[Lancaster] OT : electrical installation

[Simon Hobson]

Ken Hough wrote:

>AFAIK, you can do the installation yourself, but this must then be checked out
>by a qualified (certified?) electrician. Failure 
>to have this check is likely to
>leave you open to insurance problems.
>
>I've often wondered just how meaningful any check by an electrician can be
>unless he also pulls up floorboards, etc.
>
>The electrics in my own house had been put in by supposedly qualified
>electricians, but when I did look under the floor boards, I found that two
>double sockets had been daisy chained off the ring main and the cable
>terminals were very slack! Also, some of the wires had been stripped back so
>far as to leave over 1" of exposed live wire outside the cable terminals.
>
>So much for "qualified"!

That's for domestic and "Part P" applies. More 
specifically, Part P to the Building Regulations 
lays down a whole new pile of rules and regs 
which weren't considered necessary until ... some 
dodgy wiring affected an MP personally (IIRC it 
was his daughter electrocuted) and suddenly the 
new rules became essential.

What this means is that domestic electrical works 
are now notifiable to Building Control **unless** 
they fall within a list of exemptions listed in 
Schedule 4 of the building regs OR the works are 
done by a member of a registration scheme in 
which case they notify through their scheme.
You need to get and read Schedule 4 for yourself, 
but in essence, you can add sockets and lights to 
an existing circuit as long as they aren't in a 
kitchen, bathroom, or outside. That in fact 
covers a lot of DIY wiring - though it seems 
quite a few sparkies would prefer to let people 
carry on believing they can't do anything at all.

Note that an electrician can **NOT** "sign off" 
anyone else's work. When they notify, they are 
certifying that they (or those working under 
their direct supervision) did the work. Also, be 
aware that some elements cannot be signed off 
(even by Building Control) after the fact - an 
example is that you need an inspection between 
"first fix" and plastering so that the inspector 
can see that the cable protection and routes 
comply with regs.

So what this means is that you can do all the 
wiring in your house yourself - BUT unless it's 
all non-notifiable then you'll need to notify BC. 
In our area (SLDC), the fees for this are about 
£150 or £225 - the latter applies if you aren't 
able to provide the required test results. Unless 
it's a big job, it's generally cheaper to employ 
a registered sparky.

Of course, if you know a registered sparky then 
you may be able to negotiate a reasonable 
division of labour to minimise the costs ;-)


That is all for domestic, in a rented workshop 
then it's different and the only requirement is 
that the person doing the work is "competent".
-- 
Simon Hobson

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