Part P changes

On Thursday 16 May 2013 12:17 Ben Blaukopf wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Seems more sane. I still think it's a waste of effort overall, but as a step in the right direction, this is welcome.

And one other change - you will be able to DIY the notifiable work and have it signed off by a Part P member - but they have not yet worked out how this will work.

I wonder how much difference it will make to most of us? (!) Nice to know most things are OK now though....

So a rewire of a kitchen that didn't involve

or

and isn't a special location would no longer require notification, is that correct?

Thanks, BraileTrail

I suspect relatively few kitchens have showers, baths, saunas or swimming pools ... so I'd say generally not-notifiable.

Provided that the circuit was already RCD/RCBO protected, yes. I suspect (but don't know, and quite possibly buildings control don't know either) that swapping an MCB for an RCBO in the consumer unit IS notifable.

The inspecting party would need to be a member of a Third Party Certification Scheme (and may well have to pay extra subs for the privilege).

I suspect the 3rd pty would have to inspect as the work progresses, so it wouldn't work for people who do notifiable work but don't notify and then hope to call in someone to give them an inspection report as a way of complying.

Notifiable work includes, "(b) the REPLACEMENT of a consumer unit" (my emphasis), therefore ALTERATIONS to a consumer unit is not notifiable. The OP is correct.

How about replacement of an old-fashioned switch-fuse (often a cast-iron case with one or two china fuse carriers), which cannot really called a consumer unit? If you aren't actually replacing a CU you can actually install one (to replace the SF) without notification.

So you could fit henley blocks and install a new cu but not fit any new circuits to it.

Its a bit like gas, nobody finds out unless you do something silly.

It's a bit more noticeable with electrics. When I moved in I re-wired and fitted a new consumer unit. A couple of weeks later the meter reader commented on the new consumer unit and arranged for a higher capacity main fuse to be fitted.

SteveW