Building Regs and electrics latest

[Tony Bryer]

Haven't read it yet:

"News Release 2004/0148:

29 June 2004 NEW RULES FOR BETTER AND SAFER BUILDINGS INCLUDING FIRST TIME REGULATION OF ELECTRICAL WORK IN THE HOME

Plans to enhance electrical safety that will make homes safer for householders and DIY enthusiasts were among a range of new building controls announced today (June 29) by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Each year on average 10 people die and about 750 are seriously injured in accidents involving unsafe electrical installations in the home. Today's plans aim to reduce this risk by bringing electrical safety in the home within the scope of the building regulations for the first time.

Minor jobs like replacing sockets and light switches will not be affected, but anyone thinking of, for example, adding new circuits to their house will have to get building control involved. The alternative is to get the work carried out by a suitably qualified expert."

[Charlie]

then....

Charlie

[Nick Brooks]

All you have to do is buy the cable. Nobody will be able to tell when you installed it.

NB

[Toby]

" 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. These schemes are aimed at those carrying out electrical installation work as the primary activity of their business. "

But not the CORGI bods (Corgii?) It will be a stupid situation if they are unable to certify the boiler supply & controls plus immersion heater cabling.

I can only assume that electrical will be added as a CORGI competency module in time.

Who are ELECSA? Surely not the Spaniards.

The only bit of sense is they didn't let FENSA operate a Part P scheme.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Be interesting to know how many of those are through DIY work - or like the gas figures which caused the corgi nonsense, caused by cowboys.

[Owain]

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote | Tony Bryer wrote: | > Each year on average 10 people die and about 750 are seriously | > injured in accidents involving unsafe electrical installations | > in the home. | Be interesting to know how many of those are through DIY work - | or like the gas figures which caused the corgi nonsense, caused | by cowboys.

According to ODPM's own figures in the consultation document, IIRC, only 0.8 deaths per annum due to faulty *installations*. The remainder down to appliances etc.

Owain

[Dave Stanton]

O148

B&Q still have red/black cable in stock.

Dave

[Andy Hall]

They probably missed their window of opportunity.....

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[MAILER-DAEMON]

Of course once things are regulated, most of the incidents will still be due to unsafe installations either self certified by incompetents, bodged by those who will always completely ignore any regulations, or old installations that have simply deteriorated with age, or been damaged.

[John Rumm]

Or fall into the new catagories of:-

"caused by a bodged install that was only done that way so as to be classed as a minor work"!

"I fell over the extension lead I would have not required if it was not so much hassle to add a few new sockets"

"I got zapped by a hand held appliance (as is a far more common problem) that is not covered by the regs anyway!"

[DIYer]

The main argument for obtaining the paperwork appears to be in connection with selling a house.

Perhaps we need to consider whether our houses are homes whose value is to be enjoyed and lived in - or investments for sale in the future. If a house will not be sold in your lifetime, why worry?

[Peter Parry]

I think you will find the vast majority are caused by faulty extension leads and use of socket adapters. Two things the new regulations will encourage people to use.

The last figures I saw for faulty fixed wiring put the annual deaths at one, although quite a number of fires are classified incorrectly as "electrical fault" (basically means fire investigator couldn't find any other cause within 10 mins).

These regulations will kill more than they save.

[Andy R]

A lot of people thought the same about other regs but the problems come up when you sell the house. In a few years time there will be (for example) consumer units fitted which couldn't have been fitted before the regs came in because they're new designs or whatever. When the buyer's surveyor sees it he'll ask for proof of compliance and you wont have it and you can't sell the house til you've got it. Much the same as it is with windows now although the manufacturers make it harder for the DIYer to lie by putting the date of manufacture inside the sealed unit.

Rgds

Andy R

[Mike Harrison]

I think that in practice they will mostly be ignored.

[Tony Bryer]

Which of course is nonsensical when it comes to electrics and gas. The best advice to give a buyer is to get a proper test report on the installation. The bits that have been replaced (legally or otherwise) are probably not the greatest concern, rather the bits that haven't.

[Andy R]

True, but the buyer's solicitor won't be interested in common sense, just having the correct paperwork.

Rgds

Andy R

[Owain]

"Andy Hall" wrote | >The only bit of sense is they didn't let FENSA operate a Part P scheme. | They probably missed their window of opportunity.....

I think it should be decided on a casement by casement basis. Wouldn't FENSA be required when wiring up a bathroom fan light anyway? But that's just me venting my opinion. There's probably a catch in there somewhere.

Owain

[Stephen Fasham]

As an electrical engineer by training (but not working as an electricia) and having re-wired two houses before (to the standards set out in the 16th edition) I have no plans to call in a professional to re-wire the house I have just moved into. Presumably though it is still possible to do the work myself after January 1st provided I can get it certified by building control. Is there an alternative method of getting in a self-certifying sparky to test the installation and can he then provide me with a certificate of compliance? I presume the alternative is that I have to get the BCO in to see where I've run all the wires etc, which presumably will just be a cost issue.

Are there any electricians out there who know anything about the self certification scheme and whether they can test an existing installation as suggested above. If not I will have a chat with the BCO next time I see him about the other work I already have planned.

I have done similar things in the past with gas work, i.e. I ran all the pipework and got my friendly neighbourhood plumber to come in and do the final connection and test the connected appliances.

Fash

[Set Square]

. . . on which the regs will have no effect! Big Brother strikes again!

[Set Square]

Get yourself a good supply of current spec cable (i.e. old colours) and no-one will be able to prove that your re-wire was done after Jan 1.