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(Published by S. A. Coldrick Updated Friday, 08 December 2006)

New law spells end to DIY electrics and cowboy electricians

PART P & BUILDING REGULATIONS

Cutting corners on electrical work is plain dangerous - and from 1 January 2005 it'll be breaking the law too, according to the UK's leading electrical safety body, the NICEIC. The new electrical safety law - entitled Part P - aims to tighten up electrical safety in the home by clamping down on cowboy electricians and on homeowners

doing DIY electrical work. The law will require that all electrical work in homes be carried out by a 'competent' person, such as an electrician registered with the NICEIC.

Despite the fact that faulty electrics result in 19 deaths and over 2,000 non-fatal electric shock accidents each year, until now electrical installations have not been subject to Building Regulations (Part P Revisions), so employing competent contractors for all electrical work has been left to the common sense of the homeowner.

"This new electrical safety requirement is long overdue - we're delighted that the law will now demand that homeowners and occupants employ only government-authorised electricians for electrical work and don't embark on DIY electrics," said Jim Speirs, director general of the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC).

The electrical safety law will be included in the Building Regulations for England and Wales, and requires any persons carrying out work on fixed electrical installations in the home - such as sockets, switches, fuse boxes and ceiling fittings - to follow the fundamental principles of BS 7671, the British Standard for electrical installations.

New law spells end to DIY electrics and cowboy electricians

Don't let cowboy electricians put your life at risk - the NICEIC already has a roll of Approved Electrical Contractors, you can find one in your area by visiting www.niceic.org.uk or call the NICEIC on 0870 013 0381. Ends Notes to editors: The NICEIC is an independent, non-profit making body, with a register of electrical contractors that meet its rules, and Governmental controls on technical standards. It is for this reason, and because all electrical contractors are periodically assessed by one of its 60 area engineers, that the NICEIC symbol is one that you can trust. NICEIC electrical contractors are identified by the symbol accompanying their advertisements in directories and local papers, and on company stationery and vehicles.

What is Part P?
Part P is a brand new part of the Building Regulations for England and Wales. It comes into effect on 1 January 2005, and brings all electrical installation work in dwellings into a 'controlled service' under the Building Regulations. This means that, for the first time, the technical standard of electrical installation work in dwellings (generally houses and flats) will be subject to statutory requirements. These requirements will apply not only to new construction, but also to any alterations or additions to existing installations, including full or partial rewires.

What is the purpose of Part P?
The law, which applies to electrical installation work in dwellings and connected gardens, greenhouses and outbuildings, is expected to raise the competence of electrical installers, and significantly reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by defective electrical installations.

How will it be enforced?
Part P will be enforced by Local Authorities and failure to comply will be a legal offence.

Enforcement
Failure to comply with the requirement will be a criminal offence. Local authorities will also have the power to require the removal or alteration of work that does not comply with the Building Regulations.

Intended work that is subject to the provisions of Part P will have to be notified to the local authority. Traditionally, work notifiable under the Building Regulations is subject to inspection by the local authority's building control department (or other approved building inspector). However, to avoid the need for local authorities to appoint specialist agents for this purpose, it appears likely that building control bodies would be authorized to accept certificates of compliance (i.e. Electrical Installation Certificates) issued by ‘Competent Firms'.

Under such Competent Firms provisions, appropriately approved electrical contractors are able to self-certify that their work meets the requirements of the Building Regulations. In this case there will be a need to supply the relevant building control body (as well as the person ordering the work) with an Electrical Installation Certificate signed by a competent person. The alternative would be to pay a fee to have the work inspected by a local authority building control department, or other approved private sector building inspector.

For the purposes of Part P, the Government has defined ‘Competent Firms' as those registered under the NICEIC Approved Contractor scheme, the Domestic Installer Scheme and the Electro technical Assessment Scheme.

How will this affect me?
When the time comes to sell your property, your purchaser's solicitors will ask for evidence that any electrical installation carried out after 1 January 2005 complies with the new Building Regulations. There will be two ways to prove compliance:

1. A certificate showing that the work has been done by a government - authorised electrical contractor, such as an NICEIC contractor.

2. A certificate from the local authority saying that the installation has approval under the Building Regulations.

The requirements

Fixed electrical installations in dwellings shall be suitably designed, installed, inspected and tested so as to provide reasonable protection against their being a source of a fire or a cause of injury to persons.

The requirement applies only to fixed electrical installations in dwellings in England and Wales intended to operate at low voltage or extra-low voltage.

The scope of Part P

Part P will apply to all fixed installations after the supplier's meter in buildings or parts of buildings comprising:

•	dwellings
•	combined dwellings and business premises having a common supply (such as shops, pubs etc)
•	common access areas in blocks of flats (but not lifts)
•	shared amenities in blocks of flats (such as laundries, gymnasiums etc)
•	outbuildings, including sheds, garages and greenhouses
•	garden lighting and power supplies

Parts of fixed electrical installations external to premises, such as in gardens, sheds, detached garages and the like, will also be subject to the requirements of Part P.

The safety requirement will be applicable to alterations and additions to existing installations (including rewires), as well as to new construction. There will be a requirement to ensure that parts of an existing installation upon which new work depends for safety (such as the earth and bonding arrangement) comply with the requirements of BS 7671:2001. This requirement for consequential remedial work is a departure from the normal Building Regulations approach.

