Switching on to higher standards - Electrical Installations 

From January 1st this year, electrical installation work in dwellings, including residential flats, became a ‘controlled service’, under a new Part P of Buildings Regulations. All electrical fixed installations - wiring and appliances fixed to a building - must comply with the wiring regulations BS 7671. Electrical work must be “suitably designed, installed, inspected and tested so as to provide reasonable protection against them being the source of a fire or a cause of injury to persons”. Part P also applies to electrical installations in common access parts of residential blocks such as corridors and staircases, and in shared amenities such as laundries and gym areas, although lifts are excluded. Outside installations such as garden lighting and pool pumps are included under Part P, as are combined dwelling and business premises sharing a common electricity supply.

The new legislation requires landlords of residential accommodation to prove that almost all electrical work in their properties complies with national safety standards. They have two options for doing so: certification by a building control body, or self-certification by a competent electrician.

The building control option involves the customer in submitting a Building Notice to the relevant local council, giving a minimum of 48 hours advance notification of the work, and paying a fee for inspection. However, the electrical safety body, NICEIC, believes that few, if any, building control bodies have the technical capability or resources to undertake this task. Peter Chilvers, Technical Co-ordinator of LABC Services, the umbrella group for building control bodies admits: “There is going to be a lot of training going on as this is a relatively new area for us.”

The NICEIC believes that the effectiveness of Part P will be largely dependent on the self-certification option. Under this option electricians can apply to any one of five organisations for recognition as a ‘competent person’, able to issue certificates in respect of their own work. The majority of electricians are expected to register with the NICEIC’s Approved Contractor scheme, already one of the most well-established and stringent regulatory regimes in the industry with around 12,000 members. Under the new regulations a ‘competent person’ - in this context, either a company or an individual – completes the formalities for the customer, and can issue the appropriate certification to prove that the work meets required standards as soon as it is completed.

Part P also applies to other trades, such as gas and kitchen fitters, who undertake some limited electrical work. The NICEIC’s new Domestic Installer Scheme is a minimum requirement for self-certification in these trades, and Approved Contractors automatically qualify for it. The four other bodies involved in registering ‘competent persons’ are the government-backed BRE Certification Ltd, the British Standards Institution, the electrical inspectors’ association NAPIT, and a new organisation, ELECSA.

The effects of the changes will really start to bite after 31 March 2005, when a transition period which exempted contracts entered into before January 1st comes to an end. Any work not completed before the beginning of April will fall within the new regulations.

Whilst its still early days for the scheme, media pundits have already expressed concern that residents, landlords and managing agents may have increased difficulties in finding a competent electrician, and that the more unscrupulous operators in the trade may exploit the costs of compliance as an excuse for raising prices. However, reputable electricians have always used accreditation as a means of providing customers with some form of quality assurance. Many in the industry welcome the changes – and no-one will miss the cowboys.

Arkady Granik MSc MIEE is Senior Electrician at Harland & Voss which operates in north, west and central London. He can be contacted on 020 8451 0345 or by e-mail on agranik@harlandvoss.com