What do you guys think about electrical work done by plumbers?
In Austria they usually wire everything they hook up (new boiler,...), and most of the time they botch horribly. For example, a well-known plumbing company installed a completely new central heating system in our appartment. They took the wire from our infrared heater, connected 2 3x1.5 mm2 SVT cables to it using strip connectors, wrapped everything with electrical tape and finally buried the splice in the wall. Then they ran 1 wire to the boiler (nicely stapled to the wall, but stranded isn't listed for fixed wiring) and one to the heater.
There's a plumber I know quite well who spliced the 230/400 panel feeder in his house. He hadn't much conductor left, so everything was under tension. Some time later the splice burnt and he had 230V on the neutral. This went unnoticed as long as the neutral worked. But when the neutral broke, every light-power appliance ran on 400V (light bulbs become really bright then!), and high-power appliances just stopped working.
So what do you think?

> stranded isn't listed for fixed wiring

Are you sure about this? It sounds very odd.

Over here in NZ,
Plumbers, are required to sit an exam, called the Tradespersons Wiring Certificate,
it is only available to Craftsman Plumbers, with 2 years Qualifying Experience.
This work, pertains mainly to wiring H/W cylinders, dishwashers, waste disposal units
and water boilers.
This is only where an Electrician has already run the cable and provided the Protection Equipment.

Flex (SVT cord, according to US terminology) isn't listed for permanent use. Only solid 3x1.5 or bigger may be used for fixed surface mount runs.

i must confess more plumbers having intrical knowledge of boiler controls than i, however, thier wiring methods tend to lack finesse...

I agree with Sparky, some plumber's work here leaves a lot to be desired, although I'm usually not concerned with the low-voltage work they do.

Even worse than plumbers are HVAC guys who do their own wiring on air conditioners and air handlers they install. I have seen flying Romex with no staples or support for 12 feet, diconnect switches falling off the side of the house, no romex connectors, etc etc.

Oh yes.... Some of the wiring done on central heating boilers is very poor.

I've seen NM-type cable run right into the controls, casually draped across hot surfaces, or "choc-block" connectors with a couple of turns of tape equally casually pulled through from the back of the unit.

I must admit, guys, I would never like to do the type of work that Plumbers do, especially, as that applies to Sewerage work, Soil pipes, etc.
I once saw a blow-back on a Plumber, working
downstairs in a two-storey house,when someone upstairs flushed the toilet, it was not pretty, thank Christ I'm a Sparkie.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 12-04-2002).]

Yeah, I agree that plumber's work can be really awful, but Yet I think if they're not able to do electrical work properly they should stick to their pipes.
I know that they're almost forced to do electrical work when installing boiklers etc, but I think in this case they should be obliged to take some kind of basic electrical training and license.

Oh, I forgot: I haven't yet had the pleasure to see wiring done by HVAC guys first hand since air condition is hardly ever used in residential construction here (some hysteric people have window-ac units installed, but they're not appreciated very much (neither the people beacause they just can't stand a nice warm summer nor the window units because they look awful from outside). Plumbers are just far more common here, as hot water central heating has been first choice since the 1930ies or even earlier and probably will remain (along with lots of gas, wood and oil space heaters in old houses).

Same in the U.K. HVAC guys in the American sense are few and far between, and mostly confined to commercial work.

The most common central-heating system here is also piped hot water to radiators, so plumbers tend to do residential heating installtions.

As for air-con, that's also an expensive luxury in a country which can't really boast about its sunshine and temperature records.