Achieving Part P

[Diademex]

Hi,
I once used to do all my own domestic electrical work, and indeed when much younger used to assist my father (who in his day was a qualified electrician) However I did not qualify as an Electrician but rather as an Electronics engineer. Under Part P the two are not remotely considered as being the same entity.

Thing is I resent having to pay for someone to come and rewire a socket when I used to rewire entire houses, and I now have quite a backlog of work needing done at my home. I also want to be able to carry out wiring changes in my office, I know this does not fall under Part P but again feel more qualified than the last numpty who wired in points at the building (no way was he qualified to any level, but he was a builder?)

I am minded to study and sit the exams that qualify me for Part P, but.. I gather that the examiner expects to see examples of the students workmanship. Now I guess that in a large organization he can look at work done under supervision, problem is that I have no such work to show and indeed if I did I would be in contravention of the regulatory process.
Does anyone have experience of this issue and if so any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I am minded to study and sit the exams that qualify me for Part P,

Which courses/exams do you plan to do?

but.. I gather that the examiner expects to see examples of the students workmanship.

Not, AFAIK, for any of the exams you'd be doing, only as part of the assessment if you then wanted to register with one of the self-certification schemes.

I have no such work to show and indeed if I did I would be in contravention of the regulatory process.

You wouldn't be if you notified any work that needed it.

Does anyone have experience of this issue and if so any advice would be much appreciated.

Presumably your plan is to persuade your LABC to accept your EICs etc?

You'll still have to notify them.

 

[Chris.J]

and I now have quite a backlog of work needing done at my home. .

I wonder if this approach would work?
Make one Application to your LABC for "reorganising my electrics", listing everything that needed to be done, paid their fee etc. and then did the work, advising them accordingly. They would then have to inspect & test etc., and you would achieve your end result for the cost of their fee??

Ban will be along in a minute, welcome back!

 

[ColJack]

firstly, there is no such thing as a "Part P qualification"..

secondly, Part P makes no such rule that you have to be a qualified electrician to do electrical work.. it just says it must be done safely..

you are talking about becoming a member of a self certification scheme..
it's not worth the money you have to pay every year if it's for a few jobs round the house..

some work you need to tell the LABC that you are doing it before you start and get them to come and check it.. for this they charge a fee..

 

[Diademex]

Wow, I really hadn't expected any kind of response in less than a week.

I see that their is a plethero of courses available but I reckon for something like a three day course on the application and examination to C&G2381 then I would hope to just sit the exam for 2391.

You are all correct in that this is a high price to pay for the priviledge of merely tidying up my own domestic wiring but its offends me that I used to be considered capable of this class of work but cannot now go near it. Plus I take a real pride in my workmanship. I figure I will still take the training courses and then follow your advice about notifying my LABC about work that I want to do, this includes swapping out the consumer unit and some Kitchen / Bathroom work so will unquestionably need notifying.

In light of your advice whether I then decide to go for registration with a self certification scheme is questionable, my company would pay all the fees but it is of course an on going cost and as you say, for the relativly small amount of work it may not be worth the charge.. just keep calling in the LABC.

 

[sanj.varah]

while I can't condone such activities. You could just do the work and not bother with the LABC.

The argument on here is you may get into bother selling your house. I think this HIP stuff is a load of nonsense as someone I know changed their boiler and rewired their house with new colours and not a word was said. House sale went through no problems. Surveyor didn't pick anything up or the HIP guy either.

 

[RF Lighting]

If you can't condone such activities, then why bother to make that post?

The OP is asking about various legitamate ways to carry out his own electrical work. He doesn't need someone telling him not to bother "'cause it might not get noticed"

 

[dingbat]

...its offends me that I used to be considered capable of this class of work but cannot now go near it...

Why should it offend you that the building regulations now require that 'reasonable provision' be made in the design and installation of domestic electrical installations?

Instead of listening to all the claptrap promulgated by the many malcontents, you should do what they have mostly failed to do; read the approved document.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/en/4000000001253.html

Once you are in possession of the actual facts you can decided how to go about complying with the legislation.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I see that their is a plethero of courses available but I reckon for something like a three day course on the application and examination to C&G2381 then I would hope to just sit the exam for 2391.

Good luck with the latter - everything I've read says that it's far from easy, and without solid experience of inspection and testing you'll probably not pass the practical. As for the written part, it requires you to know about a lot more than just domestic installation work. And that's even if you can find somewhere that will let you just sit the exam.

You are all correct in that this is a high price to pay for the priviledge of merely tidying up my own domestic wiring but its offends me that I used to be considered capable of this class of work but cannot now go near it.

Why do you keep saying that? What do you think the law actually says about you DIYing?

And no matter what qualifications you get, your status will not change one iota - the only way to change that is to register with one of the Competent Person schemes, which would be a ludicrous expense just to avoid prior notifications to LABC. As it is your current plans won't leave you much change out of £1000.

Plus I take a real pride in my workmanship. I figure I will still take the training courses and then follow your advice about notifying my LABC about work that I want to do, this includes swapping out the consumer unit and some Kitchen / Bathroom work so will unquestionably need notifying.

And the notification process, and costs, will be exactly the same.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying it's not a good idea for you to obtain proof of your competence if that's what you want, but you need to be fully aware of how little difference it will make in practice.

In light of your advice whether I then decide to go for registration with a self certification scheme is questionable,

It's approx £500/year, and on top of that you'll need public liability insurance...

my company would pay all the fees

Why?

 

[sanj.varah]

If you can't condone such activities, then why bother to make that post?

The OP is asking about various legitamate ways to carry out his own electrical work. He doesn't need someone telling him not to bother "'cause it might not get noticed"

well i'm sure you can't condone pulling the service fuse on a supply. But I bet you do it anyway.

 

[RF Lighting]

Very rarely TBH, as I hardly ever do domestic work, and the difference being is that I have never encouraged anyone else to even consider doing it.


Like I asked, if you don't condone it then why did you make you post?

 

[sanj.varah]

Very rarely TBH, as I hardly ever do domestic work, and the difference being is that I have never encouraged anyone else to even consider doing it.


Like I asked, if you don't condone it then why did you make you post?

to give the original poster all his possible routes for doing the work.

Some bits of part P suck frankly. If you change over to a LV light fitting from a 230v fitting in a bathroom you have to notify at the cost of £125 (around here). that hardly seems right and i bet most people wouldn't bother.

 

[RF Lighting]

I expect that the majority of reputable registered electricians would bother.

 

[sanj.varah]

but what happens if joe bloggs goes to b and q and then does it himself. there's no way he'll bother!

 

[RF Lighting]

Thats why we should be actively encouraging people to involve their LABC.

The more publicity it can get, the better.

The whole point of the introduction of 'part P' is to ensure that electrical installations within domestic premises are carried out safely.

If joe bloggs does involve his LABC, and they find that joe has installed his new circuit in a way which could kill his 4 year old daughter, and the inspection process prevents this happening, does the cost of £125 still seem unreasonable?