See here:
http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_buildreg/documents/page/odpm_breg_600372.pdf
For the most part it is a Good Idea - it's basically designed to stop the kitchen fitter or boiler installer or off-duty fireman who has "watched someone else" and now thinks he's an electrician. IMHO, if someone is taking money to do a job then they should be qualified and certified and insured etc - they should be better and more knowledgeable than a DIY-er, otherwise what's the point?
And I guess once you start down that route, you have to have some regulations on what DIY-ers are allowed to do. Let's face it - electricity is dangerous, and some people do do stupid things. And while the consequences are not as potentially disasterous as they are with gas (yes, you can kill yourself. Yes you can create a shock hazard or start a fire which might kill others. No you cannot poison people in their beds, and no you cannot bring down a tower block in a cataclysmic explosion), it's no use pretending that there are no risks.
But there are risks in everything we do, and it's important to balance the prevention of risk against the over-regulation and "nannying" of people. To refer to my earlier rant in another thread, we could certainly save thousands of lives each year if we took away the right of people to operate mechanically propelled vehicles, and restricted their operation to properly trained and certified professionals. Don't think that proposal would be a vote-winner though.
So have they got the balance right here?
As I read it you will have to notify the Local Authority if you intend to carry out any electrical installation work, unless you are officially a competent person, or the work is minor, so DIY-ers, presumably, will be allowed to do minor work without having to tell the Building Inspectors
The definition of "minor work" is:
Where the proposed electrical installation work is minor work and does not include the provision of a new circuit, see Table 1.
Table 1 - Minor electrical installation works in dwelling that need not be notified
1. Additional lighting points (light fittings and switching) on an existing circuit. ( See Note 1
2. Adding socket-outlets to an existing ring or radial circuit.( See Note 1
3. Replacement of accessories such as socket-outlets, control switches and ceiling roses, but excluding circuit protective devices.
4. Installation and/or upgrading and testing of main equipotential bonding.
5. Upgrading and testing supplementary bonding.
6. Replacement of the cable for a single circuit only, where damaged, e.g., by fire, rodent or impact.( See Note 2
7. Re-fixing and/or repairing the enclosures of existing wiring systems.( See Note 3
8. Providing additional mechanical protection to existing equipment.( See Note 4
Notes
1 Only if the existing circuit protective device is suitable and provides protection for the modified circuit and other safety provisions are satisfactory.
2 On condition that the replacement cable is identical in manufactured specification, follows the same route and does not serve more than one sub-circuit through a distribution board.
3 On condition the circuit's protective measures are unaffected.
4 On condition the circuit's protective measures and current-carrying capacity of conductors are unaffected.
Some of this makes no sense - I can replace a cable if it is damaged, but I can't install a new circuit. So when the rats eat my ring main, I can lift floorboards, pull new wires, connect up all the sockets, and wire it into the MCB, but I couldn't at the same time pull wires, fit sockets and connect to a previously unused MCB. Hmmmm....
Or if the rats have chewed through 2 rings, I have to decide whether I now have to do without power upstairs, or downstairs. Hmmmm.....
"On condition that the replacement cable is identical in.... specification...". So if I install a 10kW shower, and my 4mm T/E catches fire, I can replace it with more 4mm, but not with 10mm. Hmmmm....
Or if I already had 10mm, but my 40A MCB kept tripping, I couldn't replace it with a 50A. Hmmmm....
Or if my overhead suspended T/E feeding my garage got broken, I could replace it with more overhead suspended T/E, but not with SWA, or, heaven forbid, a cable buried or in a conduit. Hmmmm....
And when I connect my unwise overhead suspended T/E to the socket in the garage, I'd better not think about replacing the socket with a small CU, or add a light, oh no.
Re Item 3 - I can replace a fused spur outlet, but not the fuse itself? Hmmmm.....
I wonder though, if a hammer accidentally fell several times onto my CU, whether I could claim that a new one was actually a repair to the existing wiring system, and therefore OK as per Item 7? Possibly, unless, of course, the new one had a 30mA RDC, as my old one has a 100mA, and changing it would fall foul of Note 3 and/or 4. Hmmmm....
