coming up on this week's news three solar panel frauders are sentenced for their part in a 1.3  million pound scam electricians get to grips with the new Amendment three of the wiring regulations  and a power firm is fined almost a quarter of a million pounds after a high voltage electrical  linesman is paralysed welcome to electrical news weekly in association with solar trade sales your  easy One-Stop shop for all things solar whether you're listening in the van onsite or down at  the wholesale counter I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry  news to save you the trouble and if you think you spotted the two words that I've been challenged  to slip into this week's show comment with them below for the chance to win a prize three people  have been sentenced for their part in running an electrical Renewables installation scam the trio  ran two companies which offered solar panels heat pumps and water heating systems the firms ripped  off hundreds of customers to the tune of 1.3 million sun power Renewables was set up in 2014  and used cold calling and bullying tactics to get people to buy solar panels and other products that  were often unsafe unsuitable and in some cases never installed loans were fraudulently taken  out in customers names with the money arriving under the guise of government grants and then  taken away by sun power leaving their victims to pick up the repayments a second firm Pro  Shield was set up to sell home security systems to a database of homeowners sentencing recorder  Penelope Stanis Street Keen said that the people who bought alarms could have died waiting for help  that wasn't coming Robin McDonald 44 of Park Road Brett be Burton on Trent was described as having  a leading role in the operation of both firms he was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment for four  counts of fraudulent trading and conspiracy to trade fraudulently and disqualified from being  director of a company for 10 years Roy Hampshire 58 of light ash Lane koven wolverhampton who was  involved in the day-to-day operation of pro Shield was sentenced to one year and 8 months  in jail suspended for 18 months 12 days community service and disqualified from being a director of  a company for 6 years Nicola Mather 44 of Robert Adam Road Derby had allowed hundreds of thousands  of pounds to wash through her accounts for the firm she was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment  suspended for 12 months and 200 hours of community service all three will be subject to a proceeds of  crime act at a later date still in the courts a power firm has been fined £240,000 after a high  voltage electrical linesman was paralysed in a fall Gavin Pugh from Bangor in North Wales had  been demolishing and replacing electricity pylons in East Staffordshire when he fell more than 30 ft  in April 2022 Birmingham magistrates Court was told how Pugh and his colleagues began working  on a pylon in preparation for its demolition they were unaware there had been previous work  to loosen the bolts on the tower undertaken by a separate team of linesmen this work had not been  risk assessed and there were no systems in place to effectively record and communicate what they  had actually done Pugh unknowingly attached his full protection lanyard to a diagonal steel that  was only securely bolted in place at its uppermost fixing as he moved around the tower the steel he  was attached to dropped into a vertical position causing his lanyard to fall loose resulting in  him falling to the ground he spent six months in hospital and has been left unable to work  as a result of his extensive injuries a probe by the health and safety executive found that  his employer wood transmission and distribution limited failed to ensure that the work at height  was properly planned appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner that was safe the company  had not considered the work at height hierarchy as part of its planning and had not assessed all  the risks furthermore it had failed to put in place a process for transferring work between  teams and ensuring safety critical information was recorded and communicated effectively wood  transmission and distribution limited of Booth Park chelford Road in knutsford pleaded guilty  at Birmingham magistrates Court to breaching the work at height regulation of 2005 this month the  company was fined £240,000 an ordered to pay costs of £14,000 hse Inspector Robert Gidman  said that the incident could have been prevented had Wood transmission and distribution limited  put in place adequate arrangements to protect its workers from harm and if you are affected by the  story and would like to know a little bit more about the working at Heights regulations and the  working at Heights hierarchy then please check out the free training package that we've made  for you along with the Luceco group there's lots of information there concerning working  at height and other health and safety factors in other news electricians are starting starting to  get to grips with the new Amendment Three to the wiring regulations which was released last week  the revision to bs7671 Aims to clear up confusion over the use of unidirectional and bidirectional  rcds for power sources such as solar panels and home batteries the amendment was fast tracked by  the IET and the British standards Institute after the alarm was raised earlier this year that rcds  and mcbs were being incorrectly connected to micro generator installations if you haven't  got it yet you'll need to download it for free from the iet's website it's a requirement that  all NICEIC certified businesses download a copy of the amendment the PDF is considered a Bolt-on  to the brown book much like Amendment one was back in 2020 the IET says that the brown book and the  Amendments will be valid until at least 2026 why 2026 I hear you cry because that will be when the  freshly announced Amendment four is expected to be published there's never to my knowledge been  four amendments to an addition of bs7671 before which reflects the rapidly changing nature of  our industry at the moment but you won't have to wait 2 years to find out more the draft for public  consultation goes live this Wednesday the 7th of August so you can not only get a good idea of what  the thrust of the major changes will be but also have your say on what should and shouldn't make it  in there's also a live webinar you can join at noon on the day of the launch where Mark Cole,  the head of technical regulations at The IET and his team will announce the expected key  changes and their impact on you there's even a live Q&A session afterwards so you can get your  key questions answered as always there's a link in the show notes and hopefully we'll see you there  speaking of all things regulations last week's question of the week was taken from our free  training package on underfloor wiring systems from Marshall Tufflex we asked according to regulation 