Complying with Part P

Electrical contractors will achieve compliance by following the fundamental principles for safety set out in Chapter 13 of BS 7671:2001. Official guidance on complying with the requirement will be given in a new Approved Document P, entitled >Fixed Electrical Installations in Dwellings=. The Document will emphasise the need for electrical installation work to be inspected and tested during, and on completion of, the work to verify that it complies with BS 7671. Further guidance will also be available from the NICEIC.

Part P applies to all fixed electrical installations

The requirement applies to all fixed electrical installation work in dwellings, whether carried out professionally or by DIY, whether or not minor work, and whether or not the work is notifiable to a building control body. However, certain relaxations may apply for the inspection, testing and certification of minor work undertaken as DIY.

Periodic Inspection Reports (PIR)

Part P does not cover the inspection and testing of existing electrical installations. However, any remedial work carried out to correct deficiencies in a PIR will come within the scope of Part P.

Notifying electrical work

All proposed electrical installation work in dwellings will need to be notified to a building control body before work commences, unless:

•	the proposed work is to be undertaken by a prescribed competent person (an individual or a firm) authorised to self-certify compliance on completion of the work, or
•	the proposed work is minor, and it is not in a kitchen or in an area classified as a special installation or location

The new NICEIC Domestic Installer scheme is designed to enable registered businesses to be deemed as competent persons.

Minor work

Minor work is electrical work not involving the addition of a new circuit, such as the addition of socket outlets or lighting points to existing circuits and the replacement of accessories.

What is a ‘special installation or location'?

The following are classified as special installations or locations:

•	locations containing a bath tub or shower basin
•	swimming pools or paddling pools
•	hot air saunas
•	garden lighting or power installations
•	solar photovoltaic power supply systems
•	electric floor or ceiling heating systems
•	extra-low voltage lighting installations, other than pre-assembled, CE- marked lighting sets
•	small scale generators such as micro CHP units

All electrical installation work in such areas (as well as in kitchens) will need to be notified, or self-certified by a prescribed competent person, even if only 'minor works'.

Building Regulation requirements in addition to Part P

Contractors self-certifying compliance with Part P will also have to certify compliance with other relevant parts of the Building Regulations that have been affected by the electrical work, such as Part B (fire safety), Part F, Part M (accessibility) and Part L1 (energy conservation).

To Notify or Not

Except as identified in the chart below, notification of proposals to carry out electrical installation work must be given to a building control body before work begins, unless the work is undertaken by a person or firm registered with a Part P self certification scheme.

Whether or not work is notifiable is dependant on the nature of installation work proposed and its location within a dwelling. The location is important because some 'special installations or locations', such as kitchens and bathrooms, may pose a greater risk to people.

Examples of work	Notifiable?
	*Areas not in a kitchen, garden or special location†**	*Within a kitchen, garden or special location†**
A complete new installation or rewire
Consumer unit change
Installing or upgrading main or supplementary equipotential bonding
Installing a new final circuit (e.g. for lighting, socket-outlets, a shower or a cooker)
Fitting and connecting an electric shower to an existing wiring point	N/A
Adding a socket-outlet to an existing final circuit
Adding a lighting point to an existing final circuit
Adding a fused connection unit to an existing final circuit
Connecting a cooker to an existing connection unit
Replacing a damaged cable for a single circuit, on a like-for-like basis
Replacing a damaged accessory, such as a socket-outlet
Replacing a lighting fitting
Providing mechanical protection to an existing fixed installation‡
Installing and fitting a storage heater, including final circuit
Fitting and final connection of storage heater to an existing adjacent wiring point
Installing extra-low†† voltage lighting (other than pre-assembled CE marked sets)
Installing a new supply to a garden shed or other outbuilding	N/A
Installing a socket-outlet or lighting point in a garden shed or other detached outbuilding	N/A
Installing a garden pond pump, including supply	N/A
Installing an electric hot air sauna	N/A
Installing a solar photovoltaic power supply
Installing electric ceiling or floor heating
Installing an electricity generator
Installing an additional socket-outlet in a motor caravan	N/A	N/A
Installing telephone or extra-low†† voltage wiring and equipment for communications, information technology, signaling, control or similar purposes
Connecting an item of equipment to an existing adjacent connection point
Replacing an immersion heater
Installing a socket-outlet or lighting point outdoors

Note: For situations not covered in the chart, reference should be made to Approved Document P to find out whether or not the work concerned is notifiable. In cases of doubt, the building control body should be consulted.

* A kitchen is defined in The Building (Amendment) (No.3) Regulations 2004 as 'a room or part of a room which contains a sink and food preparation facilities'. (A utility room, though it may contain a sink, does not fall within the definition of a kitchen if it does not contain food preparation facilities.)

† 'Special locations' include locations containing a bath or shower, swimming or paddling pools and hot air saunas.

‡ If the circuit protective measures and current-carrying capacity of conductors are unaffected by increased thermal insulation.

††Extra-low voltage is defined in BS 7671 as 'normally not exceeding 50 V a.c. or 120 V ripple-free d.c., whether between conductors or to earth'.

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