Building Control Notice, Part P and DIY

[londonman]

Thanks, jono-h, that gives me a good steer.

And thanks, spark 123, for the heads up on where to look

 

[Taylortwocities]

If you look more closely at the WIKI you will find this bit:

LABC Issues

As mentioned above, some LABCs are spreading misinformation, either by accident or design, about the status and acceptability of electrical work done by DIYers or other non-registered people.

These include:

1) Stating that such persons simply cannot carry out notifiable work, and that it must be done by registered electricians. The legislation referenced above, Statutory Instrument 2004 No. 3210 The Building (Amendment) (No.3) Regulations 2004 makes it quite clear that this is not the case. LABCs are not allowed to refuse to process Building Notices submitted by non-registered people.

2) Stating that work carried out by a non-registered person must be inspected and tested by someone who is registered, or who they regard as qualified. Again, there is no mention of this requirement in the statutory instrument.

Recently the DCLG issued a circular to local authorities making it absolutely clear that they are not allowed to do this:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1131042

Additionally, the new Approved Document P now explicitly says

1.26 The building control body may choose to carry out the inspection and testing itself, or to contract out some or all of the work to a specialist body which will then carry out the work on its behalf. Building control bodies will carry out the necessary inspection and testing at their expense, not at the householders' expense.

Unfortunately, many LABCs have been simply ignoring what the DCLG say, and persisting with their policy of requiring DIYers or other non-registered people to hire someone to inspect and test the work. The DCLG's position on this appears to be that if you are being told this by your LABC you should take them to court.

Suggest you read this carefull and the embedded links. its an eye-opener and gives good ammo when BCO start with their bovine scattology.

 

[Pensdown]

You should read

1.24 bla bal bla... the building control body then becomes responsible for making sure that the work is safe and complies with all relevant requirements in the building regulations.

1.25 The amount of inspection and testing needed is for the building control body to decide...bla bla

1.27 A building control body will NOT issue a BS-7671 installation certificate (as these can only be issued by those carrying out the work) but only a Building Regulations Completion Certificate bla bla.

So in summary, as said by others it's up to BC when they inspect, how much and how often they inspect (if at all) and whether they want any testing done to confirm that the work they are responsible for is safe etc as section 1.24. If they do want testing done to prove it's safe that's for their benefit not yours which is why they pick up all costs for the testing as section 1.26.

 

[denso13]

which is why they pick up all costs for the testing as section 1.26.

But they can include all the the costs for testing in the fees you pay up front. They don't do it for "free".

 

[londonman]

which is why they pick up all costs for the testing as section 1.26.

But they can include all the the costs for te//img.diynot.com/diy5.gif
//img.diynot.com/diy5.gifsting in the fees you pay up front. They don't do it for "free".

I'm not sure that's always thecase. For example, with my council, the amount of money you pay is directly related to the approx cost of any refurbishment work and there are scale charges for that. In my case, I filed a Building Notice to cover all the renovation work I'm doing. The fee charged was based on the approx cost of the work - nothing more. No separate line item 'plus cost of testing electrics'

 

[denso13]

Thats fair enough londonman, according to the literature quoted above they can't add on extra charges during the project, but they can charge up front. Maybe they haven't wised up to that yet

 

[londonman]

Oh boy - am I well and truly stuffed.

Just spoke to Building Control and they said that they want to see all the wiring before it is covered up. Now I have here essentially an empty shell of a building. And it's going to need Kingspan on the walls etc and in the roof void etc. I intended to work on the first floor, get it insulated, plasterboarded etc, get it inspected or whatever and then get the plasterer in...meanwhile moving downstairs and getting on with the kitchen, downstairs WC etc.

But I can't do that now. I can;t even see a way forward. For example, the loft space is minimal - as in no-ones going up there. I was going to lay the lighting cable over the top of the 100mm Kingspan - to avoid derating etc. But I can't do that easily now as they want to see the wiring.

Running around like a headless chicken and the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off. This above all else is going to stuff any DIY electrical work, I reckon, especially on a major development such as mine. I could weep.

 

[jono_h]

London,

You should still be able to do that - I completed my extension in three sections. Wiring went in for the Family room, inspected, and plastered.

Then moved onto the Breakfast room, wited, sinpected, plastered etc.

You can have more than one inspection for each stage - you just need to make sure the BCO is happy that he's seen everything at some point.