Part P - trying to follow the rules.....

[diy_dude]

I am about to start a project to replace my kitchen. Whist doing this I want to upgrade the existing radial circuit to a ring and add more sockets. In practise the easiest way is to totally re-wire the kitchen. I have experience of this and feel confident doing the work although I am not an approved spark.

I have read about part P and understand that I need to involve my local building office. So, I paid them a visit to enquire and now I am unsure how to proceed.

They gave me a photocopied form which asks for name, address, brief description of work and £55 + VAT. Apart from that they were unable to give any advice.

If I complete this form, pay the money and give 48 hours notice of starting work, am I in the clear?

Does my install need to be tested, and if so by who and who pays?

Anything else I need to be aware of?

Thanks for any advice

 

[breezer]

i suggest you read the form again.

it seems it varies acording to where you live

 

[Adam_151]

They gave me a photocopied form which asks for name, address, brief description of work and £55 + VAT. Apart from that they were unable to give any advice.

If I complete this form, pay the money and give 48 hours notice of starting work, am I in the clear?

More or less

Does my install need to be tested, and if so by who and who pays?

Anything else I need to be aware of?

If the council want the installation to BS7671 then yes testing will be required, if not, then technically not, but how can you prove it to be safe without testing (part P requires resonable provisions to be made for safety)

testing can be either by you on a normal EIC if you are competant, or by a tame contractor on the testing section of 3 part EIC (but check with the council if they want the testing person to hold the 2391 qualification)
[/quote]

 

[simon_d]

Does my install need to be tested, and if so by who and who pays?

your paid fee covers costs of THEM testing. altho many try and charge extra for them to test, or some tell you that you need to get a spary to test for you and issue certs and hand them to LABC. if they try and do this, tell them its their responsibility to test and your fee covers it. someone here will have a link to the circular which states this

 

[diy_dude]

thanks very much for the clarification on this.

I wanted to check it out before paying my £55+VAT if I would then be required to pay any more afterwards.

From the responces here it seems like that fee will cover everything that needs to be done to get my installation approved.

Having said that, £55+VAT does not seem that much to pay to have a full electrical test of my newly installed circuits.. Even if it was not compulsory, I think I might pay that money to get my work checked out for peace of mind.

Thanks for all your information

 

[JohnD]

Might be a good deal if it really includes the testing. Who's your council?

 

[diy_dude]

Leeds City Council

 

[Gasman1015]

Don't you think it a good idea to ask the LBC what the fee entails, then you will know for sure.

 

[diy_dude]

Of course I asked.

I was advised to fill in the general one page application form and to pay the fee. Once I had done this a building control officer would contact me to progress it further.

The form was for all building work not specific to electrical work.

Given the doubt, I'll visit again tomorrow to find out.

Seems like the process in not really understood properly by anyone, I wonder how many people actually 'notify' before starting work and how many pople never do.....

Does anyone else here have any experience of the notification process?

 

[RF Lighting]

Please keep us updated how you get on with LABC. I am especially interested being a Leeds lad. We haven't had to involve LABC for signing off electrical works, so I am interested to know how / if it works and how much of a pain in the a**e the whole process is.

(we self certify before you say owt)

 

[securespark]

(we self certify before you say owt)

I'm certified, too......

 

[diy_dude]

Ok, Rang Building control, here is the latest.

Leeds have a building control officer who deals with electrical work installations. I did not speak to him directly as he was out of the office, but I will be ringing him back later. I spoke to a colleague who gave me this info:

He has received some training but is not a fully qualified electrician. Depending on the work being done, he may or may not be able and willing to test the new installation. In my case on installing a new rain main to the kitchen which is wired back to a new consumer unit, he should be able to test and approve in install. If the install was more complicated of connecting back to an older consumer unit, I would then be required to get an independant spark to inspect and test my work. That spark would not need to be part P registered. Once the spark had given the OK, building control would issue what ever it is they need to issue.

It seems like the legislation is not well understood and that many LABCs dont have the resources needed to support it fully.

I could have stuck my head in the sand and just got on with the work anyway, however as I bough the house in the last 6 months I can hardly claim the work was done before part P was enforced. Following to route of actually contacting my LABC seems to have created more questions than answers thus far.....

 

[diy_dude]

The guy I need to speak to is not back in the office until monday. I'll post more details here once I have spoken to him.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I would then be required to get an independant spark to inspect and test my work.

No - the council cannot make you do that.

 

[Bradder5]

The approved documnet is quite clear
section 1.24 states that the Bc is responsible for making sure the installation is safe and complies withe the building regulations.

Section 1.26 makes it clear that the BC have to bear the cost of the inspection + testing and not the huseholder

sections 1.28/1.29 make it clear that a third party cannot be employed by you to do the testing required under the regulations.

I am having similar problems with my local BC. see thread //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54691

let us all know how you get on...
Mike