Electrical work in Social Housing
Mark Allison
Electrician 1st. But also... Co-host of The Renewables Podcast and Apprentice 121 podcast. Owner of Power Sonic Ltd, nationwide solar PV and Battery storage installers. Won some awards....
So after a chat last night among electricians working at the coal face of the industry I had to write about the above.
Last week I watched a webinar with the IET about competence of electricians in housing. It was insightful seeing how others view and manage such things.
But after chatting with people who actually work at the bottom of this chain in peoples homes my jaw was on the floor. Electricians going to work for ￡130 a day expected to attend either 4 EICRs or 10 reactive maintenance works. Sometimes covering materials needed out of their own pocket as the contract does not allow for that particular task.
I have to ask the question of value for tax payers and those living in social housing. So many layers of management and sub contracting for smaller and smaller amounts at every layer.
We sometimes get very focused on looking at the competence of electricians. If we are honest that is relatively clear cut in solution. Focused effort on the apprenticeship system with both funding and time. Tighten points of entry etc.
Would it not make more sense to focus attention on those further up the chain. How about the competence of those organising and managing these contracts, weighting towards quality and stripping out lots of layers of management. The funding is in place in most cases, sadly stripped away before it can be used effectively.
All the while we are looking at electricians we are not focused on the actual solution. Not focused on those profiting at the expense of safety. Those who are not working in the best interests of the occupiers in these homes but to better serve themselves.
We can make everything look fine on paper, blame dodgy electricians all we want. These are just people trying to make a living, many desperate just to be able to have the time and money available to do things properly.
Its vital we get honest as a trade about a lot of things and really look at the core problems to a lot of these issues.
This involves listening to those who are going into these jobs, boots on the ground today and in the past. Ask them what is actually going on maybe?
I found the whole thing last night very insightful and am looking forward to seeing that enter the public domain for discussion. When we talk about social housing as different to regular rented property the input of those doing the work is vital. Who is listening to them?
Having these discussions available for comment and review is vital. I wish the IET webinar was available as that could be a great contribution for discussion.
Would be interested in others thoughts and opinions on this.
We can do a lot better in my opinion to support the electricians working in these homes.
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3 年I great article I ran my own business for over 26 years doing testing, I kept away from social housing as I could never make it pay, The larger FM companies would win the contract then sub contract it out as the housing associations had tendering systems smaller companies struggled to win. By the time it got down to the actual company doing the works there was no money left so the rates were to low. The crazy part was smaller companies wouldn't meet the tendering process but were the ones doing the job so the FM companies just took the profit out of the job.
? Raising awareness on the long-term consequences of low voltage electrical shock exposure ??
3 年That is way to many conductors jammed under one terminal, I count 4. I would do all splicing outside the box and bring it in on a single conductor.
Supervisor at DRAC Consulting.
3 年As QM at one of my former employers my manager told me you don’t need to study the forms that the Electricians submit, just sign them. He was an expert at delegation, in this case delegating the risk, to me. He was surprised when I left.
Responsive Repairs Manager and Lead QS at Magenta Living
3 年Well said Mark
Operations Director at KERS Energy Recovery
3 年There’s no need for poor quality installations if we can build a market based on professional standards, quality, trust & value. However we do have a shortfall in skills and lack of interest in qualified trades. How do we work together to improve the industry for the better of our clients whilst creating valued careers?