Rogue Traders

[Poweri]

Morning all,

Just wondered if any customers or professionals on this site have any shocking stories or photographs they can share with me?

We have done a piece on our blog "Solar PV Rogue Traders" and I'd like to continue it.

Would be grateful for anything you could share.

 

[MCS Renewables]

We have started a website at Renewable Rescue - Repairing Solar PV & Thermal Installations trying to sort out some of the bodges in Dorset.

Some pictures here : Wall of Shame - Renewable Rescue

 

[driverman]

Great pictures.......Just don't know how people get away with it! Is not industry governed by somebody?

 

[Poweri]

I agree some great pictures there, we only have a few.

Solar PV Rogue Traders| Poweri Services Ltd

 

[Guitarist]

Honestly guys, if you saw what we see on a daily basis in normal domestic work, you'd think some of those installs you have pictures for are fantastic.

 

[Poweri]

Honestly guys, if you saw what we see on a daily basis in normal domestic work, you'd think some of those installs you have pictures for are fantastic.

Would you be so kind as to take some photo's for me? I'd be happy to give credit to you.

 

[Guitarist]

Sorry, but I only have photos of poor DIY work.

 

[Poweri]

I don't want any credit, but here's a tasty little pic or 2 just to give you some idea what we're up against every day. Nothing to do with PV, just poor electrics.
View attachment 18453 View attachment 18454
Always nice to see cables wrapped around gas pipes. Who needs cpc's anyway???

Speechless!

 

[Guitarist]

Speechless!

I have to make it clear that those pictures are the result of DIY work, and not professional electricians.
After a while spent in lofts, that sort of work doesn't even seem out of the ordinary for any domestic spark to see.

 

[MCS Renewables]

The industry is governed by REAL.
The contractors are registered with MCS bodies (NAPIT, NICEIC, ETC )

REAL can be avoided by the rogues who just refuse to have membership and sell how and what they like and give the installs to other MCS contractors who maintain a REAL membership.

The MCS bodies are getting an annual revenue from a declining membership and seem never to exclude anyone, as its all income !

REAL point the finger at the MCS bodies and vice versa.

Great idea to have a customer association but its is toothless and circumventable by those who with a mind to do so.

 

[telectrix]

wewnt to a job to replace 20 50w GU10s with LEDs. this is what was found in the attic. every JB was the same. cpc's cut off.

 

[Guitarist]

wewnt to a job to replace 20 50w GU10s with LEDs. this is what was found in the attic. every JB was the same. cpc's cut off.

View attachment 18455

I think you'll back me up here tel, when I say that that sort of thing doesn't even surprise us anymore, we see it so much.

 

[telectrix]

yep, builders, plumbers, Electrical Trainee's all think they know it all. it works. client is happy... till there's a fire or fatality, then maybe, just maybe, electrical work will only be done by qualified sparks. not in my lifetime, i think.

 

[driverman]

Re those pictures with solar panels planted (not installed) on rooftops and side walls! Are the building regs people not bothered what the properties look like after? After all some of the surrounding properties will not sell at market value. They stand to lose thousands of pounds at no fault of their own.

 

[Guitarist]

Re those pictures with solar panels planted (not installed) on rooftops and side walls! Are the building regs people not bothered what the properties look like after? After all some of the surrounding properties will not sell at market value. They stand to lose thousands of pounds at no fault of their own.

Totally agree. I've known people be refused planning permission due to roofing tiles being the wrong shade, yet those panels are allowed???

 

[Earthstore]

Totally agree. I've known people be refused planning permission due to roofing tiles being the wrong shade, yet those panels are allowed???

Strange as it may seem, but yes you are allowed to have PV panels on your foor under the permitted development rights, as long as they are under 200mm from the plain of the roof, even in a conservation area.

You do need planning permission on listed buildings though, and for ground mounted systems too.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Sorry, but I only have photos of poor DIY work.

