If you do prefer to have some paperwork, complete the job to the proper standard and then get a Periodic Test done - voila - a piece of paper to wave at anyone who (unlikely) asks, and if you sell the house then it's the answer to the "is there any paperwork " question.
When I did a good deal of notifiable electrical work as part of a house extension/alteration a periodic test was arranged at the end by the BCO looking after the job, and the electrical work was signed off by him on this basis - so if the council should ever became involved you already have the test.
Many thanks for all the replies. I'll forget about the idea of getting onto a scheme.
It's really encouraging that there's no time limit on the building notice work. Also, never having submitted a BN before, I didn't realise that might be possible to give myself any room in the wording for changes of plan. My projects tend to involve loads of changes of plan.
I don't need to make any decisions until we move in, so I've got plenty of time to mull it over, but I guess I'll use option 1 for the "urgent" stuff (New CU, New cooker circuit etc.) and then think about a BN for a full rewire, including the stuff I'd already done and anything else I can think of.
Conveyencers risk being sued if they rely on the seller's answers without checking. If the question is, "Is a certificate available for this work?" and you, quite truthfully have replied, "yes" (being an installation certificate you have downloaded and filled in yourself), the buyer's conveyencer (who, as you say, may not understand the ambiguity inherent in the question) may well ask the local council if such a certificated has been notified to them. The answer, of course, will be no.
An NICEIC Part P installer will (usually) give a copy of the installation/ minor works certificate to the owner. They then notify NICEIC, who send out a pretty certificate to the owner, and notify the local council who log it on their system as a CPS (Competent persons' scheme) notice. I'm assuming the other bodies work in a similar manner.
To the OP: I'm not guaranteeing that the following applies in every local authority (or indeed in every part of any local authority), nor will continue to apply in the future, but currently any electrical installation that is 'unauthorised' can be regularised (i.e., by submitting a Regularisation application).
-In the first instance, the person who carried out the work should be able to fill in an installation certificate, and this should be accompanied by a Periodic Inspection report by a member of an electrical contracting body (e.g., NICEIC, ECA, etc.).
-If the certificate and the report don't throw up any significant faults, then it may be accepted on face value, and a Regularisation Certificate issued. If there's any reason to doubt the veracity of the findings, then (in my LA at least) another electrician can be appointed to carry out their own report. Of course, trying to organise this on the day before you're due to exchange contracts can be, to say the least, worrisome.
As others have said, I don't know of an authority that's prosecuted for failure to submit an application for electrical works, and I suspect none will unless there are significant safety problems with the installation. The time limit for prosecution is 6 months from the date of discovery of the contravention, but a prosecution can also be brought up to two years from the completion of the building work (subject to the above).
I think it goes beyond 2yrs, there is technically no limit if S38? If you create an unsafe install (no MET, no CU cover, no RCD on TT install) the DNO is going to baulk at least.
To add, OP needs...
- Guide to installation testing, an example would be Guidance Note 3 and a suitable coding system for Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) which have replaced PIR.
- Insulation & Continuity Tester. Test at 500V to confirm >>>0.5 Megohm across all L-N-E combinations, but not a whole-house IR test where equipment such as smoke alarms remain connected. Test all bonding conductors are
S317 of the Housing & Communities Act 2008 amends S35A of the Building Act 1984 (which itself was an amendment inserted by the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006). The original time limit was imposed by S127 of the Magistrates? Courts Act 1980.
S38 is about civil liabilities (I had to look that up). One would presume there are limits on bringing actions for civil liabilities which are given in the relevant legislation (just as the time limits for prosecutions are not contained in the Building Act).
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