Part P - Special Location

[grahammm]

Hi all,

You are always the font of all knowledge, so thank you in advance.

We have a non "competent person" registered builder installing an en suite. I mean non-competent person as in not registered under the scheme, but I have full confidence in his competency though. If that makes sense?

Am I right in thinking that our works are non-notifiable as :

1) There are no new circuits being installed, he has used existing circuits.
2) There are no electrics within 2.25m from the floor level above the shower head / to the shower head height (if higher than 2.25m) and within 60cm direction outwards.
3) There is a spotlight above the shower tray (but this is more than 2.25m from floor level and above shower head height) and is one of these which is IP65 (https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-fixed-led-downlight-370lm-white-4w-220-240v/3046v)
4) There will be a fused spur and a digital mixer unit for the shower controls but these will be in the loft OR in the cupboard of the room next to the bathroom, i.e. cabling through the wall and isolated from a dry area.

I'd really appreciate your comments, I fully trust our builder but also just want clarification that what I have understood from him is correct.

Thanks all

 

[ericmark]

You can read laws and regulations and try and convince yourself he has the skill, however we all make errors, and if the work is done by some one who is not considered as an electrician then likely insurance will be void, I can understand DIY where the cost implication is high, but if your going to employ some one to do the work, then the saving using a builder rather than an electrician is so little, why bother.

 

[grahammm]

I think you missed the point, I wasn’t asking for your opinion on builders V electricians, I was asking for confirmation or otherwise that the law is as described.

 

[ericmark]

In Wales it would be a point of debate, in England I would not think you would be breaking any law, you may not be following regulations, but they are not law, however the regulations can be used in a court of law, to show the person doing the work did not have a warrantee of skill.

If nothing goes wrong then there is no court case so you can get away with anything done. Only when something goes wrong are the courts involved, so before Part P ever came in we had the Emma Shaw case here an electricians mate, who it seems had been doing the job for some time, had been send to plug in a tester and write down the readings, when he did not get the reading expected he wrote down what he thought the reading should have been. However he was not the person found guilty, it was his foreman would was found guilty for asking an unskilled man to do the work, had the electricians mate wrote down what the meter showed then the foreman would have investigated, and it was as simple as plug in press button and write down readings. Most of us would have blamed the electricians mate, it really was not a hard task, however that is not what the court said. So if you don't want to be blamed should something go wrong, then use the correct tradesman.

If the builder can do the work and issue the minor works or installation certificate then that's not a problem, if he can't issue a minor works or installation certificate then he should not do the work. The main problem to issue a minor works or installation certificate is the meters cost around £750 to get the readings when testing, there is nothing to stop a builder buying the meter and taking a course and filling in his own paper work, but I will guess when you ask for the paperwork there will be a problem.

 

[flameport]

The electrical work described is not notifiable.
If the bathroom is just being refitted, that it not notifiable either.
If this is a new bathroom where one did not exist previously, that is notifiable regardless of any electrical work.

In any event, all of the work must comply with building regulations whether notifiable or not.