Bloody Hell ............. when were you in Geordieland??mg_smile:

I remember doing that job 5 years ago !!! :cowboy:

 

[Guitarist]

Bloody Hell ............. when were you in Geordieland??mg_smile:

I remember doing that job 5 years ago !!! :cowboy:

You've obviously improved since 10 years ago...

 

[Geordie Spark]

You've obviously improved since 10 years ago...

Oh aye .... improving all the time.

I bought mesel' a MFT last week, and a Readers' Digest book about Domestic Wiring last month.

 

[markc123]

We have started a website at Renewable Rescue - Repairing Solar PV & Thermal Installations trying to sort out some of the bodges in Dorset.

Some pictures here : Wall of Shame - Renewable Rescue

This is maybe a nasty thing to say - but im glad its just not us domestic/comercial sparks that see the DIY monstrositys and you solar lads get it aswell

 

[Guitarist]

Oh aye .... improving all the time.

I bought mesel' a MFT last week, and a Readers' Digest book about Domestic Wiring last month.

I remember being given an AA book of home improvement and DIY when I was a kid, from a neighbour who "thought I would like it". It had loads of stuff regarding how to carry out house wiring. Now it's the superstores which tell joe public how to change a CU.

 

[Geordie Spark]

I remember being given an AA book of home improvement and DIY when I was young. It had loads of stuff regarding how to carry out house wiring. Now it's the superstores which tell joe public how to change a CU.

I Know!!

It's an absolute disgrace putting us cowboys out of work.

It makes me glad to be retired.

 

[Toonlad]

Took this about 3 weeks ago,, original fault rcd tripping.

 

[Geordie Spark]

View attachment 18461

Took this about 3 weeks ago,, original fault rcd tripping.

Have ye been practising?

It looks a lot tidier than you usual work!! :joker:

 

[Gavin A]

Totally agree. I've known people be refused planning permission due to roofing tiles being the wrong shade, yet those panels are allowed???

actually, if a neighbour complained, Permitted Development rights could be revoked, and an enforcement notice issued as the rights do come with the responsibility to mitigate the impact on the visual / amenity value of the local area as far as reasonably practicable... or something like that.

Not that the companies that did those abominations will know that or give a ----.

 

[Guitarist]

View attachment 18461

Took this about 3 weeks ago,, original fault rcd tripping.

What's the problem? "It works dunnit?"

 

[markc123]

Haha at that toonlad, no wonder it was tripping the RCD. What sort of fruitcake thinks something like that is acceptable - how can they not realise that as soon as you fasten that back the likley hood of the exposed live conductor touching the earth is 1/9999999999.

 

[Toonlad]

Cheers Geordie, Class ehh. ring main was at the side, both cables at the bottom were spurs. one did the porch socket and lights the other, linked back into an old back boiler spur and accross the room to spur 2 sockets in the conservatory. Basically bare connections arcing accross and it was one of those flat plate sockets, so everything gets squashed. the face plate was bending under the strain.

On the subject of practicing yes it took me 5 weeks, 2 more than most, so im a bit more experianced now.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Cheers Geordie, Class ehh. ring main was at the side, both cables at the bottom were spurs. one did the porch socket and lights the other, linked back into an old back boiler spur and accross the room to spur 2 sockets in the conservatory. Basically bare connections arcing accross and it was one of those flat plate sockets, so everything gets squashed. the face plate was bending under the strain.

On the subject of practicing yes it took me 5 weeks, 2 more than most, so im a bit more experianced now.

Good lad - keep it up.

Another fortnight at that rate and you'll be awarded the Silver Spurs.

