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Electrical work in the home now falls into two categories:
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Work that
must be undertaken by a competent ‘person’ (being a firm or
individual) or alternatively notified to Building Control before
beginning
-
Work that
is deemed to be ‘minor’ and therefore non-notifiable, although it is
still recommended that this work be inspected and tested by a
competent person.
The
NICEIC, the electrical industry's leading independent regulatory body,
states in a guidance note that ‘in general work involving a new
circuit in any domestic location or any wiring in a kitchen or bathroom
(or other special location) must be notified. Only component replacement
or minor circuit alterations are not notifiable.’ Other special
locations are typically anywhere there is water such as gardens, sheds,
saunas or pools.
When a competent person undertakes the work, they issue a certificate
direct to the householder and also notify Building Control, who record
the work and issue a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate.
If you intend to undertake notifiable work yourself, check with
Building Control that they have the staff to certify the work and take
care to ensure that they can see the work in progress. It is not
possible to certify work that has been covered up and it is against the
scheme’s rules for a competent person to certify the work of others.
So what can a ‘DIY’ person do? Put simply one can:
-
Replace
existing accessories such as sockets, switches and ceiling roses and
an individual damaged cable
-
Providing
that the work is not in a kitchen, bathroom or special location add
lighting points, sockets and fused spurs – as long as the Wiring
Regulations are followed.
So you
can still change your own light switch!
With the potential advent of Sellers Packs, there is a likelihood that
the electrical certificates will be a required part of the pack. So far
so good.
But is the trade ready?
The answer to this is best indicated by the fact that there were thought
to be around 60,000 practising firms or individuals undertaking
electrical work prior to the introduction of Part P and around 20,000
other businesses that would need to comply with the new legislation or
notify Building Control. By May 2005 only around 16,500 were approved
with another 5,000 in the pipeline. In addition Building Control in many
locations did not have suitably qualified staff could only advise
householders to seek a competent person to undertake the work. So
clearly there is going to be a period of transition.
Further information is available from a number of UK web sites
including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (
www.odpm.gov.uk ),
the Institute of Electrical Engineers (
www.iee.org.uk ) and the
National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (
http://www.niceic.org.uk ). A
similar scheme exists in Scotland – check at
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk .
Roger
Runswick is a director of
50plus Handyman and a member of the Institute
of Electrical Engineers. He can be contacted at
roger.runswick@the50plus.co.uk
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