I won't go on - mainly because I don't think the document I referenced is the full and final horror. If you look at the results of the consultation exercise, ( http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_buildreg/documents/pdf/odpm_breg_pdf_023509.pdf ) you'll see that all sorts of changes were suggested and adopted for Table 1.
Like you can add ONE socket to a ring, or ONE fused spur, after that it needs to be done by a competent person, or notified to building control and inspected etc etc. Need more? Well - why not buy a bunch of multi-gang extension leads, or some 2 or 3-way adapters. That'll be safer, won't it?
Like ALL work in kitchens must be notified. Broken one of your sockets? Tough. Want to replace the old round pullswitch with a trendy new square one? Nope. Don't like the fluourescent striplight? Bad luck mate, you're stuck with it.
Oh and by the way - don't think, "**** it - I'll do it - who will ever know?", not if you ever want to be able to sell your house, because I'll bet that once these rules come into force, any purchaser will be entitled to ask to see evidence that your new kitchen, or your 10.5kW shower, or your powered shed were installed in conformance to the regulations, just like they can with anything else covered by a building reg. And if you can't produce a certificate from either a person who is competent to self-certify, or a Building Control inspector, what do you think will happen to their offer?
I have a VERY serious suggestion - if anybody out there is planning to do anything next year that is currently OK and won't be next year, at least go and buy all the stuff now - all the cable, all the sockets, the new CUs, the flat-pack kitchen cabinets, the downlighters, the new shower, whatever, and keep the receipts. You have a very small window of being able to get away with it.
Before this, building regs applied to fairly major stuff, like replacement windows, the specifications of central heating boilers, extensions, structural work, new houses etc, not replacing the light switch in the kitchen or adding a few sockets. I think there are going to be a lot of very upset people soon.
This forum will also probably wither and die - just replace it with an autoresponder which says "pay your nearest electrician" Oh - and aren't they going to be made to feel welcome now.....
http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_buildreg/documents/page/odpm_breg_600372.pdf
For the most part it is a Good Idea - it's basically designed to stop the kitchen fitter or boiler installer or off-duty fireman who has "watched someone else" and now thinks he's an electrician. IMHO, if someone is taking money to do a job then they should be qualified and certified and insured etc - they should be better and more knowledgeable than a DIY-er, otherwise what's the point?
And I guess once you start down that route, you have to have some regulations on what DIY-ers are allowed to do. Let's face it - electricity is dangerous, and some people do do stupid things. And while the consequences are not as potentially disasterous as they are with gas (yes, you can kill yourself. Yes you can create a shock hazard or start a fire which might kill others. No you cannot poison people in their beds, and no you cannot bring down a tower block in a cataclysmic explosion), it's no use pretending that there are no risks.
But there are risks in everything we do, and it's important to balance the prevention of risk against the over-regulation and "nannying" of people. To refer to my earlier rant in another thread, we could certainly save thousands of lives each year if we took away the right of people to operate mechanically propelled vehicles, and restricted their operation to properly trained and certified professionals. Don't think that proposal would be a vote-winner though.
So have they got the balance right here?
As I read it you will have to notify the Local Authority if you intend to carry out any electrical installation work, unless you are officially a competent person, or the work is minor, so DIY-ers, presumably, will be allowed to do minor work without having to tell the Building Inspectors
The definition of "minor work" is:
Where the proposed electrical installation work is minor work and does not include the provision of a new circuit, see Table 1.
Table 1 - Minor electrical installation works in dwelling that need not be notified
1. Additional lighting points (light fittings and switching) on an existing circuit. ( See Note 1
2. Adding socket-outlets to an existing ring or radial circuit.( See Note 1
3. Replacement of accessories such as socket-outlets, control switches and ceiling roses, but excluding circuit protective devices.
