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BUILDING BRIEFING:

Domestic Electrical Installations and the new Part 'P'

 

Property managers are required to understand the basic operation of domestic electrical installations in order to specify repairs and improvement works.  A new law which comes into effect in 2005 will require all but minor works to be carried out, in future, by a Government approved 'competent person'  or notified to and inspected by the local authority.  Paul Ives looks at these new rules.

Until this year, home-owners could employ any competent electrician to install or alter the electrical system or builder within their house.  From 1 January 2005, this is now changing, and the new law requires that:

  • all electrical work (with some exceptions for minor works) must be carried out by a government-authorised electrician.
  • that the work must conform to wiring standards defined by new building regulations

Safety first

In a society increasingly dominated by concerns over consumer safety, the new laws on electrical safety are being introduced by Government so as to make homes safer for householders.  According to Government statistics, on average 10 people die and 750 are seriously injured in accidents involving unsafe electrical installations in the home.  The new law on electrical safety aims to bring electrical safety within the scope of the building regulations for the first time.

Competent person

The first requirement under the new law refers to work being carried out by a 'competent person'.  To date, Government has approved four separate organisations whose members will qualify  to carry out domestic electrical installation and repair work under the new regulations:

  • NICEIC
  • BRE Certification
  • British Standards Institution (BSI)
  • ELECSA

New regulations

The design and installation of electrical circuits and wiring within houses is, and has been, governed by a set of regulations - the IEE Wiring Regulations and British Standard BS7671.  Previously, these regulations, concerned with the safe design, installation and testing of electrical circuits, were simply laid down as guidance and standard industry practice.  From 1st January 2005, a new Part of the Building Regulations, Part P - Electrical Safety - will come into effect. This means that from 1st January, work on fixed electrical installations in dwellings must now follow these standards and will become subject to Building Control and a statutory safety requirement.

Safety requirement

The new Part P of the Building Regulations states that the work itself will have to comply with the requirement that:

"it shall be suitably designed, installed, inspected and tested so as to provide reasonable protection against there being the source of a fire or cause of injury to persons and where an electrical installation is provided, extended or altered, sufficient information shall be provided so that persons wishing to operate, maintain or alter the installation in the future can do so reasonably safely".

In practice, this means that any installation will need to comply with the requirements of BS 7671.  The safety requirement will be applicable to alterations and additions to existing installations (including rewires) as well as new construction.

Part P applies to all fixed electrical installation work in dwellings and, moreover, the way it applies depends on the sort of electrical work involved and where this work is being undertaken within a dwelling.   Fixed electrical installations include all the fixed electrical cables or fixed electrical equipment (such as a permanently connected electric cooker) located on the consumer's side of the electricity meter.   Fixed electrical installations do not include portable or transportable electrical appliances (such as kettles or fridges).

Electrical contractors will achieve compliance by following the fundamental principles for safety set out in chapter 13 of BS 7671:2001.  Further official guidance on complying with the requirements is given in the new Approved Document P which is available on the Government website: (www.odpm.gov.uk).

Notification

All proposed electrical installation work in dwellings will need to be notified to a building control body before work commences, unless:

  • the proposed work is to be undertaken by a prescribed competent person (an individual or a firm) authorised to self-certify compliance on completion of the work, or
  • the proposed work is minor, and it is not in a kitchen or in an area classified as a special installation or location

 Where the notification requirement applies (e.g. where a competent DIYer decides to do the work himself), the work will be checked by local authority building inspectors and a fee will be payable.  At the time of going to press, the cost of such fees is unknown but the fear for many DIYers is that local authority inspection fees will be as expensive, if not more expensive than getting a professional in.

Minor jobs

Minor jobs like replacing sockets and light switches will still need to be carried out to the safety requirements under Part P, but will escape the notification requirement.The Part P guidance defines work which is non-notifiable as work consisting of:

  • replacing accessories such as socket outlets, control switches and ceiling roses
  • replacing the cable for a single circuit only, where damaged, for example, by fire, rodent, or impact
  • re-fixing or replacing the enclosures of existing installation components
  • providing mechanical protection to existing fixed installations

OR

work that is not in a kitchen or special location and does not involve a special installation and consists of:

  • adding lighting points to an existing circuit
  • adding socket-outlets and fused spurs to an existing ring or radial circuit
  •  installing or upgrading main or supplementary equipotential bonding

Enforcement

The effect of the inclusion of the new Part P into the Building Regulations is that, for the first time, the technical standard of electrical installation work in dwellings (generally houses and flats) will be subject to statutory requirements. These requirements will apply not only to new construction, but also to any alterations or additions to existing installations, including full or partial rewires.

As with other parts of the Building Regulations, Part P will be enforced by local authorities and failure to comply will be a legal offence.The NICEIC publicity also warns that, when the property owner comes to sell the property, a purchaser's solicitor will ask for evidence that any new electrical installation carried out after 1 January 2005 complies with the Building Regulations.  There will be two ways to prove compliance:

  • a cetificate showing that the work has been done by an approved or Government-authorised electrical contractor.
  • a certificate from the local authority saying that the installation has approval under the Building Regulations.

Higher standards

The basic requirements under the new rules appear clear but it remains to be seen how the new system will fare in practice.  "Shops are going to continue to sell electrical fittings and the normal householder is undoubtedly going to continue to do things himself" commented one disgruntled landlord "the new rules will only affect those sections of society than can be monitored or licensed i.e. us"

On the positive side, the short-term effect should be to drive up standards amongst builders doing electrical work, and to increase awareness of the Wiring Regulations.  Builders wishing to register as an approved contractor will have to undergo an assessment.

