Must all domestic electricians be registered with Part P competent self certify schemes

[amateursparky]

So in order for an electrician to do any domestic electrical work that requires notification he has to be with one of the schemes. No matter how experienced/ qualified he is, he must be with a competent scheme. yes?

 

[Jono Pashley]

No go read Approved Document P for further reference

 

[Technician]

Further to Jono; if you are not you will need

to PROVE your competence to the LABC

(Local Authority Building Control) and this

may not be easy.

Further, the words are Competence Scheme;

in other words, they have assessed your

competence.

Page 11 in the doc; Approved Document

Part 'P'; LABC to be notified BEFORE the

work is commenced.

LABC becomes responsible for the safe

completion of the work and is compliant

with the relevant Building Regulations.

 

[ElectekAir]

So in order for an electrician to do any domestic electrical work that requires notification he has to be with one of the schemes. No matter how experienced/ qualified he is, he must be with a competent scheme. yes?

No you can notify the local authority prior to doing works

 

[OnOff]

It is VERY dependent on the council in question and the Part P document recognises this. My local council have said to me as long as I can prove competency and produce the certs to back up any work I do then I can do my own domestic work all day long. Extract from their response:

"Regarding your enquiry relating to clause 1.22 of Approved Document P. I can inform you that it is this councils policy, which is in keeping with other authorities in Kent, that should notifiable electical installation be proposed to be carried out by persons not registered under self certification competent person schem, either in isolation or as part of larger project, it will be necessary to submit a separate Building Regulation application for the electrical work, which , when required we will arrange to have inspected during the progress of the work. Also to support the application details of the installers qualifications will also need to be submitted.

Upon completion of the work the necessary BS7671, installation, design and testing certificate will need to be signed and submitted. Upon receipt of the above details the council will then consider whether sufficient information has been provided to enable a completion certificate to be issued."

I know the senior LABC man from about 25 years when he was freelance doing building drawings etc and he said that it gets a bit "grey" with people like me i.e. competent but not a scheme member. Seems they had some "trouble" where they were sending out building control officers who knew jack about electrics but THOUGHT they did. These guys were used to sticking a metre stick down a hole and saying "That's deep enough". They would then for example refuse to sign off works on a through lounge extension as the sockets weren't at the "new heights" despite not being required to be. I'm simplifying it but you'll get my drift. The competent sparks were arguing their cases and winning. So, and fair play to the council, they now employ private electrical contractors who they use anyway to "act" as building control officers (as in "Tonight Matthew I'm going to be an LABC officer!"). Pretty sure the guys are NICEIC affiliated. What's interesting is that they only come and INSPECT and verify your competency / look at your certs. They do NO testing and in fact won't (as they didn't run the hidden wires etc). Of course if you've made a total hash they won't sign off and you have to put it right. I believe though the council have to pay the private lot to act as their officer so I bet they don't get much out of the

 

[Technician]

That's an interesting story Onoff.

Thanks for that.

 

[Doc Hudson]

So in order for an electrician to do any domestic electrical work that requires notification he has to be with one of the schemes. No matter how experienced/ qualified he is, he must be with a competent scheme. yes?

No, DIY people can still do notifiable electrical work. Go to our downloads section and have a read of the approved documents. However it is not wise for any person to undertake any type of electrical work unless they can read, understand and follow manufactures instructions, wiring regulation guidance and statutory approved documents. They are all relatively straight forward for anyone competent enough to carry out such works.

Doc H.