Electrical Safety & the Building Regulations

What are Building Regulations?

• Building regulations ensure the health and safety of people in and around buildings by providing functional requirements for building design and construction.
• From 1 January 2005, a new Part of the Building Regulations, Part P Electrical Safety comes into effect.

Electrical safety in dwellings, Part P:

• From 1 January 2005, electrical work in dwellings will need to comply with Part P requirements and be carried out by persons who are competent to do the work. The essential requirements are:

• P1. Reasonable provision shall be made in the design, installation, inspection and testing of electrical installations in order to protect persons from fire or injury. P2. Sufficient information shall be provided so that persons wishing to operate, maintain or alter an electrical installation can do so with reasonable safety.

• The 'Part P' requirement applies only to fixed electrical installations in dwellings in England and Wales. It does not affect the operation or use of portable appliances within the building, or the existing regulations for regular testing - see Letting Factsheet No. 4.

• All work that involves adding a new circuit to a dwelling will need to be either notified to building control, who will then inspect the work, or carried out by a competent person who is registered with a Part P Self-Certification Scheme.

• Persons registered with Part P Self-Certification Schemes (see below) will be fully qualified electrical contractors with the ability to thoroughly check a circuit for safety. They will be able to issue Building Regulations certificates of compliance.

• Small jobs such as replacing a socket-outlet or a light switch on an existing circuit will not need to be notified to a building control body, although there will be some exceptions for high risk areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

• Most jobs carried out by DIYers will be small jobs that do not need to be notified to building control, but Government guidance recommends that they should still be checked by a qualified or competent electrician.

Work that need not be notified to building control:

Under the Regulations, certain basic work escapes the notification requirement:

• 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

Also, 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

*Special locations and installations include areas such as:

Locations containing a bathtub, or shower basin, swimming pools or paddling pools, hot air saunas
Electric floor or ceiling heating systems. Garden lighting or power installations.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems. Small scale generators.

British Standard BS7671:

Also, Any person carrying out work on fixed electrical installations in the home shall be required to follow the fundamental principles of BS 7671, the British Standard for electrical installations. This safety standard applies even for small jobs that do not need to be notified to building control.

Official guidance on complying with the new Part P requirements is given in a new Approved Document P entitled Fixed Electrical Installations in Dwellings. This guidance is available from the Government website - see 'Sources for Further Information' below.

The Guidance emphasises the need for electrical installation work to be inspected and tested during, and on completion of the work to verify that it complies with BS 7671.

Part P Self-certification schemes - (electrical safety in dwellings) :

The Building Regulations refer to a 'competent person' in relation to a self-certification scheme. These schemes are now in place. The Building Regulations Advisory Committee has considered a number of applications to run such schemes and has recommended five of them for approval. The Government has accepted the recommendation and has approved schemes to be operated by:

BRE Certification Limited,
British Standards Institution,
ELECSA Limited,
NICEIC Certification Services Limited and
Zurich Certification Ltd. (Part of NICEIC)

Sources for Further Information:

For information on the existing safety regulations relating to safety testing of appliances in rented accommodation, see Letting Factsheet No. 4 - The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994.

For the full text of the Building Regulations and guidance on their operation see the Building Regulations section of the Department of Communities and Local Government web site at www.dclg.gov.uk. 

The Building Control section of your local authority will also be able to provide guidance and assistance.  Access to your local authority and their web site is available through www.direct.gov.uk.

The NICEIC and ECA have jointly published a new Guide to Part P and other non-electrical Building Regulations requirements likely to affect electrical installations.  The 'Electrical Installers Guide to the Building Regulations' is available to purchase from NICEIC Sales on 01582 539700 (price £20).

Approved Contractors:

The following organisations have been authorised to run certification schemes, and may be able to provide details of your local registered electrical contractor:

ELECSA                                       0870 749 0080       www.elecsa.org.uk.                 

NICEIC                                         08450 54319          www.niceic.org.uk

BRE Certification                            01923 664100       www.partp.co.uk.

BSI - British Standards Institution    0208 996 9001      www.bsi-global.com.

 

This summary is intended to assist landlords and letting agents to understand the effect of the Regulations.  It is not an authoritative interpretation - this is a matter for the courts. For more detail, you should refer to the text of the Regulations themselves.