But if it's dangerous you must say something.

 

[OwainDIYer]

I think it's easier to mention you're concerned about the wiring because of their safety.

Rather harder to be tactful refusing a cuppa tea because the kitchen's so manky.

 

[bernardgreen]

I tell them every time. Words used depend on the situation, who the person is and how dangerous I perceive it to be.

I did tell one girlfriend's parents that the electrician ( a relative of them ) in whom they had great faith was a bodger. "" Do not have elecric fire and immersion heater on at the same time "" The friendship ended.

Similar with another set of parents but in that case the bare wire coming out of the MEM fuse box, melted plastic and the scorch marks on the adjacent wood work convinced them their "electrician" was dangerous and that the place needed a re-wire.

Generally I find people welcome an honest opinion. Probably they accept it better from me as I am not looking for or creating work repairing / re-wiring their house.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I told my Dad once that installing a trailing socket on 1.5mm² flex directly from the incoming CU terminals so as to provide a non-RCD supply for a freezer was a Bad Idea.

 

[JohnW2]

This is almost a silly discussion, although nearly everyone has thankfully said much the same thing. If one sees something in the home of a friend, relative or someone else one cares about (and maybe even a stranger) that one believes to be a significant risk to their life and limb, it's surely unthinkable that one would not say something - even if there is a risk that one might thereby offend or upset them?

Shoddy or non-compliant work that one does not feel represents an appreciable risk is, of course, a different matter - and a decision then has to be made on a case-by-case basis.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[ericmark]

When visiting my daughters father-in-law I was taken around to many houses often at the entrance there would be a generator with a coil of cable with two plugs one either end.

I noted it and considered what I should say.
1) I would need to get what I wanted to say translated to Turkish.
2) They all seemed to have same arrangement and I had not heard of any accidents.
3) Power cuts were regular so sure they knew how to use the equipment without danger to them selves.

So I told my daughter that if there was a power cut to leave the house they were in taking my grand children to safety. I left it at that.

May be the Turkish are given better lessons in self preservation than the British? Here were refer to the practice as a Widow maker.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A widowmaker is an awful lot like a sharp cooks knife.

Only hurts if you hold the wrong end.

 

[SimonH2]

Many years ago I was in a local shop, and observed that the till was plugged into an extension lead running across a fairly high traffic area under a bit of carpet. That wasn't what prompted me to mention it, it was the way they'd fitted the plug on the supply and a socket on the till.

Although I was incredibly (and uncharacteristically) tactful, in the manner of "excuse me, that doesn't look right, I think it might be dangerous - you might want to get an electrician to check it" - the forthright response I got suggested that it was never going to be checked. IIRC it was still like that some years later.

Going back a lot of years, as a child I recall I was at some sort of evening slide show - remember the days when a slide projector with a button on the end of a wire to automatically advance the slide was high tech ? I looked down and noticed that the cover for the rubber plug on the projector was along the flex and the terminals were all exposed. I just instinctively popped the cover into place. I recall getting something of a scolding from the vicar - but was too young (and timid) to give him a *******ing back for the dodgy plug.