Disciplinary hearings - April 2022

Baoren Wang

The Board held a hearing in February this year to hear a complaint about Mr Wang who had been engaged to complete an electrical upgrade as part of a renovation. The work involved the installation and disconnection of electrical wiring and fittings in the house and the relocation of an aerial supply to the garage with an underground supply. Some six months later Mr Wang was called back to the property after a miniature circuit breaker (“MCB”) tripped after a heavy period of rain. The MCB was replaced. Another electrician inspected the property and found that the fault was due to an underground sub-main installed by the Respondent. It had not been installed to the correct depth (it was buried at no more than 100mm), high impact flexible conduit had not been used, there was no marker tape and connector strips within an underground conduit that had been used which resulted in an unreliable connection. In addition, and amongst other things, the termination/connection of neutral conductors had broken strands where they terminated on the load side of residual current devices (RCDs) and RCDs were configured in a manner where up to six final subcircuits are protected by a single RCD.

Cost was a motivating factor in how the prescribed electrical work was carried out. Essentially, corners were cut to make it a budget job. Whilst prescribed electrical work can be carried out in an economical manner, it must always meet the minimum required standards. Electrical workers can go further and do more than is required. They cannot do less. The consequences of doing less can be catastrophic. The minimum standards are designed to keep people and property safe. Doing less puts both in jeopardy and exposes electrical workers to disciplinary and financial risk. Put simply, cutting corners is never worth it.

A summary of recent decisions, including the above, follow and can be viewed on our website.

The Board’s disciplinary decisions can be viewed online