Didnt like having to AR warm air unit!

[Ric2013]

Is it me thats delusional? I'm trying to tow the line (that I broadly agree with btw) its just not sitting well with me!

Not delusional, but sounds like you are used to using your brain. Which isn't all that common a trait.

I had a sparkie insist on strongly recommending an 'improvement' on a house I used to rent out. Didn't like the clearly labelled fridge/freezer ONLY socket which had no RCD (despite the then electrical regs having a clear stated reference to this being okay). People don't like seeing anything that is unusual. My thought was that it was for a specific purpose, the tenants understood the purpose, there were so many other available kitchen sockets that there was no reason to think the tenants would feel the need to use it for anything else, and the risk of power failure and food poisoning exceeded the risk of shock from a fridge which was hard to PAT test because pretty much everything was painted or plastic so it was a struggle to find any way of testing the earth connection. No exposed metal: no shock possible!

After a argument by email, we compromised on a weak recommendation for 'improvement' which I then ignored.

 

[Knappers]

Thanks Ric2013. Its not easy with all the regs, then we've got paraphrased and abridged versions in the form of Guides.
Same as with sparks, were expected to be an authority and confident with the 'rules' but there's so many grey areas and contradictions written into them - its silly, the reason none of them are actually law and rather just supported by law is they would never stand up on their own.
Gas regs especially are a bit of a joke, spread across probably 50+ documents all overlapping, published by different bodies and largely inaccessible. Anyone who claims to have a comprehensive understanding must be a Savant and would likely be incapable of using basic tools.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

And most coming down to engineers judgment

 

[Knappers]

Granted having domestic, commercial, LPG (inc boats, caravans, LAV etc), testing and purging and full scope Part P tickets etc..etc.. doesn't help my clarity of thinking

 

[Ric2013]

Granted having domestic, commercial, LPG (inc boats, caravans, LAV etc), testing and purging and full scope Part P tickets etc..etc.. doesn't help my clarity of thinking

Well, I'd much prefer having someone of your ilk working in my house. Pity you're in Rugby.

You sound like the type who when asked, "Would you be able to run the pipe, flue, etc. this way (even if it costs more) rather than that way?" would at least be able to explain the technical reason rather than just say, "Oh no, that's not how it's usually done".

True story: a plumber friend of mine was working in an engineer's house and several tradesmen complained that he was questioning everything. My friend had no problem with him, however. Basically he just felt a need to understand the system that was being installed, and was interested. My friend answered his queries, he was happy, and then he started making her teas.

 

[Knappers]

Thanks Ric2014,
I'm a very average engineer.
I do like it when people show an interest tho

 

[Chuck]

True story: a plumber friend of mine was working in an engineer's house and several tradesmen complained that he was questioning everything. My friend had no problem with him, however.

IME, asking a tradesman why they recommend doing something in a particular manner is a fairly reliable way to whether they are good. If they are happy to answer and explain the pros and cons you've probably found a good 'un.