Regularisation - who pays for electrics inspection?

[travers2000]

Hi,

I had part of the kitchen converted into a shower room a couple of years ago and it came to light last year that I should have sought approval to do this (in particular for the electricity side of things) via the 'Building Notice' process.

I've since put in a Regularisation application to put things right but I'm currently 'in discussion' with my local council as to who should be paying for the inspection of the electrics (i.e. me or them)

Based on what I've read on "the internet", my interpretation is that all inspection costs (including the electrics) should be covered by the building control fee I've already paid to the council, but they are saying that the cost is not covered by their fees and that I should be getting my own 'BS7671' qualified electrician in at my own cost to retrospectively certify the work which they will then rubber stamp.

Does anyone know if there is a definitive answer to this? As I say, I've scoured the interent and the 'evidence' that I've unearthed has led me to question the council's stance but what I've seen and read is somewhat open to interpretation.

For example, the information on the following local government website seems to be saying that all 'part P' inspection costs should be covered by the council's pre-fixed building notice application charges but it doesn't explicity cover my 'retrospective application' (i.e. regularisation).

Any pointers to anything that makes it 100% clear what councils should be including in their regularisation fees would be really appreciated.

Many thanks,
Martin
p.s. as you can probably tell, I know little to nothing about any of this so please be gentle with me!

 

[EFLImpudence]

Not clear from your post.

You say that you 'should have' sought approval which more than implies that you didn't.

You then go on to say that you think it 'should be covered by the building control fee I've already paid'. What was this fee covering?

If the electrician was registered he should have issued an Electrical Installation Certificate at the time.

 

[pjcomp]

When Part P brought electrics under the umbrella of Buildign Control it wqas on the basis that you employed an electrician who, under "competent persons schemes" was able to self-certify his work as meeting the standard and notifying same to the LABC - small fee, job done. Or, you could do it yourself or have a non-certified electrician, in which case the LABC would have to take care of inspection and certification. As few (if any) building inspectors know anything about electrics (they're good at insulation and concrete, not wiring) they have to get in an electrician to do this for them, which costs. This is then an additional cost to the building regulations approval process. You're in this position - you pay for building regs approval, but that doesn't cover the electrics because the LABC has to sub-contract it out. I'd say it'll be cheaper for you to find your own sparks to certify the work than do it via the council.

PJ

 

[travers2000]

Not clear from your post.

You say that you 'should have' sought approval which more than implies that you didn't.

You then go on to say that you think it 'should be covered by the building control fee I've already paid'. What was this fee covering?

If the electrician was registered he should have issued an Electrical Installation Certificate at the time.

Hi - cheers for the reply - apologies for the lack of clarity.

The original work was done by a builder who wasn't qualified from an electrical certification perspective.

Being the naive chap that I am, I didn't realise that the work should have been notified to the local council (the builder said that he would take care of that side of things and I somewhat naively trusted him).

So, some two years later I'm now going through the Regularisation process to get the work retrospectively certified.

This is where the 'guidelines' on what ought to be covered by the council's fees seem open to interpretation.

The 'communities.gov' website says this:

"Local authority charges for Part P work

Local authorities should ensure that charges for checking full plans applications or building notices and carrying out inspections of building work, including that relating to Part P, are pre-fixed in their charges scheme as required by the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998. Authorities do not have powers to reassess a fixed charge, which they have levied for a particular application or notice, during the course of the work."

But that doesn't explicity include nor exclude the costs of retrospective planning permission (i.e. the regularisation process that I'm going through).

I just wanted to make sure the council were justified in saying that I need to pay extra for a retrospective electrical inspection when information I've gleaned online suggests that is perhaps ought to be covered by their fixed regularisation charge.

cheers

 

[travers2000]

When Part P brought electrics under the umbrella of Buildign Control it wqas on the basis that you employed an electrician who, under "competent persons schemes" was able to self-certify his work as meeting the standard and notifying same to the LABC - small fee, job done. Or, you could do it yourself or have a non-certified electrician, in which case the LABC would have to take care of inspection and certification. As few (if any) building inspectors know anything about electrics (they're good at insulation and concrete, not wiring) they have to get in an electrician to do this for them, which costs. This is then an additional cost to the building regulations approval process. You're in this position - you pay for building regs approval, but that doesn't cover the electrics because the LABC has to sub-contract it out. I'd say it'll be cheaper for you to find your own sparks to certify the work than do it via the council.

PJ

Hi - cheers for that PJ - sounds like I'm going to have to bite the bullet then. I did sort of suspect that but was slightly swayed to question it by the myriad of information out there in internet land!

Thanks again

 

[EFLImpudence]

Do I infer correctly that the builder installed the electrical supply and the shower was the only work done? (i.e. not part of a whole new kitchen).

If so, for what was the fee paid if you didn't seek approval?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The original work was done by a builder who wasn't qualified from an electrical certification perspective.

Then he broke the law. HE did the work, so it was HIS responsibility to notify the council, not yours.

You might like to consider going after him.

The 'communities.gov' website says this:

"Local authority charges for Part P work

Local authorities should ensure that charges for checking full plans applications or building notices and carrying out inspections of building work, including that relating to Part P, are pre-fixed in their charges scheme as required by the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998. Authorities do not have powers to reassess a fixed charge, which they have levied for a particular application or notice, during the course of the work."

Does it still say that?

Talk about joined up government - the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998 were revoked last year. See http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2010/uksi_20100404_en_1 - particularly 7(3):

Where the local authority consider it necessary to engage and incur the costs of a consultant to provide specialist advice or services in relation to a particular aspect of building work those costs shall also be included in the determination referred to in paragraph (1).