Inspection privatization a slippery slope

When you are a home owner there is never a time when there is not some kind of project eminent or in progress. Over the years I have built new homes, maintained some and renovated a few. I have heard the saying that if you can make a relationship survive through a building or renovation you have a solid relationship.

Considering this to be true that must mean my wonderful wife Brenda and I are doing OK. We have been married since 1997 and in that time we have renovated two homes and are in the progress of the third. The current one has been the most challenging and that is probably due to the fact it is the oldest home we have owned. We moved in here in 2006 and have been in renovation mode ever since.

I give Brenda great credit in putting up with my ranting about things I find and cursing the day I got involved with such an extensive project. There have been days when if I had access to a stick of dynamite I might have actually used it to speed up the demolition phase of the work.

I am extremely particular when it comes to certain parts of the work being done and tend to never be satisfied with half-baked jobs. I know there are others who would have stopped short of what we are doing on this home, but to me, if you don't do the job to your best it is not worth doing it at all.

I have ripped apart work others who owned this house before us have done to re-do the job properly. The big problem is I have continually come across some real problems that have been hidden under some of the previous renovations. The biggest difficulty has been that someone who did not have a bloody clue about wiring attempted to do some electrical work.

Now, over the years, I have had numerous discussions to do with whether or not home owners should be allowed to do their own wiring without first having to pass some kind of test as to their ability to safely perform this important work. I have always had mixed feelings about what level of competence would have to be shown and to what level of inspection requirements should be required. In the past, I have followed up on work done by commercial outfits who did work that was of inferior quality even though it may have passed code. These discussions have often been with someone who resented the fact government was controlling them and they felt the requirements were too high.

With this present project I now have more irrefutable evidence the regulations should even be toughened to the point where even the smallest of jobs must be professionally inspected. In this house I have found bare wires that had been obviously spread apart to keep them from arcing, but the problem had been just left rather than repaired. I have found so much evidence where the solution to a problem was just to cover it up and hide it that it has driven me to see or replace every wire in the building.

This is at a time when there are some who would diminish the present inspection requirements by privatizing the process. To me that would be a huge mistake. If you need proof the system does not work just talk to someone who has seen the system in Alberta. Private inspection there has led to so much corner cutting, the term inspection is a farce. Often when I worked there, I saw work that had been certified in this way that would not even have come close to the standards that the Canadian Electrical Code requires.

You might ask how this happens and to me the answer is simple. The answer is the fact that money talks and, with the right scenario, anything goes. Because of what I was seeing in Alberta, I started to believe the bigger the company gets the lower the moral attitude falls. Thus, if we don't have impartial inspections that are at arms length from the industry, we cannot truly ensure the quality of the work. And, when it come to private individuals who have no official training, there must be an even greater demand on ensuring they do not do work that could cost all of us due to insurance claims or even the greatest cost of all, that of human suffering and life.

This past week the Meota Curling Club sponsored a bonspiel here in Meota. The final of the A event saw the Marshal Bear rink pitted against the Lee Gansauge rink with the Marshal Bear rink coming out victorious. The B event final was fought out between the Larry McDaid and the Svend Christiansen rinks with the former coming out the winner. In the C event the battle was fought between the Alexander Scott and the Pat Becotte rinks with the Scott rink coming out on top. The next event to be held at the curling club here will be the ladies' spiel Feb. 3 to 5, followed by the spring spiel on the March 9, 10 and 11. If you are interested, call Ken Gansauge for more information.

Quote: "One of the greatest oxymorons in the world of big business is the term "business ethics". Unknown