Part P conudrum.....

[Ian_m]

I have removed a partition stud wall between my kitchen and (ex)study to make a bigger kitchen. Now there are two power points in the study (on the downstairs ring as opposed to kitchen ring) that have now "moved" into the kitchen.

Do I need to raise a Part P to move them upto work top height as they are now in a Part P zone ? (maybe I should have done it before they "moved" to the kitchen ???)

I was going to put in a separate ring for the new area (and removing the old sockets out of downstairs ring) as the CU is on the other side of the ex-study wall, so not exactly going to be a long/large ring, but this seem awfully steep (£300 Part P test) just for say 3 sets of double sockets.

Bit of a pain......comments please....

[Chris Bacon]

My goodness me. Who is going to know? Just do it!

[Ian Stirling]

Move the cooker and fridge into the garage, and start cooking there. Hang a sign saying "Alien Autopsy Room" Now, do the work, and move it back.

[Nigel Molesworth]

ROFL!

[Ian_m]

Doesn't work, Prat P talks about being within 3m of sink, so putting sink in garage is a lot harder....

[Ian_m]

Very handily I have most of 50m reel of 2.5mm2 T&E dated 2001, from one of my DIY projects where I estimated the amount of cable needed incorrectly.

[Cordless Crazy]

Do it and dont worry. Pick up some red & black T&E on ebay and off yo go. No-one will ever know

-- Cordless Crazy

[Nigel Molesworth]

In which case, Robert is your father's brother.

[Steven Briggs]

In message , Ian_m writes

Well you had to move the sockets when it was study, so they were accessible above desk height. Didn't you???

[Ian Stirling]

Plant a small banana plant in what used to be the sink. Gotta have the right environment for the autopsies.

[Newshound]

I expect you started thinking about it before last April, too? (or whenever the cutoff date was)

[John Rumm]

If you had done it before taking down the wall you would be fine. So do it that way! ;-)

(red/black or brown/blue etc does not matter since both have been available and legit to use before and after prat pee).

Spose so...

Woa, where do you get the £300 from? A building notice for a small job like that ought to cost under £100. If you council is suggesting that you ought to pay for the inspection then I would suggest pointing them at the memo from the orifice of the deputy prime minister that says they ain't allowed to charge extra for that bit.

[Tim S]

Indeed. Or if they're going to get funny, make the BNA up for a full rewire (if you think you might in the next 20 years), replacing every window, external door that you might, new boiler, new HW cylinder etc etc - or at least as many things as you can get for the 100+VAT charge.

Once you start work, there's no statutory time limit on completing - you have open ended carte blanche to do all your Part-P/L/whatever jobs.

I'm not sure what the fee is to amend a BNA (eg: decided not to do *that* window after all, now please come and sign this lot off).

Only flaw in that plan is the regs probably will all change in 20 years, so you have to anticipate doing things a little beyond current regs.

Or see this post of mine and worry less ;->

[Ian_m]

Got charges here.

spoke to a nice bloke (who said don't shoot the messanger I am just enforcing the regulations) who said 3 ways to proceed:

1. Get a self certifying electrician to do the job, they will "bulk" inform the council at the end of the month of all the Part P jobs they have done.
2. Get a qualified electrician to do the job, who then issues a test certificate to the council and pays £60.
3. DIY or non qualified electrician then get an independant check (or council provide) to issue test certificate and pay £290.

He forgot no 4, just do it.

Actually all this fuss about you won't be able to sell your house etc in not true. Speaking to a mate in the pub last night, just sold his mother-in-laws house with electrical work done in kitchen (tumble drier spur of cooker point, by a neighbour) and no part P. He declared this on the sellers info, buyers solictor asked for Part P form, he said if the buyer wants one he can pay for it (£360 seller was quoted). Buyer still bought the house, actually the asbestos artex was more of an issue than Part P.

[Tim S]

Ah, the honest and direct approach. That is exactly what I thought would be the case.

Tim

[Ben Willcox]

I tried this approach a couple of months ago. The fee in my case was quoted at £200 for the building notice (not the lowest level as it included other work) and then an additional £170 for the electrical inspection, if I chose to DIY. I pointed out the relevent bit of the odpm site about charging extra, and they told me that they were restructuring their charges to take that into account. Fast forward to now, and they have indeed restructured their charges! Whereas before they could not alter the charge of a building regs application once it had been agreed, they have simply updated their forms to say Part P inspection work is charged at £170 extra. So _technically_ they are complying with the odpm memo by not charging extra, as the charge is specified in advance, although the way I read the memo it suggested that the extra cost of inspection should not be passed onto the client....

Ben.

[River Tramp]

Re;

ODPM wouldn't be anything without double standards (or double Jags)

True, they sent a memo stating LA's had to do the test if not done by a Part P person, and the cost was included in the general B Regs fees, you couldn't charge extra, as some LA's continue to do. (the one sent to us quoted the letter I sent to the kitchen installation company which caused a stink over this)

However, on every other query put to the ODPM, say on Part M issues, they will give their advice, but then say it is up to the LA as they are the B Reg enforcers for the area, ie they bunk out of making a decision.

It is on that basis that several Authorities have ignored the memo you refer to.

Don't forget, you don't have to go to a LA to get B Regs approval. Try your local AI (Approved Inspector, ie private building control) and see what they would charge!

Why should LA's be made to accept a fee so low it costs them to run the service?

IanC

[meow2222]

A substantial proportion of houses sold havhe had work done of one sort or another that has not been notified. IT is common and normal. In 99% of cases it has no real effect on sales. From the buyers POV, when buying an old house they can expect most every old house to have more real issues than whether a bit of paperwork was filled in, so although a first time buyer looking at their first house might be scared off, people quickly wise up and stop messing about.

Of course not all work can be described this way: add an unauthorised 3 storey extension and you will have problems!

NT

[Richard Conway]

No you didn't - you needed that bit to raise the sockets, which you did at the same time as the other work ;)

[River Tramp]

Can you explain why you think the cost of the electrical inspection shouldn't be passed onto the client? Would you do work which cost you money?

IanC

"> the memo it suggested that the extra cost of inspection should not be