Now the rorts are in foil inspections

Dodgy insulation companies have been accused of rorting the government's $19 million program to check 48,000 homes with foil insulation.

DODGY insulation companies have been accused of rorting the government's $19 million program to check 48,000 homes with foil insulation.

And the electrical contracting industry has attacked the government for failing to release guidelines for the safety inspections, saying that delay is stalling the potentially life-saving checks.

The government ordered electrical safety checks of 48,000 homes with foil insulation more than two weeks ago, in response to fears that inept installers could have caused about 1000 roofs to become "live".

In the meantime, householders have been able to hire electricians to check their homes and claim a $400 government refund.

Yesterday, several electricians told The Weekend Australian they had been contacted by insulation companies offering to sell their customer lists for $50 to $100 per name in an attempt to profit from the inspection program after the insulation scheme was suspended.

One electrician said: "It's a complete joke. They want to make $50 a head just to pass the names on."

There is also anecdotal evidence that electricians are offering to buy customer lists from insulation companies.

The revelations came yesterday as a Senate inquiry into the bungled $2.45 billion insulation scheme heard that Kevin Rudd did not ask his department for briefings on safety after the first three deaths linked to the program.

However, the inquiry heard that Peter Garrett had discussed the issue with Environment Department officials, who were charged with the scheme's rollout.

Following Mr Garrett's demotion yesterday, new Assistant Minister for Energy Efficiency Greg Combet will take charge of sorting out the botched insulation scheme -- including the inspection program. National Electrical and Communications Association chief executive James Tinslay said he was "frustrated" by delays in releasing promised guidelines for the electrical inspections.

Mr Tinslay said an interim checklist had been put together for electricians but was not enought to ensure the work was done properly. "They're probably better than nothing but they're inadequate," Mr Tinslay said.

"The sooner we have the guidelines out, the sooner we'll have safe procedures in place."

Mr Tinslay said many electrical contractors were reluctant to carry out the safety checks until the guidelines were in place.

He urged the government to mandate that electricians must have professional indemnity insurance and occupational health and safety procedures in place before carrying out the inspection work.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said the audit program must be Mr Combet's first priority as he takes over responsibility for the insulation scheme.

Mr Hunt said it was scandalous that almost three weeks after cancelling the foil insulation program, the government had still not worked out how to check and fix 1000 deadly roofs.

"The first task for a new minister must be to have a plan to find and fix the electric roofs and he must announce it by close of business on Monday."