I heard on radio talk-back that electricians are too afraid of being electrocuted to do safety inspections of recently installed foil insulation. A similar problem of faulty installation of solar panels has now been discovered.

If a brave inspector is found, who should pay for the inspection?

These installations were subsidised by government and the house owners had no say in the qualifications of the installers.

If the beneficiaries of faulty installations are in fear of a fire breaking out do they have to declare this to their house insurance agent? Do they have to infom the real estate agent if they decide to sell the house?

From now on, it's not only asbestos we worry about. How do purchasers ensure a house is not a death-trap?

I believe vendors would be responsible for any damage and/or loss of life to subsequent residents if they sold their house without fixing hazards. Archicentre will confirm that this has occurred with dodgy balconies or extensions, or illegal wiring, i.e., carried out by unqualified persons.

Speaking of unqualified -- how much food-poisoning has occurred with the employing of unqualified graduates of shonky cooking colleges set up purely to gain immigration visas? I hope for the sake of people being attended to by similarly poorly trained hairdressers/barbers that the cut-throat razor has been superseded.

But why pillory the politicians? Garrett is just another pawn in the great Australian greed game. The sin is our general acceptance that we are, as perceived overseas, a nation of jumbuck-grabbing swagmen. (I would say swagpersons but that may not be factually correct, even if politically so.)

<< I heard on radio talk-back that electricians are too afraid of being electrocuted to do safety inspections of recently installed foil insulation. >>

Er, surely they could simply turn the power off at the mains switch prior to examining the installation?

Thats talk-back radio for you. Thick as a plank presenters for thick as a plank listeners.

CJ Morgan: "Er, surely they could simply turn the power off at the mains switch prior to examining the installation?"

How unenterprising of you. I'd tell 'em I won't go near the place till they pay me to install earth leakage detectors on all circuits.

After doing that, I would of course insist on switching the power off anyway. Can't be too careful, can you?

We disconnected the electricity all together from our
*Solar Panel Water Heater*

It was connected to a 1000Watt element and was clearly the most electricity thirsty thing in our house, as evidenced by our "electricty bill" which has gone down by more than half consistently.

Sure, if we have had a prolonged period of it being overcast, it does in turn lead to a luke warm wash in the morning, but given how warm and humid it is here it really isn't an issue.

Otherwise, it pumps hot, hot, hot.

..

Of course, we have a hose shower head attachment coming off our bath.

Rinse the bod, turn off, shampoo and soap down, turn on, rinse off and all done, off again with shaving and teeth done at the basin. This idea of the constant running shower in the dry southern continent really is very silly. And of course, with a certain skin type, certain water quality and a cheap soap and you have the makings for a skin condition.

..

Re the "Electrickery" backup systems, all One can say is:
"How dissapointing."

As someone who once held an electrical contractors licence I have
pondered how I would go about testing one of these installations.

First thing the sheet could be live all over the roof space, or
perhaps only one sheet would be alive, but which one ?
Also from what I have seen the sheets of foil are double sided so a
sheet could be alive on the top or the bottom or both.

There is only one way to do it as far as I can see.
Disconnect the mains and connect a 12 volt battery in place of the
mains, after disconnecting all equipment such as friges, microwaves,
TV sets etc, basically anything with transformers.

Then go through the manhole with a lead from the earth pin of a GPO.
Using a meter check top and bottom of each sheet for 12 volts.
The first problem I see with this is you might disturb a connection
which remakes itself when you get get down from the ceiling space.
Another catch is the connection to the mains might be such that at
12 volt it does not make a solid connection but at 240 volt it breaks
down any dirt or grease etc.

If it does one of these things , do you get sued for not doing a
proper job ?
Also, there might have been no connection at the time but with a few
years of expansion and contraction there might be enough wear on the
insulation of the wiring or connectors to make a connection.
It could need two or three hours plus travelling time and you would
need to have a word with your insurance company also.
Frankly the cheapest way would be to remove the foil altogether and install bats.
Talking of bats are all the houses with those down lights going to be
inspected ? I notice another house fire in Sydney was caused by the
bats being placed over the lamps.
How many thousands of houses to be done ?
I think I go back into the business, and make myself a fortune.

Bazz: "Another catch is the connection to the mains might be such that at 12 volt it does not make a solid connection but at 240 volt it breaks down any dirt or grease etc."

You would use a mega-ohm meter, surely.

That aside, it gets worse. The favoured bats have metal foil on one side, fibre on the other. The metal side is laid face down ...

Anyway, there is an obvious technical fix. Just insist the entire sheet is electrically connected, and then earth the lot. Testing something is electrically connected is easy and should be relatively reliable.

Rstuart;
Yes, of course, it had slipped my mind, I haven't had one for
at least 40 years.