No it's not new, it's just continued bad practice from days gone by. Lots of contractors still do it and it's still spec'd by architects and surveyors and still doesn't follow the regs.
It may be easy to do when working for a contractor, who will ultimately shoulder the blame, but as someone with my own business, it's just not on and I would walk every time, as I wouldn't want to take the chance of tarnishing my reputation.
I know we all have bills to pay and mouths to feed, which is used as an excuse for many different types of bad practices, but does go to show we need to get our trade registered and regulated ASAP!
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