How effective is Part P?

Talk Electrician Forum

Help Support Talk Electrician Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sparkless

Active member
Joined
Aug 19, 2022
Messages
27
Reaction score
11
Has any one seen any official figures for the frequency of electrically-caused accidents (fires, fatalities, etc.) covering the periods before and after the introduction of Part P? Is there any trend evident? Is any distinction made between fixed wiring and connected appliances as the cause?
 
Has any one seen any official figures for the frequency of electrically-caused accidents (fires, fatalities, etc.) covering the periods before and after the introduction of Part P? Is there any trend evident? Is any distinction made between fixed wiring and connected appliances as the cause?
I think it would be difficult to quantify the effect Part P has had when 3 years after it's introduction the publication of BS 7671:2008 happened and will possibly have had more effect on the stats with the increased use of RCD's
Although the LFB fire stats in 2015 peaked at a recorded 258 consumer unit fires while the rest of the country ISTR was significantly lower with a total of 8 consumer unit fires so I don't know if Part P has done that much
 
The increased use of RCDs may have had some impact but as BS7671 isn't retrospective only newer installations and rewires will have them, leaving the earlier ones (the majority?) without, so the effect on the figures may be small.
 
It's only my opinion, but the birth of modular consumer units, building up your own CU has got to have increased the risks of 🔥. Have seen some shocking loose connections on bus bar to MCB and main DP switch
 
It's only my opinion, but the birth of modular consumer units, building up your own CU has got to have increased the risks of 🔥. Have seen some shocking loose connections on bus bar to MCB and main DP switch
I agree yeah, and will add that during 2000-2020 we had a whole load of shockingly bad consumer units made of flimsy plastic, Hager, MK senrty, Doepke to name a few that were almost impossible to fit the lid back on them inside 2 minutes. now we have decent metal boxes with built in tails clamps and cheap RCBO's thats all sorted, so much easier to install (even for an amatuer), I think that alone will be more responsible for much fewer consumer unit fires compared to any legislation change (part P)
and to the OP, I've never come across any official figures but ever if there were some, they should be taken with a pinch of salt anyway, statistics can be presented in many ways and it's normally in the favour of the person who presents said statistics
 
It would be hard to make any direct comparisons, with a large number of immigrants working in the trades, especially in London, it would be like comparing apples and pears. We would have been better off with a scheme along the lines for the French. No one can ply a trade without demonstrating proper training. Not that even that would stop some of the cowboys.
 
Top