RISKS OF ELECTRICITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18631, 12 February 1924, Page 10

RISKS OF ELECTRICITY.

? MONK WITH GOOD MATERIALS ILL-ADVISED "ECONOMY." QUALITY BEFORE CHEAPNESS " The average prospective customer uses considerably more discrimination in purchasing a cigar than he is willing to devote to his electrio house wiring quota- * tion, M says an electrical engineer, discussing the question of fire resulting through defective installations. " The writer hits carefully considered the ruling cost for good materials and competent workmanship to determine the minimum figure c.i which it is possible to show! good work. The result is to show that a very large number of contracts are executed in which the best interests of the customer have not been served. The low prices per point which are accepted in >0 many instances absolutely preclude the possibility of obtaining good work and materials. The prospective consumer should bear in mind that a properly wired and fitted electric installation is almost j void of risk. On the other hand, those cases in which the lowest quotation is the rain and only consideration are a continual menace to life and property." "Wholesale" writes: —Information on a phase of the question, not yet given prominence, may be of interest. I refer to th« quality of the cables, insulated wires, and the large number of different ] electrical ■sundries comprising an ordinary lighting installation'. As in all other j trades, these articles are available in good, j bad, and indifferent qualities, although all! are invariably supplied an best English I material}. The most skilled electrician j

cannot instal a high-class job without being provided with first-class materials, and it. stands to reason that his employer is prevented from handling only the higher grade of supplies, when the average customer forces prices down by consistently accepting the cheapest quotation. During the latter years of the war, a certain amount of inferior apparatr- was more or less generally used in all classes of work for the reason that the usual source of supplies was practically cut off, and to carry on left no alternative. As in electrical work the particular articles involved were mostly' in the nature of surface fittings, such as switches and ceiling roses, the increased fire hazard was not so great as would be generally supposed. At prseent, however, there is absolutely no necessity for the use of cheap or medium grade materials. All reputable dealers are in the position to supply high-grade wiring accessories only; in fact, on the old axiom that it is better to have one satisfied customer than a dozen disgruntled ones, prefer to do so. If the supply authorities and the Fire Underwriters Association would discriminate between the different grades of supplies by definitely banning the cheaper quality, and users and intending users not only insisted on having the approved articles,, but agreed to pay an equitable price for them, a better state of affairs would exist. • The main solution, as is generally the case, lies with the purchaser. Those prepared to pay for a first-class job can, by dealing only with reputable hozoes, be assured of getting it. " Small Contractor" says that the blame for defective installations must be laid t# a large extent on the consumer, for if ridiculously low prices were r.ot accepted so often, there would be mpre reliable installations, as the cheap and dishonourable contractor would get fewer contracts mid therefore find that he must raise his standard of work or go under. He gives an instance: Tenders were called for & small job, and when the prices 'closed the highest was £24 and the lowest £17. The latter was accepted and as this figure would barely cover the cost of reliable material alone, one can 'only imagine what will happen in time and how the low price for installing will end in a high price for repairs or something worse. The writer's repairs on other contractors' cheap installations occupy practically half his time. This leads him to lay the blame chiefly on the consumer for encouraging such a system.