DIY Electrics

[Gally46]

As a retired Chartered Electrical Engineer with several years experience of design/supervising HV/MV installations and process control systems I rang the IEE to acertain the position of DIY home electrics and was told a building control notice needed to be submitted to the LA and the work undertaken by a competant person. Fine

The LA told me I should give them £180 for the work and they would only look when it was completed, i.e cable installation looked OK, bonding in place etc. but would not accept I could do it because I was not P registered. They suggested I employ a P registered person to do the work. Catch 22.

Does this mean we all have to pass C&G 2391 and register with theNICE to be able to self certify DIY work.

I also asked several Electrical Companies if they would independently inspect/test my work, but they preferred to install and test their own work.

My basic problem is does this mean that NO DIY beyond an accessory change is possible under the new regs?

I have now took the easy way out an employing a qualified electrician to undertake work I feel competant and qualified to do myself.

It makes me wonder why stores still sell electrical equipment if it is illegal for most people to install them - and they call this progress

 

[Adam_151]

I rang the IEE to acertain the position of DIY home electrics and was told a building control notice needed to be submitted to the LA and the work undertaken by a competant person. Fine

Notifiable work either has to be done be a contractor registered to self certify, or notified to the local building control

The LA told me I should give them £180 for the work and they would only look when it was completed, i.e cable installation looked OK, bonding in place etc.

Steep...

but would not accept I could do it because I was not P registered. They suggested I employ a P registered person to do the work. Catch 22.

You don't need to be part P registered to put it through building control, just competant (though what they class as competant varies around the country, my local one will look at the EIC and the work and judge for themselves , others ask for 2381 + 2391)

Does this mean we all have to pass C&G 2391 and register with theNICE to be able to self certify DIY work.

If you want to self cert DIY work then you'll have to register with a scheme (of which there are 5, not just the NIC) but the odd bit of DIY is better to group it together, do it at the same time and notify building control of it, rather than spend £400 a year on registration. Its also worth noting that the schemes don't require 2391 anymore, 2381 plus demonstraning competance in testing is deemed enough by most (this is certainly how the NIC work)

Side point: Work of a NICEIC DI : http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29874

I also asked several Electrical Companies if they would independently inspect/test my work, but they preferred to install and test their own work.

If they used their self cert membership to do it, they'd be breaking T&C s of it, what they can do is test your work and sign the I&T of a three part EIC, but then you still have the trouble of getting stubborn buildings control to accept it, you may as well test it yourself

My basic problem is does this mean that NO DIY beyond an accessory change is possible under the new regs?

Some buildings control departments seem determined to make it so

I have now took the easy way out an employing a qualified electrician to undertake work I feel competant and qualified to do myself.

A shame really, give your LABC a kick from me

It makes me wonder why stores still sell electrical equipment if it is illegal for most people to install them - and they call this progress

Its not illegal, its just notifiable, they also sell bricks, but you still have to notify an extension to your house (as well as planning permission)


The forum has a good summery on part P here: http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=49116 which is well worth a read

 

[oilman]

My basic problem is does this mean that NO DIY beyond an accessory change is possible under the new regs?

Some buildings control departments seem determined to make it so

They are not allowed to do this, further they are not allowed to charge you extra to have testing done to suit their requirements beyond the standard prices they charge. They may make things difficult for you, but an email to Ian Drummond at the ODPM will probably get them on a retraining course.

 

[Adam_151]

They are not allowed to do this.

True, but when has not being allowed to do something ever stopped anyone... (seriously @ OP, give your LABC a kicking (not litterally tho))

 

[JohnD]

What's an OP?

 

[Glassman]

Ive often wondered how many other trades are effected by the revised building regs.

I work in the glass and window industry and because new window installations have to comply with Doc L and then have to have a FENSA certificate issued, in theory it should have put a stop to people fitting their own windows. Yet you can still buy DIY fit windows from Screwfix and Focus and I know loads of people fitting windows and doors as foreigners.

Most people who undertake work on their own homes aren't even aware of these changes but a failure to comply can come back to haunt them later on when they decide to sell their homes. As far as windows are concerned you could apply to your local building control but you'd be looking at a bill of somewhere between £300-£400 for them to come and check the installtion for you.

Also, Im no plumber but when we had our new boiler and thermostat fitted last year the guy who fitted it told us that CORGI registration only applies to tradesmen who charge a reward for their work. So if that is right, if I got a plumber mate to do the work for me for free then the installation wouldn't have to be CORGI registered?

 

[kevplumb]

What's an OP?

original poster

 

[empip]

I had a little dig at the ODPM .. Ian Drummond answered, eventually.

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=298590&highlight=banes#298590

Blimey Banes have changed again - slightly.

......
2. Building regulation application - if this route is chosen there are two options:-

(a). A qualified, registered electrician carries out or inspects the work. They can issue a design, installation and test certificate under BS7671. Building Control will accept the certificate as evidence that the work complies with Part P. Additional inspections and tests by Building Control may be carried out.

(b). Where the work is carried out by an unregistered electrician or is a DIY installation, Building Control will need to inspect and test the work to ensure it complies with Part P. Alternatively the applicant can have the work inspected and tested by a registered electrician/inspector as in (a) above. They will then be able to issue a Periodic Inspection Report under BS 7671.

That is now just about right isn't it ? They'll accept a PIR too by the looks of it...

Come on you lot get emailing .... Or are we afraid of consequences??

 

[oilman]

............... in theory it should have put a stop to people fitting their own windows. Yet you can still buy DIY fit windows from Screwfix and Focus.............

Put a stop to it? That might have been what pilkingtons wanted, but the regulations specifically allow for pople doing their own work as long BC approve it.

Also, Im no plumber but when we had our new boiler and thermostat fitted last year the guy who fitted it told us that CORGI registration only applies to tradesmen who charge a reward for their work. So if that is right, if I got a plumber mate to do the work for me for free then the installation wouldn't have to be CORGI registered?

The corgy guy was talking from the rsend. If the work is carried out by someone in the way of work, however tenuous the link, they will be strung up if caught in the wrong circumstances.