Question 1 - I am a domestic electrical installer, and I have been asked to carry out some work that involves the install and possibly the replacement electric wiring: will Part P apply to me?
Answer - Yes, the Part P of Building Regulations apply to all notifiable electrical work in dwellings. Domestic Electrical Installers can be achieve compliance by following the the 17th edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations' BS 7671: 2008
For more details
See "The IET Wiring Regulations"
See "Official Document Part P"
As an domestic electrical installer, you should seriously consider registering with with a compentent person's scheme provider, other wise known as 'Part P Scheme Providers'. If you are not registered and you attempt to carry out notifiable work in a domestic property, as described above, without informing local authority building control, you will be in breach of the regulations and almost certainly breaking the law. Notifiable works include new circuits back to the consumer unit and additions or alterations to existing circuits in kitchens, bathrooms and outdoors.Works that are not notifiable include repairs, replacements and maintenance; and additions or alterations to existing circuits outside of kitchens and bathrooms. If you are not sure whether work is notifiable, you should check with a competant persons scheme or local authority building control.
If you are an unregistered domestic electrical installer, and the wqork you have carried out is notifiable, building control must inspect the work to check that it complies with the Building Regulations before issuing a completion certificate. It should noted that all domestic electrical work that is carried out by domestic electrical installers must also issue the householder with a signed BS 7671 electrical safety certificate.
In addition, all domestic installers are reminded that the householder has a contract with the electricity distribution company which has conditions about safety which must not be broken. In particular, domestic installers must not interfere with the distribution company's equipment which includes the cables to your consumer unit or the cables up to and including the separate main isolator switch, if provided.
Question 2 - According to Part P, the work I'm going to do does not need to be notified to Building Control. Does the work still have to comply with the requirements of Part P and the other relevant parts of the Building Regulations?
Answer - Yes. All electrical installation work in dwellings, however minor or major, is required to comply with the Building Regulations.
Question 3 - Is the replacement of a consumer unit notifiable?
Answer - Yes, it is ! thsi is because the replacement consumer unit is not minor work and in effect, is changing the entire characteristcs of the domestic circuit
Question 4 - Is minor electrical installation work in a utility room notifiable?
Answer - No. The definition of a kitchen, which is a special location, does not include a utility room. Minor electrical work in utility rooms (such as adding spur socket-outlets and lighting points to existing circuits) therefore need not be notified to building control.
Question 5 - Does electrical installation work in a conservatory need to be notified?
Answer - Not unless the work extends to the provisions of a new circuit, or involves an extension to an existing circuit that involves running a spur from a kitchen or bathroom. However, new socket-outlets in a conservatory, according to BS7671:2008, should be provided with RCD protection, as in most cases it would be reasonable to expect that they may be used to supply portable equipment for use outdoors.
Question 6 - Is the installation of a socket-outlet on an outside wall of a dwelling notifiable?
Answer - Yes. Again RCD protection should be provided because it is intended to be used to power hand-held or other electrical equipment outdoors.
Question 7 - Is the installation of a light fitting or other electrical equipments (such as an air conditioning unit) on an outside wall of a dwelling notifiable if the wiring passes directly through the wall into the equipment?
Answer - Except in circumstances mentioned in Question 7, the governments view is no, because the connection to the existing circuit is made indoors. Despite the increased risk of electric shock to persons in direct contact with the ground, the government does not consider such work to be part of a 'garden lighting or power installation' or part of a 'special installation' as defined in Part P.
Question 8 - Is the installation of a light fitting or other electrical equipments (such as an air conditioning unit) on an outside wall of a dwelling notifiable under any other circumstances?
Answer - Yes. The work is notifiable if the supply to the equipment involves an extension to an existing circuit in a kitchen or bathroom, or if there is a connection point on the outside wall of the dwelling.
Question 9 - Is work that involves running a power supply cable across a garden notifiable?
Answer - Yes. Any work that involves running a power supply cable across a garden, such as to a remote shed, garage or greenhouse, is considered to come under the 'garden lighting and power' category, and is therefore notifiable.
Question 10 - Is electrical installation work within a detached garage or garden shed notifiable?
Answer - No, unless the work also involves the provision of a new circuit across the garden (see Question 9).
Question 11 - Is the installation of prefabricated 'modular' wiring products (such as kitchen unit lighting systems with integral plug and socket connectors) notifiable?
Answer - No, even if the installation is in a kitchen or special location, provided that the products are CE-marked, that they are suitable for the environment in which they are installed, and that they are connected to an existing power point (such as a socket-outlet or connection unit).
Question 12 - Is the installation of fixed wiring and equipment connected by means of a 13A plug to an existing socket-outlet, such as for the power and control requirements of a central heating system, subject to the requirements of Part P?
Answer - Yes
Question 13 - Is the installation of the power and control wiring for a new central heating system notifiable?
Answer - Yes, even if electrical work in kitchens and bathrooms can be avoided.
Question 14 - Is the installation of an electric gate notifiable?
Answer - The installation of the circuit from the dwelling up to and including a local isolator is notifiable, but the final connection of the gate mechanism to the local isolator is not. This means that the replacement of an electric gate is not notifiable, unless it involves running a new cable across a garden.
Question 15 - Is the connection of a new cooker, or the replacement of a cooker, in a kitchen notifiable?
Answer - Not unless the work includes the provision of a new circuit.
Question 16 - Is the replacement of an electric shower or shower pump in a bathroom or shower room notifiable?
Answer - No, despite the increased risk of electric shock to persons in bathrooms and shower rooms, it is not considered that such replacement work is notifiable, unless it is not on a 'like for like' basis and it involves the provision of a new circuit (such as to cope with an increased power rating).
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