Is it possible to view the gas and electric regs online i.e. rules re.siting of gas flues, earthing regs etc. Now that DIY is slowly being 'hijacked' by the state, probably due to a few incompetents blowing themselves up. Nevertheless any works I do should follow the rules to the letter. The work itself is not rocket science. Why pay through the nose for a 'professional'?
It is more to do with the Treasury wanting to stop the "cash-in-hand" part of the economy.. Otherwise the regs wouldn't have been drafted as they are - to stop fully qualified engineers and technicians doing a bit of evening and weekend work as well as, supposedly, stopping the cowboys.
I don't know about the gas regulations. Get that wrong and you could lose the house, next door and everyone in them. If there was an explosion due to a faulty component, there might not be much evidence left to show that it wasn't your fault and had been installed correctly.
For wiring regulations, just do a search on "wiring regulations" on ebay. You will find all sorts from the full printed book of various editions to "CDROM"s.
Rules are there to be interpreted as well as followed. You pay for a professional because a professional has done all his/her screwups on other people's installations as an apprentice - and been suitably "corrected". If you get it wrong, how would you know? Other than, of course, when the ambulance/police/fire engine arrives and shortly after when the insurance company declines to pay up..
Your house is worth, how much? You, your wife kids? Is it really worth hazarding that for a couple of hundred quidlets? Basically, if you need to ask how to do the job, you need to leave it to someone who doesn't.
You forgot to mention the prison sentence for dodgy gas work....
Actually, incompetents aren't causing any significant harm to themselves or others, so that's not the reason.
The Gas Safety Regs are available online. However, they aren't the whole picture -- the relevant BS's aren't online, but then most fitters don't have them either as they're not cheap.
Have a look at:
You've started with a reasonable reply, then drifted off into nonsense (no offence, but I couldn't disagree more...)
The OP recognizes he needs to learn / understand something (wish there were more like that). Knowing the regs doesn't mean you can do the job. It may be as simple as knowing the date when new cable colours become mandatory. That doesn't mean using the old colours is unsafe.
If you reckon "needing to ask" is a problem, where do you suppose the next generation of "professionals" is going to come from? Do you propose firing all today's apprentices and trainees because they weren't born with knowledge of 2005 regs? Would you ban DIY books? Ban newsgroups like this?
You've got the wrong end of the stick, and IMHO done an injustice to the OP. As Rumsfeld might say, the "known unknown" isn't a problem; it's the "unknown unknown" you should worry about.
You snipped the bit of my reply that talked about apprentices having their mistakes corrected. The problem with books is that they are open loop - if you have misunderstood, the mistake goes uncorrected. The "next generation" are going to come from apprentices and trainees who will still make mistkase - no matter how well they thought they understood the books.
Books and DIY books are fine where the consequences of mistakes are acceptable - I learnt cooking that way and my first rice pudding ended up as the garage door stop.
The "unknown unknown" is how the OP will interpret the book. Just as I think that you misunderstood my post.
I get your point and it is well made. However, I learnt far more useful stuff, during my apprenticeship, out of the classroom than I ever learnt in it.
Like I said, if it isn't safety critical, then by all means read the book and follow the instructions. It will probably work out fine. But if getting it wrong could kill or injure someone, then do it under supervision until you are sure you know what you are about.
There are plenty of books on driving cars - but I would hope that no one would think reading a book and getting a bit of advice on a newsgroup would be a reasonable replacement for supervised tuition..
Sorry about that. I did read it, and up to that stage I wasn't particularly disagreeing with your sentiments.
Tee hee. But you recognised it wasn't quite what you had expected ... and I bet you found out how to make an edible one without a personal supervisor / tutor.
Actually, his / her question was simply "are the regs available on-line". I don't know for certain, but I feel sure the OP can do the work - just wants to know what current (excuse pun) regs have to be followed.
Er - I hope I'm understanding that correctly.... you refer, I presume, to on-the-job training... :-)
FWIW, I learned the hard way that re-wiring a house was 90% building work (at which I'm pretty useless) and 10% electrical (which I can do - though I know my limits).
I agree with that. But the OP didn't give me the impression that s/he didn't understand the risks, or would be unsafe. Rather, that he wanted to comply with all relevant regs, which he and you seem to accept are at least as much to do with matters other than safety.
Ah - but there are things about driving which it's useful to read about (and aren't covered by driving schools) and you certainly need to read the Highway Code before your test. I've never seen a book claiming to teach clutch control...
The latest regs are clear - the "layman" isn't banned from doing the work - but it must be checked and certified. I assume the OP will follow them, since he asked the question.
I think that's a bit unfair.
I can and have done wiring safely for many years, but that's not necessarily the same as complying with the regulations. A read of the regs may well end up in me doing some things slightly differently, but perhaps no less safely.
You are, of course, perfectly correct. In fact reading the regs should end with the job done as safely, if not more safely and certainly not less safely. Reading them may reveal an aspect of the job that had not even been considered.
They are also of use even if not "diy" - my neighbour has some work just done that may have met the regs 10 years ago but certainly doesn't meet the current ones. Waving the regs helped in getting the work re-done properly at no extra charge. The contractor had been doing this type of job for years and never thought that the rules may have changed.
Of course, that is where going to a professional who has their work regularly inspected pays off. They have to keep up to date. Everyone makes misteaks at times - even experts.
You'd have thought their trade association would have kept them up to date.
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