David UK said:
"I would like to see DIY wiring limited to replacing broken accessories only."
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I'm a DIY guy and I fully agree with you.
I believe all connections to the fuse box should be made by a licenced electrician, especially when you live in an apartment where you can't easily shut off power to your own fuse box.
In that case you certainly need someone who is familiar with working with live electricity and knows what they're doing.
However, I've noticed even some simple (to me) tasks such as replacing a cracked socket or a burned out switch are beyond the scope of a lot of people.
These are the same folks who shove the fiberglass insulation from the fixture "rose" up into the wall box, wire them in with pig-tail leads made out of .75mm "lamp cord" (disintegrates in the heat generated by the bulb enclosed in the fixture) and use TWO 100-watt bulbs in a fixture rated for two 60-watt bulbs max; leaving me with crumbling cables I now have to rip out of the ceiling and replace!!!
I've encountered these problems in the last two flats I've lived in. It's scary, to say the least.
Frankly, if you don't know how to replace, or install a plug on an appliance or toss out the entire lamp just because the bulb socket has worn out, you certainly have no busines messing with the wires in the wall!!!
