As long as you know which one is live, which one is neutral, then the last one must be the earth.

Then as long as it comes on and works - you are good to go.

A method for disaster! That's what that is.

The thing is there are people out there that actually think this. I know electricians have a reputation of being perfectionists - But there is a good reason for that.

A bodge job may last for years and save you hundreds of pounds.

It only takes that one time….

The one time you plug 3 heaters in only overnight.

The one time a year you have everything in your house running on full capacity because its christmas.

Well that's all it takes. You only lose 1 life too.

Tool box talk for electricians Helping electricians reduce stress, gain back time and earn more money.

Hello, my name is Ben Poulter, your host of tool box talk for electricians.

Have you ever heard someone say - electricity is easy?

It's either a tradesman or a right cheapskate.

Being an electrician is Easy - To Electricians!

The same as plumbing is easy for plumbers and building houses is easy for brickies.

What worries me is some people with a small amount of knowledge - They worked with their best mates dad building an extension, and he knew an electrician years ago - type of guy.

It's these people who give it a go.

Who runs a piece of 2.5 twin and earth to the garden shed from a socket, then plug 3 heaters in a multi plug thing.

Now I get it, if you have your Mrs asking to put a freezer in the shed, you know it's going to cost £500 to just get electricity in there.

She thinks you're making it up and you don't want to fork out for another freezer.

So this is when the DIY Dave gives it a go, maybe checks out a few you tube videos or calls his mate who's a ground worker.

We see these types of jobs all the time, some people are proud of what they have done and point it out to you when you're there doing another job.

“I did that cable” Chest pumped out. - Easy!

I take great pride in pointing out what could potentially happen to the handy work.

The sad thing is these types of jobs have been there for years sometimes and worked fine.

Might have tripped the MCB a couple of times, but switched back on when the rain dried out.

It's when they dont work. When there are too many things wrong for it to be anywhere near right.

That one fault could cause a fire, or even cause death.

What are they going to say to the Mrs then, when the house is up in flames and the kids are upstairs in bed.

Not just that - what's your life going to be like knowing it was your fault because you didn't want to call an electrician and get the job done properly.

I can't stress enough to people how electricians go to college to learn a skill on how to not only install cables to power sockets - but we learn how to do it safely too.

This is where Part P is a good thing for customers.

It gives the customer confidence that the electrician does know what they're doing and has trained at college to learn the trade.

Not that a lot of customers actually care. I have never been asked for a customer to see my Part P registration card.

These days the piece of paper you have as a qualification is worth a lot more.

You have no chance of getting a job as an electrician without having qualifications to prove it.

Just today I was asked to install 1 socket to a bedroom.

The customer was 87 and her house was beautiful. She just wanted a socket near the bed to plug a lamp in.

The socket would not have been a problem. It's a fuse board that was over 50 years old.

The socket would of cost around £200 to install but the board would need to be changed which would have been around £700.

At the least, she would have had to put in something to RCD protect the sockets.

It added up quite quickly.

I could tell on her face it was something she wasn't prepared to get done.

I would have loved to just put a socket in and leave the board, but if anything happened to that circuit after I had worked on it, that would be my responsibility.

You need to do things properly.

With people all over the world tightening their budgets, it's happening more and more.

Some people are losing their jobs due to business closing, so doing the odd jobs around the village.

This is fine and fair play, maybe they can start a business of their own - But electrics is not and odd job.

Neither is gas.

You can tell if the electrical job is wrong straight away, this is why electricians test, and its the same with plumbers.

You can see a small gas leak that can kill you overnight.

I appreciate it when a customer “gives it a go”

As long as they admit it when I turn up.

The common “nobodys toughed it, it's been like that for years and just stopped working”

If you open up a socket with reverse polarity and the cables come out straight away - somebody's touched it. Oh these new sockets are nice too.

It's not always about doing the job, it's about the testing and knowing it's safe.

TESTING with a test kit!

This is why a customer will keep you as their electrician forever, if you keep doing a good job - there's no reason for them to go elsewhere.

Good customers become friends.

Friends support you and your business.

So at this time of year when the spirits are high, blast out a quick email to your most valued customers.

With a subtle mention about helping to grow your business, I'm sure they will be happy to help you out.

I have a template of an email inside of the tool box talk for electricians group, also in you want to email on toolboxtalking@gmail.com - I will be happy to forward it over.

Until next time