Whilst i'm obviously going to be biased, as a fee paying, self certifying electrician, i wonder if Part P will ever have any teeth?
Probably not.
I understand that there actually have been a few prosecutions of 'Professional' Sparks who have not followed the rules, however these seem to be few and far between.
AFAIK those few have been against grossly incompetent and dangerous cowboys who have done shocking work and lied about being registered. They may have had Building Regs contraventions added to the mix, but mainly it was trading standards offences they were really done for.
I'm not aware of a single incidence of a competent or qualified electrician who has not done shoddy work being prosecuted simply for not notifying, and I'm not holding my breath waiting for one.
It would make an interesting FOI enquiry, maybe early next year, when Part P will be 5 years old, to take the figures from the original consultation document to show how many electrical installation jobs will have been done in that time, and ask how many prosecutions there have been for failure to notify.
AFAIK, there have never been any prosections of private DIYers who have flaunted the rules themselves.
AFAIK know too, and ditto re the breath-holding.
Although many will feel this is a harsh resolve, but i think until a few homeowners have been fined and this publicised, there will be no change to the present system.
Maybe we need a few examples to be set by our law courts, these to be well publicised, maybe by something along the lines of a consumer affairs programme, such as watchdog/rogue traders. After all, its not uncommon for Matt Allwright and his Portugese mate to highlight rogue gas fitters, why not do the same with rogue sparks? This may enlighten Joe public into the realisation that although his home is his castle, he can't just 'do as i please' and there may be a strong possibility of consequences to his actions.
Dream on.
Part P was put into place to stop the incessant whining of NICEIC and the ECA. They've got what they wanted now, which is a nice new revenue stream, and the Govt have got what they wanted, which was an end to the lobbying, so they are all happy. They'll do nothing.
I also feel that if such prosecutions came about and it was proven that the supplier of the parts used was reckless in their quest for revenue, that 'shed' should be standing shoulder to shoulder in the dock, along with the householder.
Very tricky - you could never prove recklessness. They sell sand and cement and bricks too - you can't seriously expect them to be in the dock if they sell those to someone who uses them without Building Regs approval or Planning Permission.
After all, they have a duty to their customers, as does any professional trader.
They will sell me lighting fluid for a BBQ. If I use it to facilitate arson is that their fault?
They will sell me rope and chains and padlocks - should they be required to ensure that I'm not going to use them to kidnap and imprison someone?
They can easily have restrictions placed upon them regarding the sale of solvents and knives to under 18's, why not extend this responsibility to supply of other potentially dangererous equipment?
They could have that done to them, but the point is they have not. The sale of electrical installation components is legal, just as is the sale of paving slabs. The use of both may require official approval, but it is not their job to make sure their customers get whatever approvals are needed.
This brings me to perhaps a controversial suggestion that sites such as this one do nothing to stop the perpetuation of the rogue DIYer. On the whole, i find this site interesting to use but how many times has advice been given to a DIYer without regard to the rules by which we should be playing? I recall a thread, maybe a month ago, where advice was being given regarding a consumer unit change and kitchen wiring. A regular contributor here was happy to give out the info as he saw it, but without mentioning Part P requirements. When another spark alluded to the aspect of breaking the law, the contributor said he was not doing anything of the sort, even though the evidence in the thread plainly contridicted this! I don't know if this was down to lack of knowledge, lack of care or plain reckless behaviour. I'm all in favour of assisting people who may be seeking advice for valid reasons, but to go into depth on how to do a job which could be illegal (given our laws at present) and have dangerous consequences is gross negligence.
Let me propose a reasonable analogy for you to ponder. Imagine you worked in some kind of primary health-care capacity, and someone under 16 asked you for advice on, or help obtaining, contraception. Would you do as much as you could to prevent unwanted pregnancies and (possibly fatal) STDs, or would you say "I'm not going to help you as it's illegal for you to have sex"?
My position is that as long as people are fully aware of what the Building Regulations require, it's no skin off my nose if they don't notify. I'm far more concerned about their competence to do the job safely.
The reason I often ask people what they told LABC when they applied for BR approval is not that it's an oblique way to say they shouldn't be doing it, it's perfectly genuine, in case they do think they can just get an electrician to sign it off and all will be OK. If I think they shouldn't do it because they are incompetent I have no hesitation in saying so.
The ones that get my goat are those who are patently lying about using an electrician who is temporarily on holiday/abducted by aliens/bricked up electing a new Pope, and just want to find out every tiny detail so that they can buy all the materials, do all the design and do all the first fix before he returns.
Oh - and those who must realise that they don't know anything about electrics but still think it's OK for them to fiddle.
I'm sure we'll here the 'poor' householder defence, but if you have deemed yourself to be responsible enough to own your own home, then you should be responsible enough to carry out any changes in the correct manner.
Indeed. But what's more important for them to do correctly, the job itself, or notifying LABC?
Maybe if legislation was such that as part of a house sale, it was an obligation that a thorough PIR (not a drive by) or something similar were carried out, maybe in time this would lead to awareness by the home owner of the dangers associated with sub standard electrical installations and subsequently institute a mindset that we should not cut corners to save a few quid.
Education will work better than legislation. I'm sure that even the most egregious mistakes found in DIY installations are due to simple ignorance, not a callous disregard for things which they do actually know.
I dont wish to make the electrical industry a closed shop, but either Part P needs to be cleaned up, simplified for the masses and publicised or just scrap it and the fees that go with it and lets have a free-for-all where each person will be judged on their merit and let the buyer beware, dangerous failings in any electrical work carrying a heavy penalty to the owner of that installation.
The free-for-all was what we had, and the reality was that it wasn't particularly dangerous. The DIYer is "collateral damage" with Part P, which was never about safety and was always about increasing the profits and influence of NICEIC and the ECA.
