Electrical Work by the DIYER
- Thread starter Bobbya82
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'ere yer go.......
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With effect from 1st January 2005, Part P (Electrical safety) of the Building Regulations came into force, these mean that only very limited work can be carried out by non-certified people without notification to the local Building Control authority.
Work which can be carried out by a non-certified individual without notification consists of:
Replacement of fittings such as sockets, switches and light fittings.
Replacement of the cable for a single circuit where it has been damaged.
Work that is not in the bathroom or kitchen and consists of:
Adding additional lighting, light fittings and switches, to an existing circuit.
Adding additional sockets and fused spurs to an existing ring or radial main.
Installing additional earth bonding.
All this is conditional upon the use of suitable cable and fittings for the application, that the circuit protective measures are unaffected and suitable for protecting the new circuit, and that all work complies with all other appropriate regulations.
All other work must either be carried out by certified individuals/companies or notified to the local Building Control before work begins, this includes:
All new or modifications to the electrical wiring within bathrooms or shower rooms.
Installation or modification of electric underfloor or ceiling heating.
Garden lighting or power installation.
Other specialist electrical installation, examples being, Photovoltaic Solar and micro CHP power systems.
If in doubt, check with the local Building Control.
These rules DO apply to DIY activities, anyone carrying out DIY changes which are notifiable will have to submit a building notice to the local authority before starting work and pay the fee to have the work inspected and tested.
Problems may be encountered when trying to sell a property which has had notifiable electrical work carried out but for which the appropriate certificate cannot be produced.
___________________________
_________________________
With effect from 1st January 2005, Part P (Electrical safety) of the Building Regulations came into force, these mean that only very limited work can be carried out by non-certified people without notification to the local Building Control authority.
Work which can be carried out by a non-certified individual without notification consists of:
Replacement of fittings such as sockets, switches and light fittings.
Replacement of the cable for a single circuit where it has been damaged.
Work that is not in the bathroom or kitchen and consists of:
Adding additional lighting, light fittings and switches, to an existing circuit.
Adding additional sockets and fused spurs to an existing ring or radial main.
Installing additional earth bonding.
All this is conditional upon the use of suitable cable and fittings for the application, that the circuit protective measures are unaffected and suitable for protecting the new circuit, and that all work complies with all other appropriate regulations.
All other work must either be carried out by certified individuals/companies or notified to the local Building Control before work begins, this includes:
All new or modifications to the electrical wiring within bathrooms or shower rooms.
Installation or modification of electric underfloor or ceiling heating.
Garden lighting or power installation.
Other specialist electrical installation, examples being, Photovoltaic Solar and micro CHP power systems.
If in doubt, check with the local Building Control.
These rules DO apply to DIY activities, anyone carrying out DIY changes which are notifiable will have to submit a building notice to the local authority before starting work and pay the fee to have the work inspected and tested.
Problems may be encountered when trying to sell a property which has had notifiable electrical work carried out but for which the appropriate certificate cannot be produced.
___________________________
No disrespect to CamperPete, but that's not the whole story.
There are fundamentally two requirements concerning Part P
1) Notification to building control
2) Competence and standard of work
As CamperPete quite rightly points out, most electrical work which a typical DIYer would want to do is actually non-notifiable. That is neither a DITer or a certified electrician need to notify the LBCA.
However the other work needs notification no matter who does it. The difference is that anyone who is not a member of one of the self-certification schemes (i.e. most DIYers) need to notify the LBCA in advance of the work. Whereas scheme members don't need to notify in advance, but do need to do so within 30 days of completion of the work. This notification is typically done by the self-certification scheme organisation.
2) No matter who does the work, they must be competent to do so. There is no concise definition of what is required to meet the minimum competence level, however as long as the work meets BS7671 (also know as the IEE Wiring Regulations) then that's what counts. However you should note that 7671 has specific requirements for testing, and include the issuing of certificates. These require certain information to be recorded, including loop impedance and insulation resistance. Most DIY's don't have the right tools for this.
I suggest you start by getting the "Electricians Guide to the Building Regulations (Approved Document P: Electrical Safety in Dwellings)" which is available from the IET: http://www.iee.org/Publish/Books/WireAssoc/index.cfm?book=PWR05000, although they often come up on ebay along with a copy of BS7671 (which is good to have to "prove" you competence even if you don't read it
)
Also it is worth noting that the test gear you need isn't cheap (and needs regular calibration). So if you only have a small job to do it might be cheaper to get a certified electrician in.
There are fundamentally two requirements concerning Part P
1) Notification to building control
2) Competence and standard of work
As CamperPete quite rightly points out, most electrical work which a typical DIYer would want to do is actually non-notifiable. That is neither a DITer or a certified electrician need to notify the LBCA.
