Electrical installations
Certain aspects of electrical work such as adding a new
circuit to a home, or replacing a socket-outlet or a light switch
on an existing circuit in a high risk area such as a kitchen or
bathroom, or electrical installations to pond pumps, sheds,
garages, conservatories, greenhouses and other detached buildings
will be controlled by the requirements of the building regulations.
The requirements require an application with the relevant fee
to building control and arrange for inspections and testing of the
work. Only electricians registered under the government's
self-certification scheme will be qualified to undertake new
electrical installations and certain aspects of maintenance in
domestic dwellings without making an application to the Council's
building control section.
Competent Person Scheme
It is in your best interests to use an electrician registered
within the `Competent Person Scheme', which allows registered
electricians to design, install and certify that their work is in
compliance with the new regulations and issue a `Domestic
Inspection Certificate' to the local Authority stating compliance
has been met. The `Competent' electrician will have to be
registered to a Government approved scheme of which a number have
already been given approval. These are CORGI, ELECSA, NAPTOC,
OFTEC, BRE Certification, British Standards Institution and Zurich
Certification Ltd. There may be others who will be approved at a
later date. Building control recommends this scheme as your
preferred choice.
Competent electrician
Alternatively, if you do not use an electrician registered under
the Competent Person Scheme, new electrical works should still be
installed, inspected and tested by a 'competent electrician'. A
'competent electrician' is one who holds a City and Guilds 2380 or
2381 (16th Edition) certificate and a City and Guilds 2391
(Inspection, Testing and Certification) certificate and has
experience of electrical installation work. The electrician may or
may not be registered with a recognised trade body such as NICEIC,
ECA or NAPIT, or registered under the Competent Person Scheme. A
Building Control application and relevant fee will be required and
copies of the appropriate BS7671 electrical installation and test
certificates must be provided to Building Control by the competent
electrician before a completion certificate can be issued.
Homeowners should be aware that if approval
certificates are not obtained, the future sale of their property
will be affected. In certain instances legal action could be
taken and additional expense incurred by the householder in having
a retrospective 'Property Inspection Report' carried out.
According to Government statistics, each year an average 10 people
die and another 750 people are seriously injured in accidents
involving unsafe electrical installations in the home. This new
legislation is one of the Government's initiatives to help address
this issue and further advice can be obtained from the Council's
building control section.