 

[Toonlad]

yeeehaaaaa

 

[Gavin A]

This is maybe a nasty thing to say - but im glad its just not us domestic/comercial sparks that see the DIY monstrositys and you solar lads get it aswell

we do our fair share of bonding gas and water coz the last spark / kitchen fitter couldn't be arsed, sorting out the lack of an earth at all coz the water company has replaced the mains pipes with plastic and not thought it necessary to tell any of the houses that were relying on those pipes for earthing (which is a good proportion of Leeds houses IME) etc. I love the ones where the spark has run the earth bonding cable to the location of the sink / boiler left it for the kitchen fitter / gas boys to fit to the pipe when the install their kit, but they obviously thought bonding worked well enough as long as the cable was within site of the pipe it was bonding to, no need to actually clamp it to the pipe or anything.

We just also get the job of sorting out the roofers bodges as well.... then with the solar water heating side we sometimes have the joy of fixing the mess a swimming pool installer / bodger had made of a £100k pool... and that british gas had made of fitting a boiler 15 years ago with the sodding heating pump pumping the wrong way round the circuit causing the boiler to cycle hot/col/hot/cold like it was on the menopause... and the customer to wonder why their systems was rubbish and cost them a fortune......... right old can of worms that one.

keeps us on our toes though eh.

 

[Geordie Spark]

we do our fair share of bonding gas and water coz the last spark / kitchen fitter couldn't be arsed, sorting out the lack of an earth at all coz the water company has replaced the mains pipes with plastic and not thought it necessary to tell any of the houses that were relying on those pipes for earthing (which is a good proportion of Leeds houses IME) etc. I love the ones where the spark has run the earth bonding cable to the location of the sink / boiler left it for the kitchen fitter / gas boys to fit to the pipe when the install their kit, but they obviously thought bonding worked well enough as long as the cable was within site of the pipe it was bonding to, no need to actually clamp it to the pipe or anything.

We just also get the job of sorting out the roofers bodges as well.... then with the solar water heating side we sometimes have the joy of fixing the mess a swimming pool installer / bodger had made of a £100k pool... and that british gas had made of fitting a boiler 15 years ago with the sodding heating pump pumping the wrong way round the circuit causing the boiler to cycle hot/col/hot/cold like it was on the menopause... and the customer to wonder why their systems was rubbish and cost them a fortune......... right old can of worms that one.

keeps us on our toes though eh.

Oh aye ............ there's nowt worse than being stuck with an old boiler on the menopause. :38:

 

[SolarCity]

I've driven past this beauty a few times and had to find it on Street View so that I could post it here.

The panels protrude past the ridge by at least 100mm and the bottom clearly passes the gutter. The forces exerted on the roof in heavy winds must be utterly immense - particularly as this is in a very high wind area.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sedgy has driven past this a few times.

 

[moggy1968]

British Gas had been in a few days earlier fitting a new gas meter and installing this new feed.This customer asked me for a quote for a board change, I suggested she got BG back!!

 

[Geordie Spark]

View attachment 18462

I've driven past this beauty a few times and had to find it on Street View so that I could post it here.

The panels protrude past the ridge by at least 100mm and the bottom clearly passes the gutter. The forces exerted on the roof in heavy winds must be utterly immense - particularly as this is in a very high wind area.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sedgy has driven past this a few times.

Looks like a good idea to me ..... it stops the leaves from getting in & blocking the gutter.

 

[Geordie Spark]

View attachment 18463View attachment 18464British Gas had been in a few days earlier fitting a new gas meter and installing this new feed.This customer asked me for a quote for a board change, I suggested she got BG back!!

Class .... pure class.

I particularly liked the use of yellow tape to identify it as a Gas Pipe.

 

[moggy1968]

is that what that is, I thought is was to protect it from electrical shorts:clown:

 

[SolarCity]

View attachment 18463View attachment 18464British Gas had been in a few days earlier fitting a new gas meter and installing this new feed.This customer asked me for a quote for a board change, I suggested she got BG back!!

Absolutely staggering!

 

[Geordie Spark]

is that what that is, I thought is was to protect it from electrical shorts:clown:

Well in this instance it's serving a dual purpose.