4. Installation and/or upgrading and testing of main equipotential bonding.
5. Upgrading and testing supplementary bonding.
6. Replacement of the cable for a single circuit only, where damaged, e.g., by fire, rodent or impact.( See Note 2
7. Re-fixing and/or repairing the enclosures of existing wiring systems.( See Note 3
8. Providing additional mechanical protection to existing equipment.( See Note 4
Notes
1 Only if the existing circuit protective device is suitable and provides protection for the modified circuit and other safety provisions are satisfactory.
2 On condition that the replacement cable is identical in manufactured specification, follows the same route and does not serve more than one sub-circuit through a distribution board.
3 On condition the circuit's protective measures are unaffected.
4 On condition the circuit's protective measures and current-carrying capacity of conductors are unaffected.
Some of this makes no sense - I can replace a cable if it is damaged, but I can't install a new circuit. So when the rats eat my ring main, I can lift floorboards, pull new wires, connect up all the sockets, and wire it into the MCB, but I couldn't at the same time pull wires, fit sockets and connect to a previously unused MCB. Hmmmm....
Or if the rats have chewed through 2 rings, I have to decide whether I now have to do without power upstairs, or downstairs. Hmmmm.....
"On condition that the replacement cable is identical in.... specification...". So if I install a 10kW shower, and my 4mm T/E catches fire, I can replace it with more 4mm, but not with 10mm. Hmmmm....
Or if I already had 10mm, but my 40A MCB kept tripping, I couldn't replace it with a 50A. Hmmmm....
Or if my overhead suspended T/E feeding my garage got broken, I could replace it with more overhead suspended T/E, but not with SWA, or, heaven forbid, a cable buried or in a conduit. Hmmmm....
And when I connect my unwise overhead suspended T/E to the socket in the garage, I'd better not think about replacing the socket with a small CU, or add a light, oh no.
Re Item 3 - I can replace a fused spur outlet, but not the fuse itself? Hmmmm.....
I wonder though, if a hammer accidentally fell several times onto my CU, whether I could claim that a new one was actually a repair to the existing wiring system, and therefore OK as per Item 7? Possibly, unless, of course, the new one had a 30mA RDC, as my old one has a 100mA, and changing it would fall foul of Note 3 and/or 4. Hmmmm....
I won't go on - mainly because I don't think the document I referenced is the full and final horror. If you look at the results of the consultation exercise, ( http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_buildreg/documents/pdf/odpm_breg_pdf_023509.pdf ) you'll see that all sorts of changes were suggested and adopted for Table 1.
Like you can add ONE socket to a ring, or ONE fused spur, after that it needs to be done by a competent person, or notified to building control and inspected etc etc. Need more? Well - why not buy a bunch of multi-gang extension leads, or some 2 or 3-way adapters. That'll be safer, won't it?
Like ALL work in kitchens must be notified. Broken one of your sockets? Tough. Want to replace the old round pullswitch with a trendy new square one? Nope. Don't like the fluourescent striplight? Bad luck mate, you're stuck with it.
Oh and by the way - don't think, "**** it - I'll do it - who will ever know?", not if you ever want to be able to sell your house, because I'll bet that once these rules come into force, any purchaser will be entitled to ask to see evidence that your new kitchen, or your 10.5kW shower, or your powered shed were installed in conformance to the regulations, just like they can with anything else covered by a building reg. And if you can't produce a certificate from either a person who is competent to self-certify, or a Building Control inspector, what do you think will happen to their offer?
I have a VERY serious suggestion - if anybody out there is planning to do anything next year that is currently OK and won't be next year, at least go and buy all the stuff now - all the cable, all the sockets, the new CUs, the flat-pack kitchen cabinets, the downlighters, the new shower, whatever, and keep the receipts. You have a very small window of being able to get away with it.
Before this, building regs applied to fairly major stuff, like replacement windows, the specifications of central heating boilers, extensions, structural work, new houses etc, not replacing the light switch in the kitchen or adding a few sockets. I think there are going to be a lot of very upset people soon.
This forum will also probably wither and die - just replace it with an autoresponder which says "pay your nearest electrician" Oh - and aren't they going to be made to feel welcome now.....