That sort of thing.
What about the testing and inspection part?
He does that too.
There are two compliances going on here. Building Regulations compliance and Wiring Regulations compliance.
The former is legally required, the latter is not, but in practice it is so much the easiest way to achieve the former that it is de facto required.
There are legal restrictions on who can certify the former, but not on who can certify the latter. But again, in practice, a person would need electrical qualifications for people, especially regulatory bodies etc, to be prepared to accept that an EIC signed by them was valid. Legally your Aunt Bessie could sign an EIC, but it's unlikely that anybody would believe that she knew how to exercise reasonable skill and care etc, and unlikely that her assertion that to the best of her knowledge and belief she had complied with the Wiring Regulations would be given any credence.
The Building Regulations (Part P) applies to
any work whatsoever on fixed electrical cables or fixed electrical equipment located on the consumer’s side of the electricity supply meter which operate at low or extra-low voltage and are—
(a) in or attached to a dwelling;
(b) in the common parts of a building serving one or more dwellings, but excluding power supplies to lifts;
(c) in a building that receives its electricity from a source located within or shared with a dwelling; or
(d) in a garden or in or on land associated with a building where the electricity is from a source located within or shared with a dwelling.
Some electrical work is notifiable, i.e. you have to tell the council about it. Possibly they have to assure themselves that it complies with the Building Regulations, and once they do they issue a completion certificate certifying that it complies.
There are different ways to go about this.
- You use a registered electrician. He has had his qualifications and skills verified by what's called a Competent Person Scheme operator such as NICEIC, ELECSA, NAPIT etc, and is allowed to self-certify compliance with the Building Regs. Through his scheme he tells the council about the work once it's finished (within 30 days), and he pays a nominal fee for that. The scheme organiser tells the council and issues the Building Regs completion certificate to you.
- You, or someone else who is unqualified, does the work, and you engage the services of a registered Third Party Certifier. This really is just like the way it's always been an option to use an independent Building Inspector instead of a council BCO when doing "building" work. The TPC has had his skills etc assessed, and he is trusted. When the work is done he issues the Building Regs completion certificate to you and notifies the council. There are not many TPCs around, and IHNI what sort of charges they make. Presumably they'd have to be cheaper than the council or they'd not get any work, which is probably why not many electricians who could do it have bothered to sign up.
- You, or someone else who is unqualified, does the work. Then you have to notify the council in advance, i.e. you basically tell them what you plan to do, and how you plan to ensure it complies with the Building Regulations, they say "OK - that's fine", you then do the work, they inspect it at various times, and if they are happy that you did what you promised, and did comply, they issue the completion certificate. Because your council, like most, does not have in-house electrical expertise, they have to sub-contract an electrician, hence the additional fee. You might wonder just what they have done to justify their initial fee - I couldn't possibly speculate.
For small jobs this will be by far and away the most expensive way to do it.
- You have the work done by a qualified electrician. He is qualified, and is perfectly able to certify compliance with the Wiring Regulations, and perfectly able to satisfy the council that he is so able. Notification in advance is still needed, and paying the council's fee still happens, but no additional inspection fees are levied because the council know that the work is being done by a qualified electrician. When it's done you send them a copy of his EIC, they then take that as proof of compliance with the Building Regulations, and they issue the completion certificate. In theory they ought to come and inspect the non-electrical aspects of the work, i.e. has he not turned joists into swiss cheese to run cables through, has he installed energy efficient lighting, has he not removed thermal insulation etc, but I believe that the level of diligence varies from council to council. You might wonder just what they have done to justify their initial fee - I couldn't possibly speculate.
If you've got a friend who will do the work for free, then this will be the cheapest option.
Please note though that you will be asking your friend to sign this declaration:
I being the person responsible for the design, construction, inspection & testing of the electrical installation (as indicated by my signature below), particulars of which are described above, having exercised reasonable skill and care when carrying out the design, construction, inspection & testing hereby CERTIFY that the said work for which I have been responsible is to the best of my knowledge and belief in accordance with BS 7671:2008, amended to 2015 except for the departures, if any, detailed as follows:
Do not ask him to do that without agreeing with him upfront everything you do. Don't present him with decisions you have made, or a bunch of anonymous strangers on an Internet forum have made, and expect him to say that he made them.
