Wiring Help!

[curmudgeonly old git]

Hello,

I've just had an interesting but puzzling experience.

We've just had a new garage door fitted (old one rotted away) - and the new door 'intrudes' further into the garage than the old one.

Consequently, I'm having to move a couple of fluorescent light fittings by 3".

Now, I can do this a number of different ways .....

1. Move the fittings and leave the wiring undisturbed.

1. Take the opportunity to replace the fittings with new (non-rusty) units, replace the (30 year old) wiring, earth the new light units (current ones aren't grounded) and also replace the grotty-looking light switch.

Now, I was aware of the Part P malarkey, so did a bit of investigation ......

On the Part P website it says ... "Many jobs carried out on a DIY basis will be small jobs that do not need to be notified to building control, but householders are recommended to have them checked by a competent electrician to make sure they are safe." I noted the use of "are recommended to", which isn't the same as "must"

I then phoned the local Building Regs office and was told ...

If you do (1) then there's no problem - if you do (2), it will have to be inspected by a qualified person.

Guess what I intend to do?

[Bob Mannix]

Errrr, not ring the Building Regs office in future?

[Christian McArdle]

Ignore their erroneous interpretation of the law?

Christian.

[RichardS]

Wonder if it is, though.

one can certainly replace a fitting, so no problems replacing the lighting unit, or the switch.

the cable can be replaced.

is it the upgrading of the circuit so there is provision for earthing that is the problem, or the fact that it is all being done in one go?

or perhaps that it's outside that makes this notifiable.

having said this, I know what I'd do, considering the miniscule probability of being caught out & difficulty of proof...

[Christian McArdle]

The erroneous interpretation is not about whether this counts as a minor work or not. It is that they say that if it is a minor work then it MUST by law be inspected by an electrician.

Christian.

[Lurch]

On 9 Mar 2005 04:16:13 -0800, [e-mail] (curmudgeonly old git) strung together this:

Hurl yourself off a cliff?

[curmudgeonly old git]

It gets better ...

I had assumed that 'technically', the mimimum amount of work required was non-notifiable, but ...

According to the regs., it's non-notifiable if I'm "Re-fixing or replacing the enclosures of existing installation components" - but only "If the circuit's protective measures are unaffected." - which I presume includes earthing the (currently unearthed) light casings.

So that means producing suitable wiring diagrams drawn to an appropriate standard, submitting them to the planning authority & having the result inspected, tested & certified.

Bugger.

[Ed Sirett]

As I discovered the whole effect of the legislation is not to encourage/allow/insist on regulating DIY through the BCO, but to effectively drive DIY underground. The intention was clearly to make the use of registered sparks the only realistic option. IMHO, the likelihood is that the market will split into a 'formal' and 'informal' sectors.

[Harvey Van Sickle]

On 09 Mar 2005, Christian McArdle wrote

Did they say that, though? I took the BCO's response as an indication that they considered option (2) to fall outside the remit of "minor works".

[Owain]

s/includes/excludes ?

But you started this job last year didn't you, so you've got until the end of March to complete it ...

Owain