This will be the second time I've dealt with Central Beds for electrical sign-off on building notices. The first time was when Part P was the buzzword and no-one was quite sure what the implications were (who is competent and who is "competent"?) so mine was one of the ones who put their hands up and said "hang on... none of us are electricians, we can't conceivably say what is and isn't right" so the first time they subbed it out to a local electrician at their cost. Now their process is that you do the building notice application, do the work, get an inspection at your own cost (not at first fix, importantly if you are trying to live in the house!), and if you pass that they'll issue the BN completion.
As you say there is a risk as it's possible I might inadvertently get someone who works to their own regs (i.e. BS7671 plus "their way" of doing things... you get people like that in all manner of jobs).
Interesting to see how it works with different LABCs.
Technically if you are able to do the electrical work, you are an electrician. There has been a move this year to say to inspect and test you need a level 3 qualification like the C&G 2391, but when my dad did his apprenticeship many did not go to collage, when it came to my turn most went to collage, but there is nothing to say you need to pass any exam to be an electrician.
OK my dad, my self, and my son have all passed exams, but many of my exams are not on a national register, and if I wanted I could produce a certificate which no one could prove if genuine or not, as the collage is no more, and it was an internal exam.
I was the last year to take a FCE or Flintshire Certificate of Education, next the the CSE came out, and with Flintshire I tried to get a copy of a 2005 completion certificate and failed, I thought the whole idea was there was a record which could not be altered by anyone, so a prospective buyer could see if the work had be inspected, but no, their records could not be accessed for 4 months and then I would need to pay however long it took for them to find them. I found the originals.
The LABC is in many ways no more than a tax, we read about the floods in Ruthin and how the LABC inspector allowed the houses to be built 4 foot too low, the design was so if a culvert blocked water would flow over the road before it flooded and house, they tried to blame the builder, who had clearly made an error, however that is what we pay the LABC for, it is their job to pick up on errors. And if they allow such a big one through are you really going to trust them with a small electrical job?
When I did my dads wet room for which I got that completion certificate I saw the inspector when I took over the job, never saw him again. They accepted my installation certificate and issued a completion certificate through the post. The building inspector admitted he had not a clue about electrics, all² he could do was assess if it seemed I knew what I was doing.
If an inspector says I want that run in SWA not Ali-tube before you start as not RCD protected that is OK. But once installed it is too late, which I why the inspector should be there from the start, yes I have taken a chance and I have got it wrong, lucky I had voiced my thoughts before it was done, and when the 32 amp supply was changed from 4 mm² to 10 mm² due to volt drop I could have said I told you so. But in the main as electricians we have a good idea what will work without calculating and test on completion, but for DIY they don't have that knowledge so it is easy to make mistakes.