For sure, the associations that govern electrical contractors must also be well pleased.  Jointly, they lobbied for these changes and, for them, it is going to mean substantial additional income as all builders undertaking electrical work will each have to pay hundreds of pounds of annual fees to the various government-authorised bodies.  This means that the costs will need to be passed on and prices will undoubtedly increase.  Sadly, it may also mean that some competent landlords may put off important upgrade work which might make a positive contribution to safety.

For more information on Part P, please see our new Letting Factsheet No. 41.

Fatal wiring - The recent death of MP's daughter who suffered fatal electric shock following builders bodged wiring

Electrical safety, or lack of it, hit national news headlines following an inquest into the death of Mary Wherry. The 34 year-old daughter of Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge suffered a fatal electric shock after builders botched the wiring in her fitted kitchen.  At the inquest, the coroner said that the electricians failed to follow the simple rule of running wiring in straight horizontal or vertical lines. The cable running from the consumer unit to the cooker hood was not insulated and was only buried 10mm into the wall rather than the recommended 50mm.

The NICEIC's director general, Jim Speirs, said: "The builders concerned in the Mary Wherry case could have prevented the risk of electric shock by following basic electrical safety principles. This tragedy could so easily have been avoided, I urge everyone involved in electrical installation work to start taking the introduction of Part P seriously - it is being introduced to curb incidents such as this."

Electrical Safety in the Domestic Environment

Electricity can be dangerous - there are on average 10 fatalities and 750 people seriously injured per year in accidents involving unsafe electrical installations in the home.

Property managers and their tenants should be aware of the more obvious danger signs and some of the common defects that occur with electrical installations.

Warning signs

Some of the common warning signs of faulty wiring and dangerous appliances are:

  • Frayed, cut or damaged leads
  • Cracked or damaged cases on plugs or appliances
  • Burn marks on plugs, leads or appliances
  • Blowing fuses
  • Loose cord grips in plugs or appliances

 A pre-letting visual inspection should take place prior to each letting to check for any obvious danger or warning signs; and any faulty items either withdrawn or replaced.

The fixed wiring in a house should be tested for safety, according to IEE guidelines, at least once every ten years by a qualified electrical who will issue a test certificate and recommend a re-testing interval for the next test.  Have the installation inspected  if there is there is a suspected fault.

Cables and leads

Badly worn or frayed leads pose a safety hazard and should be withdrawn or replaced.  Particular care should be taken when examining areas where leads enter the plug, or other locations subject to significant wear.  The plug should securely grip the cable by the outer sheath or safety covering, not by the individual coloured core leads.  If the sheath is worn, or the grip is installed incorrectly, then the appliance should be withdrawn for repair.

Plugs and fuses

Fuses in plugs that blow repeatedly indicate a problem - NEVER replace the fuse with one of a higher rating than recommended or some other conductive material as this may lead to overheating and a possible fire.

New appliances should come pre-fitted with a BS 1363 13 Amp plug. Other appliances should also be fitted with a plug conforming to BS 1363; if your plug is not marked as conforming to this standard, get it replaced.

Remove any older-style plugs - such as those without partially insulated pins - which are not compliant with modern safety standards.

Bathrooms

For the purposes of the Wiring and Building Regulations, bathrooms and similar locations containing a bath tub, shower basin, swimming pool or sauna are classified as 'special locations' where risks to people are greater.

Special rules apply in these areas; light switches, for example, should be operated on pull cords and supplementary earthing and equipotential bonding should be provided between metal pipes and any other metal objects.

When in a bathroom, never use electrical appliances plugged into the mains, except of course for shavers in the designated shaver sockets.  Do not use shaver sockets or shaver adaptors to run appliances other than electric shavers.  Portable electrical equipment such as mains voltage radios, heaters or hair dryers are a very real danger in the bathroom and could result in injury or death through electrocution.

Extension leads

Ensuring the property has sufficient socket-outlets at convenient points will minimise the need for extension leads and adapters, but occasionally their use will be unavoidable.

Avoid running appliance leads or extension leads under carpets or rugs - this may cause them to overhead and cause a fire.   Fully unwind an extension lead before using it - a heavily loaded extension lead may overheat if it remains coiled.

Only use extension leads fitted with suitably-insulated connectors and plugs. Never be tempted to join two lengths of flex by twisting the bared ends of wires together, even if you bind them with insulating tape.

Adaptors

NICEIC recommend that multi-way adapters should not be used. If two appliances are regularly used from one power point, replace it with a double socket if possible

When an adapter is used with a number of plugs, the angle and weight of the assembly increases the stress on the socket contacts. There is also a danger of electrical overload as the combined loads may exceed the ratings of the socket-outlet

When circumstances require more connection points, a multi-way trailing socket with minimum cable length should be used, though care should be taken not to connect too many high-load appliances which might overload the socket.

Garden safety

An RCD is a safety device that switches off the electricity automatically when it detects an earth fault. Any socket-outlet that may be used for plugging in portable electrical equipment that is to be used outdoors, should have RCD protection.

Check that you are protected by an RCD with a maximum rated residual operating current of 30 milliamperes (mA). If your socket-outlet is not protected by an RCD, purchase a good quality plug-in RCD adaptor from a reputable dealer, as a temporary measure. The safest option is to get an NICEIC Approved Contractor to install permanent RCD protection to all socket-outlets that may be used for plugging in 230 V outdoor portable electrical equipment.

RCDs need to be tested quarterly by the users of the electrical installation, in accordance with the notice that should be fixed near them. This normally involves pressing the test button and checking that the RCD switches off the supply immediately. Regular testing is important, to ensure correct operation of the RCD mechanism in the event of a fault.