Unqualified " Sparkies " !

 There is a shortage of qualified electricians in New South Wales and labour hire companies are using unqualified people because of the amount of work offering.  It seems inevitable that this will bring about a death because forty percent of house fires are traced back to an electrical fault.

There are 69,365 registered electricians licensed to work in this state and to some extent the shortage can be blamed on the coronavirus.  The pandemic has prevented electricians being imported from overseas to fill the vacancies and urgency is causing contractors to take short cuts.

Skill and training is working to fill the gap and since 2018, 45,000 apprentices have undertaken fee free training, but the danger is the work being undertaken now by unqualified tradesmen which is not being detected.

Fair Trading can impose on the spot fines of up to $22,000 on unqualified individuals working in the industry and $ 110,000 for any company using unqualified labour.  Unfortunately, there is little regulation of electrical work to enforce these penalties.

Much of the wiring in the average home is hidden away behind the wall panels and in a new building the occupier has every reason to believe that the work is up to standard.  The danger is not restricted to a house fire from faulty wiring, it can cause electrocution if a metal object within the house becomes " live ".

It is believed that the scope of this unregistered work is widespread.   Not only is it prevalent in new housing but is featuring heavily in the home renovation sector..  When a handyman renovates a room or adds to the home and looks for an electrician these unqualified tradespeople are not hard to find.

That old saying that " A little knowledge is a dangerous thing "  is true.   They have probably worked for an electrician as a labourer and picked up a few clues, but the safety aspect of wiring is way beyond their skill level.

Often it is the householder who accepts an unqualified electrician or plumber on the basis of the job cost.  It looks like simple work and the quoted price is very acceptable so what is the harm  ?  If the house is later sold and that fault causes loss or damage the work done by a previous owner can become a legal issue.

Thankfully, those 45,000 apprentices will start filling those gaps in the immediate future and that may put the unqualified out of business, but it still depends on the end customer to insist on seeing proof of registration.

If the person giving a quote doesn't seem to have it handy, that is a very good reason to walk away !