coming up on this week's news confusion is mounting in the trade over the correct cable  insulation to use in meter cupboards over a thousand social homes in Dundee are revealed  to have had EICRs that were over 5 years old and a blind electrician is assaulted in a row over a  battery welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with solar trade sales your easy  One-Stop shop for all things solar make sure you click the link in the show notes to access their  online store 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 this week's challenge word competition is supported by the good people at Brady  if you need a label they've got a printer and so much more if you think you spotted the two words  I've been challenged to slip into this week's show comment with them below for the chance to  win a prize and while you're there click the link to check out the Brady range of printers  confusion reigns this week over the insulation of cables in meter cabinets reports indicate  that new homes are increasingly featuring single insulated conductors within the external meter box  but opinion is sharply divided in the trade over whether this is acceptable practice the problem  arises if the consumer unit is more than 3 m from the meter box this requires installers to  use some form of mechanical protection the most common solution is to use steel wire armoured  cable but the cable is often stripped back and connected directly to an isolator or switch fuse  inside the meter box electrical work in new build housing is fiercely competitive and this method  is considerably cheaper and faster but many electricians regard this as bad practice and  question how the installation can be approved for connection they say that single insulation  provides only basic protection and can be damaged during installation or alteration they also argue  that the meter cabinet is accessible to the householder albeit with a simple tool  customers can use a standard triangular key to open the box and read their meter while  a meter cover appears to comply with regulation 412.2.2 in practice it is readily accessible to  unskilled people in which case say the critics the conductors need double protection in an EICR many  electricians would code the exposed single insulated cables as either a C3 or possibly C2  issue but the electrical safety first charity disagrees on its website it says that a meter  cupboard which can only be opened with a key or a tool would be classified as an enclosure based on  the definition in BS7671 if the door lock and the hinges work and there's no signs of damage  to the exposed insulation then it's fine other organisations don't appear to offer the clarity  that the trade requires let us know your view on conductors in meter cabinets in the comments below  and speaking of all things cables and conductors our latest question of the week came courtesy of  our free training package made in association with Doncaster Cables and asked the question General  use PVC flat twin and CPC can operate at a minimum temperature of what temperature and the answer is  -15° C now a respectable 64% of people got this right on YouTube meanwhile on LinkedIn only 36%  of respondents got it correct and on X a mere 24% were right bit of a worry that in these colder  months although to be fair the vast majority of people on all platforms either got it right or  err on the side of caution when totalled up but however you slice it up it seems there's a bit  still to be learned about cables and conductors so why not make it a goal to complete that free  training module From Doncaster cables before the end of the year in other news it's been revealed  that over a thousand Council homes in Dundee went over the recommended 5 year limit for electrical  installation testing the city council admitted that of tests carried out in 2023 and 2024 1222  of its homes had an EICR that was over 5 years old in a statement the local Authority said that  it's continuing to work with tenants to carry out the work it added that it would resort to legal  action if it needed to gain access to properties in June it was revealed that the London borough of  Southwark hadn't done any EICR electrical safety checks on its homes for six years and was only  doing them on an ad hoc basis a major program to inspect its 36,000 Council homes is now underway  in recent years fellow local authorities in the capital Greenwich and Harrow have been  criticised for failures to maintain current EICRs on their properties electrical safety  standards require private landlords to have their electrical installations inspected and tested by a  qualified person at least every 5 years landlords are obliged to provide a copy of the EICR to their  tenants if requested regular checks on social housing are recommended as best practice but are  not currently mandatory the government recently said it was considering making it compulsory  for Council homes and has asked the trade for its view and now for some good news to help us  out with our end of year brain-rot a new service which helps electricians get DNO connections has  passed a major Milestone the Energy Networks Association Connect Direct platform has just  celebrated surpassing 15,000 applications Connect Direct is an AI powered platform that streamlines  the application process for installers of Green Technology such as heat pumps and solar panels in  a rare outbreak of positivity it's been heaped with praised from contractors since it had its  soft launch in May connect direct has been hugely popular and processed a thousand applications in  the first month alone many applications have been processed instantly those that need to  be escalated to the DNO now take on average just one and a half days to process as opposed to the  usual 10 days the platform now allows integrated commissioning allowing electricians to provide  commissioning details for generation devices at customer sites the creators of the service have  also been campaigning to remove so-called zombie projects from the grid connection system they've  now taken the acts to some 10 gigawatts of stalled and speculative jobs speeding up the queue for  genuine applicants I've popped the link to the services website in the show notes the trade in  Manchester is hoping for more positivity and good news after the industry got together to  try and tackle a shortage of electricians in the city the Gathering was the first of its  kind in the UK and brought together Metropolitan authorities vocational colleges business people  and associations such as the ECA the alliance has now developed a plan to tackle barriers to young  people graduating as electricians meanwhile on a national level eyebrows were raised this  week when it was revealed that budding Sparks using the t-level route qualification could work  at home during that industry placements the department for Education confirmed this week  that pupils training to be electricians would be allowed to carry out up to 9 days of their 45-day  industry placements from Home Instead simulated activity would be allowed to form