 

[Guitarist]

View attachment 18463View attachment 18464British Gas had been in a few days earlier fitting a new gas meter and installing this new feed.This customer asked me for a quote for a board change, I suggested she got BG back!!

Now this one really needs sending to BG, plus CC to your local MP

 

[Geordie Spark]

Do any of you lads know about or remember Redifusion?

It was cable radio and then cable television here in Geordieland in the 1950s & 60s and involved large black cables strung at eaves height between all the houses on estates. The cables then ran down the walls & then through them into the living room where there was a large rotary selector switch which you used to select which radio station you wanted to listen to or which of the two TV channels you wanted to watch. From this selector switch was run a wire into the back of a modified TV set.

Anyway, this bloke wanted his TV at the opposite side of the room and the Redifusion gadgee came to extend and re-route the cable from the switch to the TV in its new location. He did this by clipping the cable straight along the wall about 3 feet from the floor and straight across the French Windows ......

 

[trev]

Aye, I remember them. Me folks rented one of their tellys for years.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Aye, I remember them. Me folks rented one of their tellys for years.

Aye, me Granny did an' all.

When I was working for a builder in the 1990s I took a great delight in ripping down the old disused cables & junction boxes that were still stuck on the flats we were renovating.

It's surprising to see how much of that stuff is still around considering it hasn't been in use since the 70s.

I've often thought that Granada must be kicking themselves. They bought Redifusion and closed it down. Years afterwards, United Artistes (later Telewest and now Virgin Media) arrived on the scene and introduced ........... Cable Television !!!!

Granada had it all on a plate - the infrastructure and customers everything they needed - All they had to do was upgrade it but they let it go.

 

[Earthstore]

View attachment 18463View attachment 18464British Gas had been in a few days earlier fitting a new gas meter and installing this new feed.This customer asked me for a quote for a board change, I suggested she got BG back!!

Would that be the same BG that advertise on the telly for plumbing,wiring,insulation,
Cooking the tea, making the beds, digging the garden, and getting any of your pets in the family way.
Me thinks they should get their own house in order first.
Did make me smile though...

 

[Geordie Spark]

Would that be the same BG that advertise on the telly for plumbing,wiring,insulation,
Cooking the tea, making the beds, digging the garden, and getting any of your pets in the family way.
Me thinks they should get their own house in order first.
Did make me smile though...

Yup ..... the very same.

 

[moggy1968]

Would that be the same BG that advertise on the telly for plumbing,wiring,insulation,
Cooking the tea, making the beds, digging the garden, and getting any of your pets in the family way.
Me thinks they should get their own house in order first.
Did make me smile though...

err, yup, that be the one!! Have you ever actually tried contacting one of these companies though unless your a customer!!

 

[Geordie Spark]

err, yup, that be the one!! Have you ever actually tried contacting one of these companies though unless your a customer!!

Contact them?? ............. I subbed for them for a while installing heating systems - a Combi & 7 radiators.

I packed it in because I wasn't rough enough.

 

[monkeyelectric]

I could give you the name of a guy near me and all you got to do is follow him round and take pictures of all his jobs, you should have enough material for your whole campaign

 

[drew35]

"Solar PV Rogue Traders"

You don't need to write the word rogue when it comes to PV installs, its assumed!

 

[telectrix]

Do any of you lads know about or remember Redifusion?

It was cable radio and then cable television here in Geordieland in the 1950s & 60s and involved large black cables strung at eaves height between all the houses on estates. The cables then ran down the walls & then through them into the living room where there was a large rotary selector switch which you used to select which radio station you wanted to listen to or which of the two TV channels you wanted to watch. From this selector switch was run a wire into the back of a modified TV set.

Anyway, this bloke wanted his TV at the opposite side of the room and the Redifusion gadgee came to extend and re-route the cable from the switch to the TV in its new location. He did this by clipping the cable straight along the wall about 3 feet from the floor and straight across the French Windows ......

remember 'em? i used to work for them. colour TV was just booming.