Discuss explaining to customers in the Australia area at ElectriciansForums.net

F

f1ngerz

How do you explain earth bonding to customers? I tend to get blank stares or grumbles about its been like that for years why should I bother now!! Ideally I would like to have a fact sheet to present to customers so they can digest what I'm saying and back it up too, not creating none existent jobs.
 
i usually tell them that if a fault develops, it's a lot less painful for it to go to earth down a silly little stripey wire than through them! works a treat!
 
Last edited:
"Because its dangerous and slap dash of your last electrician, I will not do your work Mr Bloggs without installing this earth as it is so dangerous I could not sleep at night knowing I had left it like this."


Or words to that effect!!!!
 
Its not actually as BS7671 is a non stat. Doc. However explaing the consequences and pointing out it could effect their ins. policy might do the trick
 
Actually Bugsy even though BS 7671 isn't a statutory document it's derived from the IEE wiring regulations which is, so you can be prosecuted for not conforming to 7671
 
In most prosecutions regarding wiring regulations the claim is for negligence, as you say its derived from a statutory document so cannot be argued in a case of law where as negligence can . anyway were digressing m'lad
 
Its not actually as BS7671 is a non stat. Doc. However explaing the consequences and pointing out it could effect their ins. policy might do the trick

You are correct in what you say, but Building regulation part P and The Electricity at work act are both statutory, and they also both state that BS7671 is the accepted standard of compliance. So whilst BS7671 is non statutory it will and has been used in evidence for prosecution, so for our purposes it may as well be a statutory document.
 
There was a case a few months back in the voltimum newsletter in a case about electrical negligence where the judge threw out all the electrical expert's evidence because it was based on a non statutory document ie BS7671 !!!
 
so, that leaves us all open to prosecution. if we work to BS7671 and something goes wrong, wtf can we rely on ?
 
"Because its dangerous and slap dash of your last electrician, I will not do your work Mr Bloggs without installing this earth as it is so dangerous I could not sleep at night knowing I had left it like this."


Or words to that effect!!!!

The "Last electrician" could have been years ago before 10mm was required so putting it that way wouldnt be of any help
 
the ESC do some DVDs and litriture promoting electrical saftey possibly do one regarding earthing or you could tell them to phone DOM Littlewood he seems to know everyting about everything
 
How do you explain earth bonding to customers? I tend to get blank stares or grumbles about its been like that for years why should I bother now!! Ideally I would like to have a fact sheet to present to customers so they can digest what I'm saying and back it up too, not creating none existent jobs.

I suppose handing them a plugged in bit of flex is pushing the "demo" a bit........

Explaining to customers can be the hardest part of the job - not just bonding requirements, but the "why" of much of what we have to say.

It's especially true with those parts of a job that are effectively "hidden" - they can see new switches and extra sockets, and hence, the benefit of those, but safety? Nope. You can't see it, there's no value in it.

Oddly enough though, the moment they get a shock off of something, who're they gonna scream at first?

Earth Bonding is an argument that seems to have raged on since electricity was invented though. IMHO we're better with it than without.

A fact sheet should be easy enough to knock up on any half baked word processor or dtp program though.

Tell 'em the basics - earthing your electrical system is important, because.......

Electricity always follows the path of least resistance, for one.
Exposure to phase voltage - see above mentioned demo kit idea.

I'd probably explain it along the lines of it being like a pre-nuptial agreement - it eases the pain of divorce (in this case not from my ex, but from an intimate connection to their electrical supply)......
 
Actually Bugsy even though BS 7671 isn't a statutory document it's derived from the IEE wiring regulations which is, so you can be prosecuted for not conforming to 7671

BS7671 is not a statutory document. The IEE (IET) wiring regulations is BS7671: the same document. It can be used though in a court of law as conforming with the Electricity at Work Act which is Statutory and several other Statutory and Mandatory requirements. Be very careful before stating legal facts without research!
 

Reply to explaining to customers in the Australia area at ElectriciansForums.net

Similar Threads

Good afternoon all, today I experienced a near death electric shock. This happened on a single phase domestic property! I was carrying out a few...
Replies
15
Views
3K
Eh up :) I've done some new PDF forms for BS7671 18th Edition Amendment 2 2022 (the Big Brown Book), based on the IET model forms. You can fill...
Replies
27
Views
12K
Hi there, long time lurker, first time poster here. Straight down to it.. A friend asked me to add some sockets and additional lights to a small...
Replies
0
Views
878
So a quick catch up so you can get an idea… I was asked to do a job for another electrician, as he is too busy. I’m busy myself but said I’d...
Replies
18
Views
2K
So a customer had a nuisance trip and I spent 4 hours trying to find the fault (first hour identifying circuits as none labelled at board). There...
Replies
18
Views
2K

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock