Part P and the Public

[jaguar1]

It appears to me that the public have no idea what part p is and are not bothered by it anyway , i thought the government a while back was going to do a public awareness on part P any thoughts ??

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[Steve]

There has been some publicity on TV, but the vast majority are still in the dark.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That's because they thought all black wires had to be neutral, and they've blown the fuse on their lighting circuit....

 

[Stoday]

They are not bothered about it because the penalty's so small against a big cost for notifying.

This is from the original leaflet for the public:

What will happen if I do not follow the Building Regulations?
• The electrical installation might not be safe.
• You will have no record of the work done.
• You may have difficulty selling your home if you do not have the right electrical safety certificates.
• Your local authority’s Building Control Department may insist that you put right faulty work.

 

[mattylad]

What will happen if I do not follow the Building Regulations?
• might.
•may
•may

The only definite thing in the list was not having a record.

Too may mays & mights, nothing definite about it.

So far, noone has been able to highlight any prosecutions etc from a DIYr who has not notified, only from cowboys who got paid to do it.

It's a paper regulation that has no teeth.

 

[Click-Sure]

You will have no record of the work done

Hmmm, I issued BS7671 certificates for domestic works before Part P came along, as did countless others.

 

[ericmark]

How will they get caught? Most internal work one can claim damaged cable is replaced so cable colours will not help. Only item one can show has been changed which would need Part P is consumer unit. Outside a flood light may get one caught if a neighbour complains. Otherwise it requires a death before anyone would take time and trouble to work out if the Part P requirements had been breached.

As to people charging for work. Part P can help the rouge trader. "This is really Part P but if I do it under Part P then I must charge VAT. It will save £X if I do it cash in hand." reply will normally be OK I'll pay cash. So then what does the house holder do if sub standard. If he reports the rouge trader then he will also be in trouble as he was responsible to apply for Part P through LABC when the trader says he is not Part P registered. So for small jobs it is not worth the risk to house holder for him to report rouge trader so the rouge trader gets away with it. Only if the rouge trader is greedy and does a big job is the house holder likely to report what has gone on.

So as it stands it is useless. However I am told by local MP that there is a review going on with Part P charges and if more realistic charges are agreed then maybe Part P will start to work. If asked for £20 to make things legal then people would not take chance. We need to watch and see if the new charges do make Part P work.

 

[Paul Barker]

What do you mean charges? Our anual subs?

 

[securespark]

Think he's talking about what Joe Public pay in fees.

 

[mattylad]

I cant see an LABC even picking up paperwork for £20.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So far, noone has been able to highlight any prosecutions etc from a DIYr who has not notified, only from cowboys who got paid to do it.

Because there haven't been any, and probably never will.

And AFAIK the "professionals" who've been prosecuted had carried out appallingly incompetent/dangerous work, and/or were guilty of other Trading Standards related offences. They weren't cases where all they had done wrong was to fail to notify.

It's a paper regulation that has no teeth.

But what does have teeth are the fraud laws, and if on a buyers questionnaire you lie about not having had notifiable work done then that is fraud.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

How will they get caught? Most internal work one can claim damaged cable is replaced so cable colours will not help.

They don't anway, as the colour change happened before Part P came into force.

Only item one can show has been changed which would need Part P is consumer unit.

And obviously recent extensions, kitchen refurbs, bathroom refurbs, outbuildings...


Outside a flood light may get one caught if a neighbour complains. Otherwise it requires a death before anyone would take time and trouble to work out if the Part P requirements had been breached.

As to people charging for work. Part P can help the rouge trader. "This is really Part P but if I do it under Part P then I must charge VAT. It will save £X if I do it cash in hand." reply will normally be OK I'll pay cash. So then what does the house holder do if sub standard. If he reports the rouge trader then he will also be in trouble as he was responsible to apply for Part P through LABC when the trader says he is not Part P registered. So for small jobs it is not worth the risk to house holder for him to report rouge trader so the rouge trader gets away with it. Only if the rouge trader is greedy and does a big job is the house holder likely to report what has gone on.

That has always been the case - charging less for CIH because taxes can then be evaded didn't only begin on 1st January 2005, and frankly if people are prepared to join a conspiracy to evade tax or commit VAT fraud for the sake of a few quid then they deserve whatever happens to them.

 

[Stoday]

if on a buyers questionnaire you lie about not having had notifiable work done then that is fraud.

The Property Information Questionaire was standardised by the government and published on 9 December 2008. Would BAS like to say where it asks about notifiable electrical work? I can find the FENSA part but nothing on electricity.

To be helpful, you can download the PIQ pdf here: Click for PIQ

 

[davelx]

The Property Information Questionaire was standardised by the government and published on 9 December 2008. Would BAS like to say where it asks about notifiable electrical work? I can find the FENSA part but nothing on electricity.

To be helpful, you can download the PIQ pdf here: Click for PIQ

BAS did not say "Property Information Questionaire" - he said "buyers (sic) questionaire". BAS usually means exactly what he says.

The buyer's solicitor will usually send the vendor a questionaire that is much more detailed than the PIQ, and usually does ask about notifiable electrical work. Certainly this was the case when we sold my mother's house in 2007.