Giuliano Digilio is joking with a capital J when he says the cable colours change programme so far must be considered a success (‘Feeling blue’, EMC June, p5). Has he honestly tried to obtain stocks of cable from a wholesaler? I doubt it. I have tried from day one to use the new cable and I still have not found a wholesaler who has enough stock to carry out a complete rewire of a domestic premises using all cable sizes.

My gripe is not with the changes but with fudge after fudge. Yes, the industry has had plenty of time to prepare for the change but parts of it have been very slow to react.

What I don’t understand is that cables have been manufactured for the European market for a few years with harmonised colours, so why is it so difficult to ship some of these to the UK? To add insult to injury we are told that not only are the harmonised colours not fully available but that we are going to be charged an extra 5% for the privilege of using the old stock of red/black cables.

As head of technical services at the ECA I suggest that Digilio gets it sorted. Start making some real enquiries to contractors and wholesalers to see how they are coping. Manufacturers and distributors are not being totally truthful. I have been told on several occasions that the popular sizes – 2·5 and 1·5 mm t/e – are available because stocks of the old are running out. But the less popular sizes, including 10 mm t/e, will take time to get into the market because there is a large stock of old cable.

The rules do not allow mixed harmonised and unharmonised cables in the same installation. So, please ensure that stocks are available. I currently refuse to carry out domestic rewiring because of the uncertainty of cable availability. I am the loser in the short-term. But then I do have a conscience.