| Although all electrical work
within the scope of Part-P must comply with paragraph
P1, the
Part-P Approved Document describes some types of electrical installation work
which need not be notified to the LABC. All other work must be
notified in advance, usually by means of submitting a Building Notice
with payment (in advance) of a notification fee. The fee is supposed
(according to the former ODPM -
now The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) ) to
include the costs of any inspection and testing to be carried out by the
LABC; but not all local authorities are complying with the
government's directives, and fees and level of service can vary
enormously - read on:
Some authorities may charge
an inclusive low fee of around £30-£60. Others may charge a similar fee,
but only if the installation is to be inspected and tested to
BS 7671 by a
competent third-party. However, some authorities are also charging a much higher
fixed fee of
around £120-£160, to cover the costs of inspection and testing by their own
inspectors; while some authorities may even be charging these higher fees but
still refusing to fulfil the obligations that the
DCLG has tried to place upon them
to carry out themselves any necessary inspection
and testing.
Also, some authorities are still insisting - despite being told
explicitly by the former ODPM that they must not do this - that the person
doing the work should pay themselves for an inspection and test by an
electrician with specified qualifications, or trade registration or
scheme membership. See
for example both the
Part-P
Approved Document-(6th April 2006 version) and this
letter from Anne Hemming, dated 3 March 2005: Building Regulations Part
P.
(Anne
Hemming died.17 August, 2006 in a cycling accident.)
Some authorities will have different
building notice charges according to the level of competency of the
person carrying out the work; e.g. £40-50 for work done by a person
competent to certify compliance with The Wiring Regulations; and a
higher fee; e.g. £100-120 for DIY work - to include for the costs of
inspection and test by the authority. Unfortunately, the value-for-money
of a Part-P building notice is something of a 'post-code lottery'. In
some areas it could cost the unfortunate householder £100+VAT to have
one additional socket installed - on top of the cost of the electrician!
One should therefore check with the LABC
as to just just what level of service the notification fee is purchasing
and compare this with what the
DCLG says
it should cover.
Because Building Control officers typically
don't have the resources or expertise to inspect and certify electrical
installations themselves, the Government has also sought a way to allow
electrical installers to self certify their own work. Installers wishing to self
certify are assessed and registered under one of several approved
'Competent Person Schemes' set up for the purpose.
The significant additional costs of scheme membership and administration
incurred by scheme members will, of course, have
to be paid for by the customers; but probably at no more than £20 per
job.
Note: that a person competent in
electrical inspection and testing may be prepared to certify, in the
appropriate section of a full Electrical Installation Certificated (EIC)
to BS 7671, that an electrical installation, including DIY work,
complies with
BS 7671. However,
certification of compliance with
BS 7671:2001 (IEE Wiring
Regulations) (which are non-statutory) is not at all the same as
certification of compliance with
The Building Regulations (which are statutory). Members of Part-P Competent Person
Schemes can only certify the compliance with
The Building Regulations of
their own work or work in which they have had a substantial
involvement. This means
that only a Building Control Officer is allowed to
certify compliance with
The Building Regulations for work carried out by anyone who has not
registered for self-certification - such as builders, plumbers, electricians who have not joined a scheme,
and DIYers. A completed Electrical Installation Certificate to
BS 7671 therefore may, or may not, be accepted by
Building Control Officers as evidence of
compliance with Part-P! One should therefore check just what is required
by the LABC for the area. |
