I had a replacement combi boiler and the new mains connection was done by a non NICEIC registered electrician. In the "description of minor works" box he wrote "Connect to new boiler from existing su/spur". My question is: can non NICEIC electricians legally do this type of work?
"Repairs, replacements and maintenance" activities don't require Building Control Department approval. So, yes, he can legally do this type of work.
-- Sue
Corgis can (should be) be certified..... to do the minor electrics associated with heating systems.
Thing is that the electrics associated with a heating system is sometimes anything but 'minor works' to make a workmanlike job of. Possibly the most complicated part of the wiring in the average house. Not safety wise if it's properly protected by an FCU, of course.
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:13:17 +0000 (GMT) someone who may be "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote this:-
Indeed. My control centre consists of two four slot gridswitch plates with a variety of switches, indicator lamps and FCUs, four cord outlets, another three slot gridswitch plate with a switch, indicator lamp and FCU, two controllers, plus an amount of mini-trunking. At the boiler there are two more cord outlets, one with three core and earth cables plus eight indicator lamps. This lot is/will be joined with a variety of cables, including a six core and earth cable.
While that is much more complicated than the typical heating system there may well be a lot of work in heating systems these days. Radio and some sort of data bus may do away with some of this in time, as it has done in other applications, but I think that for at least several years ever more complicated heating systems will be wired using ever more cable.
Some are qualified to do electrical works, rather less are to be trusted until you know they can do the job. There are so many ways that heating controls are mis-wired I'm surprised that half of them work.
Isn't anything downstream of a fused spur (like anything that plugs into a socket) outside the scope of Prat P? I ( as a competent but non registered/paid up/'officially' qualified person) have worked in non-domestic environments where you would expect all the rules to be followed to the letter (schools, lift machine rooms), and on several occasions the 'electricians' haven't expressed any interest or concern about what I do beyond the fused spur they have installed and tested.
socket) outside the scope
have worked in
to the letter
haven't expressed any
and tested.
If you install fixed equipment then it still counts IIUC. However business premises etc would not because Part P is domestic only...
So if you don't need to be NICEIC qualified to do electrical work what do you need to be? How can I check if this chap is qualified for the work he's doing?
You don't need to be anything to do electrical work...
NICEIC is not a qualification, its a trade association. Electricians who are members of it can sign off domestic stuff for part P without needing to involve building control. (you can guess why they were all in favour of a scheme like part P!). There are a number of other trade associations who's members may also do the same. These include NAPIT, CORGI, etc (there is a list somewhere).
With domestic work there are two classifications of work - "Minor Works" and presumably "not minor works". With minor works there is an exemption that means you do not need to be a member of one of the self certifying schemes to do the work, or need approval from building control.
So if you are attempting to assess competence to do work, part P is of no use whatsoever - since you don't need to competent in the true sense to self certify (the trade bodies would argue that you need a level of technical competence and proven track record (aka closed shop) to join them), but of course its the firm that is registered with the trade body not the individual electricians.
Thanks John, some useful information there. I'm not sure you answered my question though which was how do I check if this chap is legally qualified to do the work he has done?
If however this is just a combi swap, and the programmer and thermostats are already in place to meet the part L regs then I would not even want to issue a minor works certificate for reconnecting a few wires. I would take a earth loop reading at the boiler, advise the customer about any main or supplementary bonding that needs doing and be done with it.
Adam
Well connecting a boiler to a an existing spur / socket is basically a like for like replacement and hence a minor work - even if in a special location (i.e. bathroom, pool house etc) or a kitchen. So no need for part P certification. So anyone could have legally done the work.
Yep, even if the connection is by 13 A plug and socket (as made clear by item h. in the list of "additional notes" on page 9 of the Approved Document).
Unless the business supply (i.e. DNO's cut-out, and metering) is shared with a dwelling.
At the risk of being shot down in flames by a Sparky (I hope so because i can stop paying out for similar ridiculus work myself when changing boilers). the answer to your question as i understand the PArt P /IEE reg is NO, the work cannot be carried out by a non-registered Sparky without it being inspected by BCO.
Richard
If you are simply connecting the boiler to an existing spur / socket, then you can do that yourself without BCO / part P scheme membership (regardless of location).
If you need to install more than that and the boiler is in a kitchen or special location, or you need new control wiring then it would fall under part P. In which case joining the CORGI scheme would probably be the most cost effective way of doing this for a gas fitter.
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