Standards + Normes

[BIG MAC]

I was intrigued to read some quality ranting in another thread and the assertion that a vast amount of British trades men are idiots.

New build housing stock in the UK is required to comply with the Building Regulations, Construction companies are required to comply with HSAWA, RIDDOR, CDM2007, RIDDOR, and a whole raft of legislation and compulsory procedure...Yet still we build houses get them certified and occupied NHBC Guaranteed etc.....not too bad for idiots.

It's a joy to watch a craftsman at work (I am a qualified plumber) I choose not to earn my living at my trade due to injury sustained in a bike crash but do keep my hand in.

I like to see other trades doing what they do best and enjoy the learning experience, I would find nothing more off-putting than having a skilled man telling me how much he was  earning doing it..frankly I wouldn't give a monkeys although I could imagine their French counterparts thinking they were round the twist, surely there's more important things in life than the size of your wad?

I like the friendly advice and support offered on here by many and don't feel the need to know whether they earn loadsaloot or not, it's none of my business.

[LesFlamands]

The term 'Builder' is widely used to describe anyone from a building labourer to the managing director of a large house building company. Successful builders are often much better at the practicalities, including plans, project management, personnel management and actual construction than any of the so called building professions (Architects etc.). Tradesmen, in my experience, are generally very good at their trade and I have the greatest of respect for tradesmen who realise their skill is just a grounding and enjoy developing their skills further by taking on challenging jobs that they haven't done before. Unfortunately, there are some tradesmen who seem to think that work rate and therefore money is the be all and end all. The end result is poor quality work that reflects on the whole building industry. In the domestic side of things this has lead to customers being unrealistic and assuming the builder is out to rip them off so costs are cut at every corner leading to more shoddy work, leading to an even worse reputation.

There you go - didn't mention France or England once[:)]