first week
 

Guys,

I have just completed my first week as a T.A in brissy and just to let all the lads who havent arrived yet that the standard is poor here so dont worry about the standard. The is another expat working on the site and has been here 3 yrs and compared it to our ' temp jobs' in the UK.

They like to swap from pvc conduit to adaptable conduit and back again and just lash cables across ceilings on gripples ' rough as f---'

I even seen them levelling lighting trunking with a 6" boat level and pissed myself laughing.

Re: first week
 

Welcome to Ozzie mate. I hate the fact that they don't use bends with PVC conduit but use flexible. Just lazy. If you have no bends then maybe Ok. But when u are given them. (speaking from my experience giving a 54 year old bends and he just used flexible).

Re: first week
 

Have a look.

Re: first week
 

Actually. Maybe we could run a thread for rough as guts installs we have seen here? I have a few crackers.:D

Re: first week
 

He also didn't have a chalk line. I gave him mine and he still didn't use it. It was some of the worst conduit i have seen. I then had to fix it a few weeks later as i just couldn't have my name put to it as it was my job and he was only there to HELP? me.:confused:

Re: first week
 

mate,

they are shit aint they and its us that have to retrain!!!

They have sent two guys up from sydney to connect the lv panels and they have taken the gland plates off chucked them away and just connected the singles on.

I have watched another guy this week and it has taken him 4 days to connect a DB.

I think we could run this thread for ages just with what I can find on this one job.

Re: first week
 

Pictures please.:D

Re: first week
 

Another.:D

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BTW i have moved into the security side of the industry but we nearly always subbie to the sparkies. Hence why i get to see some shitty workmanship.:D

Re: first week
 

Hi Chris,
Welcome back mate. Looks like I'll be moving over in Jan. Still undecided whether to go the PEER route or QET. I'm leaning towards the QET route as you have done (how's that going by the way?) but my mate already there reckons he might be able to get me a job with an SA licence and get $41 an hour doing the type of work I'm currently doing ie SWA and ladder rack.
Surely the industrial work can't be as shoddy as the commercial , can it?

Anyway, if you think using a 6" level on terra firma is laughable I once saw someone using one on a Royal Australian Navy frigate !!! in Darwin whilst on my WHV many years ago. WTF!!!
Regards Derren

Re: first week
 

Yes thats a cable tie holding the conduit to another conduit.

Re: first week
 

derren,

I still have not applied for my permit to train as yet as I somehow lost my vetassess result. I have a copy of it but the JP would only sign it as a Download. Have applied for a new one costing $60.
What do you think about going peer route? I dont mind going QET as long as I am working.

As regards to the shit work the job I am on is a industrial job and honestly mate its poor. The other english guy here has done most of the tray and he done some bends and they all took photo's of it.

mate they havent got a clue.

That would be sweet if your mate gets you the start. Give me a shout when you arrive it would be nice to catch up.

Re: first week
 

You know i ordered 75 x 75 trunking and needed 2 x 45 degree bends, They sent me 2 x 90. When i got it up the wholesaler he called and said it would take a couple of days to make them. Told him to stick and i made them myself. Simple thinsg we take for granted, you cant get. Plasterboard boxes. Nope, they use these metal C clamp thing. Total crap.

Re: first week
 

I had a walk round a site at Kangaroo point when doing my recce and saw some strange working practices, catenary wire running through eye bolts that passed for cable management, cable just strapped to it! but on reflection it would of been a nice bit of tray work that would never be seen over here in the UK. It does look like they throw it in and it does my head in when people do a shit job when it wouldn't take any longer to do it right but if it saves lots of time and no one will ever see the workmanship anyway I can see the attraction in saving money on a gucci instal :unsure:

Re: first week
 

This one sparky we do work for is one of the roughest i have come across. He runs cables up risers with no tray. Just nails in the wall and his cables tied on with a piece of building wire. Or he gets the builder to box in his work.

Re: first week
 

how rough can you get, they have'nt even cut the tie wraps.:)

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that's maybe in a city, here in the mines is totaly different, I can assure you BHP is very strict, everything must be 100% tidy per rules

Re: first week
 

Heres another.:lol:

Re: first week
 

I agree. I work on a BHP site as well and it has actually restored my faith in Aussie sparks after working in the city to a third world standard for 3 years.

Re: first week
 

I would agree that on the mines or off shore the standard should and will be better. But in the city there are so many one man oufits undercutting each other that they have to keep cost down. We do alot of big apartment complexes with all the security. The work on these jobs goes from very bad to very good depending on the company or individual sparky working for these companies.

Re: first week
 

Hi Chris,
Meant to get back to you earlier but recently being doing a combination of back shifts, night shifts and day shifts, and selling our house, which means our validation trip in early Jan is now going to be a one way trip,so my brain is mince. So much to do on top of making our last Xmas , in the UK, for the kids a special one, I don't know whether I'm coming or going.

Still wavering on the PEER/QET route but I'm erring toward the QET route.
Have you got a log book yet, if so, what sort of crap do you have to fill in?
Saw some some jobs for a trainee train driver recently, going off tangent a bit, and it seems an attractive option at the moment given the standard of work over there, and the achy joints.
Will give you a shout when I get there.
Regards Derren

Re: first week
 

derren,

I will send you over the info from Chris @ QET which shows the details of the Log book. It looks easy to be honest.

Train driver sounds different but dont let the work quality put you off. I am getting used to it to be honest and just installing to the way have be trained in the Uk

Re: first week
 

Alryt lads,
Loving this (rough thread) lol some of the things you see on site in aus are unbelievable, Compared to Uk standards they are rough as....

My first pic is of a through box were there is going to be a ceiling rose and 16 cores at it also pulling t&e through conduit is frustrating.

My second one is of something i think the Uk should adapt to :thumbsup: site BBQ's with free :beer:

Regards Stevie.

Re: first week
 

Another. Or maybe we should start a new thread?

Re: first week
 

All together now - Ahahahahahahahahaah!

Half the reason i went self employed, cant be doing with the useless aussies telling me what to do.

"Hey POME, why is it taking you so long to fit that C-clip, 90B shroud and GPO?"

"Because they were designed by a **** now **** off and leave me alone, what do you mean you dont know what a plasterboard box is you ****ing tool!!!"


On a serious note, for any new guys starting out over here.... In SA it is common for the off peak hot water supplies to run from the meter straight into an MCB in the switchboard, completely bypassing the main switch so be sure to prove dead inside before working.
Thats just bloody dangerous.

Re: first week
 

C clamps are the worst thing invented. I asked local wholesalers if they had the plasterboard boxes and they didn't have a clue. I used them in NZ years ago. Yet just across the water in Oz they don't know what they are. Its a cost thing. If i had my own company and was using them alot. I think i'd look at bringing in my own.