The campaigning trade body for Scotland’s electrical sector has called for the industry to be regulated by the Scottish Parliament to prevent rogue traders posing “a distinct and continuing threat to safety” in homes.

SELECT, which has more than 1200 member businesses which operate all across Scotland, said it has taken this irreducible position as a considered response to the issue of rogue traders who portray themselves as qualified electricians.

Government statistics have shown that 69 per cent of all accidental fires in Scottish homes are caused by electricity and SELECT is highlighting the need to flush out untrained or inadequately trained personnel.

It has produced a detailed report which documents the seriousness of the situation, and illustrates it with case studies which graphically demonstrate the unscrupulous practices of unskilled individuals working in the construction and electrotechnical industries.

Newell McGuiness, managing director of SELECT, said: “The level of qualifications that electricians currently have to achieve certainly qualifies them as professional people and they deserve to be recognised as such.

“Each year also, fires arising from dangerous electrical installations load costs on to insurance companies and our emergency services.”

The report asks that the electrical installation industry in Scotland should be regulated in law to put an end to widespread shoddy workmanship in the domestic sector and thus protect householders from injury or death from electrical causes.

SELECT’s aim is the delivery of the highest standards of professionalism and workmanship. It promotes constant improvement to meet this goal. It believes that the industry should ensure basic standards of safety and competence so that any customer can rely on any electrician he or she may employ.