However the other work needs notification no matter who does it. The difference is that anyone who is not a member of one of the self-certification schemes (i.e. most DIYers) need to notify the LBCA in advance of the work. Whereas scheme members don't need to notify in advance, but do need to do so within 30 days of completion of the work. This notification is typically done by the self-certification scheme organisation.
2) No matter who does the work, they must be competent to do so. There is no concise definition of what is required to meet the minimum competence level, however as long as the work meets BS7671 (also know as the IEE Wiring Regulations) then that's what counts. However you should note that 7671 has specific requirements for testing, and include the issuing of certificates. These require certain information to be recorded, including loop impedance and insulation resistance. Most DIY's don't have the right tools for this.
I suggest you start by getting the "Electricians Guide to the Building Regulations (Approved Document P: Electrical Safety in Dwellings)" which is available from the IET: http://www.iee.org/Publish/Books/WireAssoc/index.cfm?book=PWR05000, although they often come up on ebay along with a copy of BS7671 (which is good to have to "prove" you competence even if you don't read it
)Also it is worth noting that the test gear you need isn't cheap (and needs regular calibration). So if you only have a small job to do it might be cheaper to get a certified electrician in.
No offence taken Dippy.
It was a snippet I found on the web this morning when I was looking for something else and thought it may come in useful.........but gotta admit yours is a damn sight better
It was a snippet I found on the web this morning when I was looking for something else and thought it may come in useful.........but gotta admit yours is a damn sight better
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Jar, if you are not installing a brand new circuit and the work is not in a special location (eg bathroom/ kitchen etc) then you can just go do it yourself. No need to notify.
Sorry to go over old ground here, but I do want to check before I start doing anything.
I am replacing a bathroom and as a part of that work want to replace the bathroom extractor fan with one with a timer, which I was quite happy to do myself. As putting in the new flex, isolator, and switching seemed quite straight forward.
But now I have seen this posing I’m worried about doing this…
According to the regulations should I really get someone in to do this for me?
Thanks.
I am replacing a bathroom and as a part of that work want to replace the bathroom extractor fan with one with a timer, which I was quite happy to do myself. As putting in the new flex, isolator, and switching seemed quite straight forward.
But now I have seen this posing I’m worried about doing this…
According to the regulations should I really get someone in to do this for me?
Thanks.
Alex, follow the link on BAS post above. that will tell you what yr options are.
Alex & Jar, you do not have to notify for this work.
The only question you need to ask yourself before deciding it what impact this might have when you come to SELL the house. Have a look at the HIP rules (http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk) and like me you might get nervous about exactly what you are going to have to provide in the pack when you come to sell. The condition report is likely to become mandatory, and the home inspectors may well start looking for signs of breached to the building regs.
Now unless your home is very new, the mere fact that you will have new colour wiring alongside the old colours will prove (if inspected that closely) that it has been modified since part P (or near - I can't remember the dates of colour change vs part P - maybe someone else can confirm). Therefore they will expect it to meet the regs including having a certficate. If you can do that then fine.
HOWEVER, and this is something that I'm going to have to do on my own house, as soon as you decide to modify the wiring on a house which has NOT been tested and certified according to the regs (and most houses are of course like this because before Part P it wasn't required), then you need to test it first (for safety reasons of course - you can't me sure that your wiring changes will be safe if you don't know that the existing wiring is safe).
I'm not trying to scare you, just make you think about it.
The only question you need to ask yourself before deciding it what impact this might have when you come to SELL the house. Have a look at the HIP rules (http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk) and like me you might get nervous about exactly what you are going to have to provide in the pack when you come to sell. The condition report is likely to become mandatory, and the home inspectors may well start looking for signs of breached to the building regs.
Now unless your home is very new, the mere fact that you will have new colour wiring alongside the old colours will prove (if inspected that closely) that it has been modified since part P (or near - I can't remember the dates of colour change vs part P - maybe someone else can confirm). Therefore they will expect it to meet the regs including having a certficate. If you can do that then fine.
HOWEVER, and this is something that I'm going to have to do on my own house, as soon as you decide to modify the wiring on a house which has NOT been tested and certified according to the regs (and most houses are of course like this because before Part P it wasn't required), then you need to test it first (for safety reasons of course - you can't me sure that your wiring changes will be safe if you don't know that the existing wiring is safe).
I'm not trying to scare you, just make you think about it.
Err...Dippy said:
A quote from that very website you mentioned:
It should be noted that DCLG announced on 18 July 2006 that the mandatory items of a Home Information Pack would be the Energy Performance Certificate, searches and other legal documents. The Home Condition Report will remain part of the Pack on a voluntary basis.
How hard would it have been for you to have quickly searched and found that the harmonised colours were available for use from April 2004?
It still isn't, technically speaking.
Surely the extent of the testing depends on the extent of the modifications?
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