In short, no.
And I have two points to share with you to help you see the huge, hidden cost of DIY work or cashies.
I went to a job earlier this week and the owner was having issues with power circuits tripping and arcing in the switchboard.
He also was wanting some new air conditioners fitted off and the cables (installed by the owner!) brought down the wall and fed into the switchboard.
You won’t believe what I found.
As you can see in the picture, this was a disaster waiting to happen.
After opening the switchboard and finding a terrible mess, it turned out that a couple of the cables terminated into the residual current device were not securely in. In fact, they were only loosely held in place and causing problems.
This is a catastrophic situation because the conditions are ripe for a fire or WORSE.
But I am handy with wiring
If you are a home owner who thinks you can easily wire your own cables, I have some bad news for you.
There are very strict regulations for where and how you run a cable and although Aussies don’t like authorities getting heavy-handed with regulations, these ones SAVE LIVES.
The short cut you take can often become a short circuit in more ways than one.
More often than not, you will need to do it all again which will cost you more money in the long run.
This applies to both DIY and cash jobs.
Furthermore, if the wiring results in damage to an appliance (air conditioning, power circuit, lighting circuit, etc) you will need a C.O.C (certificate of compliance) to make any claims. That can REALLY hurt the back pocket. Let alone the issues you face when you are trying to sell your house!
And perhaps, most gravely, if you have an electrical fire/fault that causes damage, your insurer may not insure you at all AND you could be held liable for any incurred damages to other property or person.
So, yes, you could argue I have a vested interest in suggesting you only have electrical work in Darwin done by a professional electrician, but lives and savings are at risk.
You know the saying: if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well, or in our case, worth having Done Right!
By Jon Story