Wiring & buildings regs - how do they know?

[Cremeegg]

As a general rule LABC BCO's don't know anything about electrics. Part P wasn't around when they trained - they trained on structural items RSJ's, drainage etc. They did little if any training on some of the more recent bits like sound insulation. The Councils weren't given any more money by central Govt to enforce or operate Part P either so you can see why they don't want to know and particularly why they don't want to test and inspect at their own expense.

 

[Paul5152]

Yes, but...

If the point of the buildings regs is to make work in buildings be done to a safe standard, then what SHOULD happen is that any added expense/difficulty imposed by the regulations is reasonable. At the moment, for electrical work, it is most definitely not. This will cause people to do work without telling their LABC at all - so, rather than 'some protection' being afforded by BCOs even just doing basic visual tests, there is no protection at all.

A BCO taking the front of a socket off, and seeing that the right type of wire is in the right holes (and that the CPC sleeving is on ) is better than no checks at all.

Since 2005, I bet some BCOs have retired. How many new BCOs have been employed? (Lots, I bet). How many of those have had basic training in electrical installation standards? (Not many, I bet). A lot of Part P notifications will be ONLY Part P, so sending round a sparky to do some basic tests should be all that's needed, not a BCO who isn't a sparky PLUS a sparky. All that would be needed would be for each LABC to have an electrician or two on their payroll to replace the BCOs who come out to look at Part P work but don't know what they're looking at.

ISTM that the LABCs don't want anything to do with Part P, they only want self-notifying electricians to do electrical work (where they don't actually need to do anything), so they're discouraging anyone else from notifying part P work to them by charging unreasonable fees and imposing unreasonable requirements. The Approved Document Part P is quite reasonable, but LABCs simply ignore bits of that they don't like, and since they're effectively a powerful monopoly, it's hard for anyone to fight them.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The Councils weren't given any more money by central Govt to enforce or operate Part P either so you can see why they don't want to know

I have every sympathy with them.

But my sympathy does not extend to agreeing with them lying, cheating, and imposing illegal charges.

and particularly why they don't want to test and inspect at their own expense.

I'm sure they don't.

I want to drive a Ferrari with Claudia Schiffer naked on the passenger seat, but as they say....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yes, but...

If the point of the buildings regs is to make work in buildings be done to a safe standard, then what SHOULD happen is that any added expense/difficulty imposed by the regulations is reasonable.

But the point of Part P was to increase the influence & control, and revenue, of NICEIC and the ECA.

LABCs simply ignore bits of that they don't like, and since they're effectively a powerful monopoly, it's hard for anyone to fight them.

The degree of difficulty depends greatly on how much you can afford to **** them off. So if you're building a house or an extension I can see why you wouldn't want to make an enemy of your BCO.

But if all you're doing is electrical work then you've probably got nothing to lose by insisting that they do what they are supposed to, and not do what they are not, and do things mentioned on another thread such as make official complaints, complain to your councillor, complain to the District Auditor, and if you've notified and paid the fee and they've not issued a completion notice hit them with a small court claim for a refund of the fee. LABCs are imposing these unjustified "rules" to get a quiet life - if the opposite happens they'll change.