part of their  tuition in some circumstances the DFE said the changes would allow the t-level qualification  to stay ahead of workplace Trends and ensure that students gain practical experience in  Dynamic evolving Industries but former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson slammed the move  he said ministers had gone for the cheap and easy route as against the right route again let  us know what your experience has been like in the comments below one man who definitely didn't take  the quick and easy route was my colleague Gordon who was tasked this week with demonstrating long  range radio technology so he Rick and Joe decided to build a pub on the top of one of Yorkshire's  highest peaks it's a cracking video tale that mixes Mr Beast, David Attenborough and Top Gear  so check it out after this in the show notes and to celebrate said Pub Mountain radio video thing  we've teamed up with RF Solutions technology and the Hawkstone brewery for a competition with the  prize of a PerfectDraft beer machine and a keg of delicious Hawkstone lager I'm sure that'll make Mr  Clarkson very happy your project completions this week include an install of fire detection kits at  Costa Coffee's Flagship Outlet in Sollihull OTec electrical worked with specialist JCB fire and  supplier Hochiki to deliver a detection system that would interface with the existing buildings  Network including its security and sprinkler systems to meet the disability Discrimination  Act the team installed visual alarms designed for individuals with hearing impairments the  kit has an open protocol which means it can talk to other manufacturers equipment such as panels  and detectors the install was completed in a week nice job Folks up in Renfrew Electrical Solutions  Scotland has just finished this lovely lighting job the client is a company who prints the labels  for whiskey bottles as you'd imagine a printing business like this needs quality illumination  electrical Solutions worked with supplier Luceco to come up with a design that matches the daylight  from the skylights and delivers top quality colour rendering they use the Elara Bay High mounted LED  Luminaire for the main industrial space and the surface mount Luxpanels for the office spaces  the client is said to be delighted with the job and if anyone from Electrical Solutions  Scotland wants to give us at eFIXX a tour of their whiskey I mean work then get in touch you won't be  sure to volunteers if you want to see your project featured take some picks tell us what you've done  and get in touch the link as always is in the show notes now speaking of quality printing in product  news this week Brady has unveiled its latest black and white portable printer the M410 label  printer is a robust and versatile tool designed for Professionals in electrical  Datacomms and lab environments engineered for premium 25.4 millimetre printing it delivers  precise edge-to-edge results maximising label space without waste whether you need pre-sized  or continuous labels the M410 offers over 110 hassle-free dropping cartridges with 12 plus  material options to tackle the toughest jobs it's easy swap locking mechanism and clear cartridge  viewing window simplify cartridge changes keeping your workflow seamless and efficient  you can design and print labels on the Fly using the intuitive qwerty keypad or connect  to a PC with Brady workstation software for more complex designs the m410 is built to withstand 1.2  M drops and harsh work environments making it the perfect jobsite companion with enhanced exterior  colouring for visibility a backlit LCD for low light conditions and a user friendly interface  the m410 label printer is your go-to solution for professional labelling if you're a contractor who  works on Street lighting signage or overhead cables you'll know that your mobile platform  is a crucial piece of Kit the only downside to working high up is that you have to use a diesel  van to transport it until now that is that's because UK firm Aldercote has just developed  its first platform specifically for electric vehicles it's the Brand's first product built  entirely without stabilisers instead its design carefully directs the load to strong points in  the vehicle this results in a much lighter product than traditional platforms without compromising on  safety for instance its platforms made for Swedish firm LiftCo and mount on Ford Transit Vans provide  an operating height of 13.8 M and an Outreach of 8.4 M with a working load of 230 kilos the company  also supplies big operators such as open reach and the ESB in Ireland and finally in Thailand  a blind electrician has been badly assaulted in a rail over a battery The partially cited installer  known to his community near Bangkok as Jakraphan was left with a double jaw fracture after he was  attacked by a group of men it all began when Jakraphan was asked to check the electrical  work at a motorcycle repair shop upon arrival he found nobody at the premises and left the owner  later claimed a battery was missing and said CCTV footage showed Jakraphan's car was the  only vehicle at the shop when Jakraphan returned to discuss the issue he was assaulted by two men  who beat him unconscious now the electrician and his family have launched a campaign to try and  get Justice now before we go congratulations to electrical industry exec Ian Hunter who this week  becomes the UK trade sales director at Luceco Ian has a CV featuring major roles at Legrand Siemens  and Scolmore he'll focus on supporting electrical projects in the UK and we wish you all the very  best in your new role Ian and our usual 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 now that  brat summer is finally over whatever that was in December we're looking at energy monitoring  and lighting controls send us pictures of your installs or let us know if you've come across  any new kit that's making your job easier now just before we get to your favourite bit of the  show where I reveal 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 the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel  the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products it 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 smuggled into this week's show pop your guess into  the comments we'll take all those 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 as sponsored by Brady remember if you need a label they've got a printer and so  much more click the link in the description to view their incredible range after the disruption  of the previous week of this competition normal service was resumed and last week  I did indeed remember to smuggle two words into the episode those words were Eskimo and buzzed  and the first name to come out of our electronic hat was Andrew Russell 1998 so well done to you  Andrew 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 remember to click the link in the show notes to check out their online shop  make sure you subscribe to receive the next up thanks for listening and until next time  have a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm