Hi all,
I'm looking for a "competent person" to sign off the moved sockets and extended lighting ring in my kitchen. However, going to the search page at
Have I missed something?
Antony
There is no process which involves you looking for a "competent person" to sign off your electrical work (at least not for Part P purposes).
The BCO might want to find a "competent person" if they don't consider themselves competent, but that's their problem, not yours (and the BCO is not constrained to using a Part P electrician -- they can use anyone competent, possibly even you).
You seem to have misunderstood the procedure.
And that's _after_ doing my research! I blame Tony Blair. :-)
I'll give the BCO a shout tomorrow. According to
Also, "flat" is in the list of locations. Does this mean that _any_ work I do in my flat has to be notified?
I can't believe I'm still confused after reading quite a bit about this...
Antony
Unless he happens to live "There are two routes available to applicants to ensure they comply with Part P:-
We would strongly encourage the use of electricians/installers who are part of a Competent Person Scheme.
A. Where an electrician registered with a recognised trade body such as NICEIC, ECA & NAPIT (who need not be registered under a competent persons scheme) tests the work and issues a design, installation and test certificate under BS7671. Building Control will accept the certificate as evidence that the work complies with Part P.
Additional inspections by Building Control may also be carried out in conjunction with the acceptance of a certificate (a list of those electricians competent to inspect and test will be available on the internet at labc-services.co.uk).
B. Where the work is carried out by an unregistered electrician or is a DIY installation, the applicant is required to have the work inspected and tested by a registered electrician as in A. above."
Note there's no mention that they'll pay for this - and they'll have pocketed either 50 or 100 quid for the application. So no, they don't demand inspection by a "competent person" - just by someone with the right card.
Well, you said it was in the kitchen in your original post.
No.
Well, it was a particularly crass piece of legislation. There seems little agreement on what is intended.
The next Prezza Special we will get is the temperature of the water comming out our hot taps :-(
Blunket said we have to decide if want "Big Government", and if we can afford Big Government, he reckoned we couldn't. When Blair goes, and we get Prezza, we will get bigger than "Big Government".
Rick
I thought the ODPM had written to LA's telling they are not allowed to do this as it imposes additional charges which are not permitted. That is what your £100 (or whatever) is supposed to pay for.
Sorry - google won't let me reply to just one section. I added lights to the ring in both the lounge and kitchen. In any case, what I put in the OP doesn't have any bearing on the fact that I don't understand the website. I read so many posts slating Part P, thinking "how bad can it be?" and now I understand...
Antony
Someone I know had been doing some electrical work in their kitchen, started researching PartP and got very worried about it. They phoned the local council and got put through to the head BCO.
" I want to speak to someone about Part P please"
apparently you could almost hear the sucking in of breath followed by the response
"a poorly worded and badly thought out piece of legislation. Because of that we have given everyone a period of grace up to April 1st"
What then followed was a discussion about how rediculous a lot of electrical legislation is.
Eg. kitchens being so small these days that is impossible to meet requirements about the placing of sockets and sinks.
Anyway, the work had begun before April the 1st, so everything was OK.
Interestingly, when the electrical work was being carried out, the kitchen wasn't actually a kitchen. No furniture, no sink completely stripped bare. Could this be a work intensive way around the legislation?
Particularly as the regulations say nothing specific about the proximity of sinks and sockets.
People generally don't place closer than 300mm, but this is under a general guideline that fittings should be suitable for their installed location and
300mm (i.e. a foot) just seemed about right for a non-IP rated item and is not written anywhere official.Christian.
Well, FWIW, it is written in the new IEE "Electrician's Guide to the Building Regulations" which is a sort of companion to the OSG. Yes it is clearly stated to be general guidance, but like a lot of what's in the OSG it may become hard to defend work which falls significantly short of this IEE guidance.
This is my précis of the guidance on "location of accessories in kitchens":
(i) accessories to be on building fabric, not on kitchen furniture;
(ii) control switches to be mounted to avoid need to reach over hobs;
(iii) sockets to be a minimum of 450 mm above floor;
(iv) accessories a min. of 300 mm from edge of sink or draining board;
(v) sockets for washing m/c's or dishwashers etc. to be positioned so as not to be dripped or splashed on if plumbing leaks;
(vi) sockets to be min. 150 mm above worktop (to centre-line of skt);
(vii) sockets supplying under-worktop appliances to be accessible when appliance pulled out;
(viii)built-in appliances to be connected to socket or FCU that is readily accessible when appliance is in normal use, OR controlled by readily accessible DP switch or switched FCU;
(ix) light switches to be readily accessible;
(x) manufacturer's instructions should be followed.
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