Part P in Industry

[David Lang]

Hi All

I earn my daily crust selling industrial pressure washers and have done so for 30 years off & on.

Most of these are single phase and come with a moulded 13 amp plug, but we are selling more & more three phase lately. Three phase machines don't come with a plug because there are so many different types.

Usually I will arrive on site to commission the kit and train the operators and that involves fitting the plug, or at least maybe swapping two phases to get the motor running the right way.

Is this legal under part P? I'm not a qualified lecky, I've just been doing it for 30 years using common sense. Could I be judged a 'competent person' or am I leading with my chin here?

Dave

[Mike Harrison]

Part P only applies to fixed wiring in domestic premises, so you are OK on two counts..

[Owain]

Yes, because Part P applies (a) to fixed wiring (b) in dwellings, not to appliances in the workplace.

The legislation is the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. From reading my IEE Monograph Electrical Safety at Work I can't see any requirement to be "qualified". However to cover yourself and/or your employer it might be worth taking a Portable Appliance Testing course - it's usually one day at an FE college.

Owain

[John Rumm]

IIUC Part P is domestic only, so you are in the clear in that respect.

(There may be other H&S issues like PAT testing that should be addressed, but others will advise as it is not my area).

[Jeff]

If you can only expose 3 or 4 people to unsafe electrical work then part P applies (domestic) but if you can expose hundreds of people to unsafe electrical work (industrial)then you need no qualifications at all ! There are some 'bright' people making the rules :-(

Regards Jeff

[Andrew Gabriel]

It was two days when I did it, with an exam each evening. One covers the inspection and testing, and the other covers management of testing (the law, record keeping, etc), but there's so much overlap people always do both.

Note that these courses are designed to be accessible to non-electricians. Pre-requesit is the ability to wire a plug, and understanding the difference between milliohms and megohms (most of the electricians on the course had a real problem with the latter).

[David Lang]

HI Jeff

Makes perfect sense - not!

Not all locked up yet obviously!

Dave

[Andy Dingley]

Part P isn't about "safety", it's about income tax. The idea is to stamp out "black" electrical jobs, done for cash in hand.

[David Lang]

Hi Andy

Some might think you overly cynical ............ I'm not one of them! I suspect you are dead right!

Bit like deregulated parking & speed cameras.

Dave