433.3.1 if overload protection is omitted from a conductor, what type of protection  should be provided? The correct answer of course according to that regulation,  is of course fault protection. Which a reasonably acceptable 72% percent of people got right on  YouTube but only 64% hit on LinkedIn to find out why it's sometimes okay not to provide over  load protection to a circuit check out that free training package by clicking the link in the show  notes you'll also find there a link to our latest CPD which was also made with Marshall Tufflex this  time on making sure your containment is compliant not just with the regs but also manufacturers  instructions on weight loading environmental factors and premature collapse of wiring systems  now in product news that's hotter than horseradish the concept of EV charging cables running across  the pavement has been given a major boost this week West berkshire Council has become the first  local Authority in the UK to give the thumbs up to a ducting system from kerbo charge the council  has just completed a trial of the product which is designed to help householders without driveways to  charge their car easily as it's recessed there's no trip Hazard for pedestrians West berkshire will  now offer the option to all its residents under the plan its highways contractor Volka highways  will carry out the installations kerbo charge says home charging is 5 to 10 times cheaper than public  charges when a resident wants to charge their car they insert the cable into the channel and  the lid closes behind it like a zip eliminating any trip Hazard the approval has been welcomed by  kerbo investor and TV star Deborah Meenan who backed The Firm on an episode of Dragon's Den  now have you ever struggled to fit a dimmer into a cramped space well Struggle No More electrical  device maker Theben has just unveiled the world's smallest dimmer the Dimax 540 has been designed  for electricians working in ultra-tight spaces it's the size of a 2 piece but has the power  of a full-size dimmer it can provide flicker free dimming for up to 150W of LED power even better no  neutral wire is required you can also control the lighting from multiple locations using just one  Dimax module combined with push to make switches surely something as radical as this deserves a  dedicated video I hear you cry at your computers and phones and it totally does so we did one well  Gary did and you can sit back and watch how he got on with the world's smallest dimmer in his latest  vid fresh from the edit Suite I've put the link to that in the show notes you can also see the Dimax  540 In the Flesh at the theben stand at any of the forthcoming elex shows lewden tells us that  its full EV charging range is now available in the UK the series includes 14 distribution cabinets  for multiple EV charging 13 rcbo consumer units with surge protection and five retrofit consumer  units for the addition of EV charges there are also accessories such as few switches isolators  and distribution terminal blocks that's a lot of choice so they've handily brought all their EV  charging infrastructure together in one brochure I've popped the download link to that in the show  notes and finally your annual reminder that many traditional Lighting Technologies are set  to be phased out over the coming years that's because the mercury in many of the light bulbs  is considered more hazardous than ya nan's 10-year-old fruit cake there will be a bull  ban on all high-intensity discharge sources from 2027 this includes High Press sodium and metal  including quartz and ceramic Arc tubes as these systems are expensive to replace the lighting  industry is recommending the installations move to all LED ahead of the ban thanks to the anonymous  person who sent us that story via our press release submission page please make sure you  include your name next time so that we can give you full credit and lastly a reminder that we're  in the market for your stories your projects and your recommendations as we'd like to share them  with the wider eFIXX community in August we're focusing on residential lighting Smart Homes and  heating send us pictures of your installs or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's  making your job easier and just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I revealed  last week's challenge words and winners we want to thank our premium Partners we couldn't make  the news without you first up it's the people who've created the Swiss army knife of solar  inverters along with all weather batteries very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry it's  SunSynk up next for all your circuit protection needs they're like having an Italian Star Striker  in your Premiership team it's Lewden Pallazoli next they're the brand that Pride themselves in  keeping people close to what's important with the world's most recognisable doorbell chime it's ring  and welcome to a brand new partner they resolving ventilation problems one property at a time with  products made right here in the UK breathing fresh air into your home its environment and  do you want to no fuss lighting Solution that's packed with value then try the EcoLink range  from signify combining value for money with top end signify quality now a business that  will literally bend over backwards to give you the first class service on the trade only supply  of signal reception and distribution custom install home automation and security products  for all residential and Commercial projects it's all trade if if you want to pump up the jam and  join the home heating Revolution then it's got to be heat pumps from Daikin the best thing to  come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking  and quality products it's Doncaster cables with an incredible range of equipment from EV charge  points through industrial sockets and switches to kit for explosive areas plus they supplied  gear for a Campari Factory so they'll always have a place in my heart it's Scame big thanks to you  all we really appreciate your ongoing support for the news if you think you know the words that I've  smuggled into Today's Show pop your guess into the comments we'll take all the correct guesses  and select one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize answers submitted after  about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw now let's reveal the  winners of last week's challenge word competition the words were synthesiser and Curfew and the  person who we plucked out of our digital hat was yes 9466 very well done to you make sure you click  the link in the show notes to claim your prize thanks for listening to this episode of electrical  news weekly in association with solar trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things solar make  sure you subscribe to receive the next update thanks for listening and until next time have  a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a talk calibrated arm