Part P inspection via BCO

[bblaukopf]

Just FYI... Second time I've done this.

First time, about 12 years ago, they turned for first fix and said "wires are nice and straight, don't bother getting us back till you're all done", and then swapped the EIC I completed for a completion cert - and that was it. To be fair, the BCO back then was quite plain that they didn't want the Part P work, and didn't know anything about electrics - I suspect he was just looking for good vibes and would have got a sparky in if he felt it was needed.

This time they refused to let me operate the same way as last time, insisted on testing it, and charged me a lot more. Ho hum. But they did send a real electrician this time, who actually did some testing. He still did less testing than I did last time - e.g. he just looked at the main bond, didn't test it - and although he was doing something with the DB, he never turned the whole power off, so either he's a lot braver than I am at working in partially live conditions, or he skipped some other tests. So about the same standard as every other type of buildings inspection, but better than last time.

[ARW]

If he is only testing a few circuits then there was probably no need to turn off all the power.

And the cost for this inspection (I realise it may be part of other costs) but if you have a figure I am interested.

Cheers

[ben]

I forget precisely, because I paid it back in 2011, but as I recall there a fixed rate for electrical work and it was in the region of £200. Stupid money for the amount of work, but for various reasons, a lot of the work I did would have fallen under Part P back if I'd done it in 2011, but later on no longer did.

[Robin]

Could have been a lot worse. Back in 2011 Hackney charged more than that as a surcharge on top of the usual fee based on the cost of work so they'd have wanted over £500 for anything notifiable. It's now 'only' £300 for domestic wiring.

[bblaukopf]

Actually when I filed the notice I originally paid a further £200-odd for the normal cost of the job, since they had expressed the Part P bit as a surcharge. But they sent me a refund for that bit a few days later.

[ARW]

Are you aware that you can now use 3rd party certification for Part P. Only NAPIT (and one other firm?) actually provide this service. NICEIC refused to take part in it saying that it would lower standards (whilst still letting their members get away with shit work).

[ben]

BCO was happy (at least this time) for me to submit one notice to cover everything I might do.

[Robin]

STROMA also offer third party electrical certification.

[ben]

(I know I'm 6 month's late. Been busy) Presumably the sparky would want to see just as much as the BCO's designated inspector though, so I'm not sure what this would get me.

I just asked Cambridge BC the cost to do a building notice for a full rewire including outbuildings and they quoted me 250+VAT, which seems alright to me (or, frankly, dirt cheap if they are actually going to test it properly).

Buying a new house with rather old wiring and may as well do the whole lot before embarking on any redecorating. Fortunately it has suspended floors this time, so I'm hoping to just leave some floorboards loose for inspection.

[Brian Gaff]

Interesting. When we had the house rewired back in the 70s, there was no independent inspection done. but the men who did it also worked at my place of work and I knew their standards were very high. They seemed to enjoy their job, even when crawling around dirty lofts and covered in plaster dust!

Brian

[ARW]

Take plenty of photos as well, esp if you have to put some floorboards back down or backfill a supply to an out building.

They will probably want to do a pre plastered inspection and see a few floorboards up.

Be aware that bathroom fans will probably require 3A fusing. That has caught a few people out when we have done inspections.

If you do use them them please keep me informed on what they actually want from you so that I can compare with what we would ask you to do.

And don't forget to throw the odd Cat5 cable or 2 about whilst you are doing the job.

[Robin]

On 08/09/2019 09:38, ARW wrote: <snip>

Some councils' terms and conditions reserve the right to charge more according to your qualifications and experience, and according to the number of visits they need to make. I've no plans to move to Cambridge but would be interested to know i.d.c. if you get asked about your skills etc or face problems if they can't see it all (or enough) in 2 visits .

Oh, and if they want to see the calibration certificate(s) of your meter(s).

[ARW]

Most interesting, but we have covered this before.

If the OP is expected to supply his own calibrated test equipment and produce proof that he is capable of of doing the job then the £250 + VAT to provide the certification is a rip off.

[Robin]

Ah, sorry. It's me age.

I thought the BCO told me that I'd need in-date kit to produce the full schedule of test results 'cos they'd only do a sample check. But that could be my misunderstanding/misremebering.

[ARW]

It might have been Tim's bungalow rewire. He was ISTR allowed do his own testing. And I am sure John Rumm got away with a minor works cert on a job after proving he was capable of doing the work.

That's the interesting thing. It could be different depending where you live in England. God help you if you live in Hull.

And of course the OP can borrow my calibrated test kit if needed.

[ben]

Back in 2005 I moved into my old place and submitted a BN for a fusebox change, kitchen rewire, and a few other odds and sods. The BCO showed me the EIC and asked if I could fill it in. I said "No, but I'll find out how", and then I did. They came round to see first fix, and then I gave them an EIC at the end (and calibration cert). I think I paid £118 for that one based on the equivalent professional cost of the work, and it's the only time in my life I've written M. Eng after my name. No one asked about C&G or anything.

Then in 2011 I asked if I could do the same again (they had introduced a testing fee). No. They inspected first fix for the hall and loo, lost all records of that (but fortunately that work became un-notifiable in the meantime), and then came round to inspect the bathroom (combined first and second fix, since all the wiring was accessible through the loft void).

This is going to be the third time (and probably last!), and for the amount of work I plan, I don't really care what they are going to test, I will test everything properly as I go along. If I'm really paying £250+VAT for an EICR and a BCO sign-off, frankly I'm okay with that.

FWIW (another reply) Soler and Pau fans do not require 3A fusing AND the 240V variety can be put in Zone 1. Took me a while to find one of them (and I had to have the same argument twice, once with the BCO's guy, and then with the guy doing the EICR when I sold the house).

I take photos with measurements for all pipes and wires that I'm covering up. You never know when they will come in handy...

Thanks for the generous offer! I have a Combitest 2019 I bought back in 2005, which I'll get recalibrated.

[ARW]

As I was not aware that you already knew that, I do apologise for mentioning it. But it something we have picked up on when testing other peoples work and the fans are of a cheaper variety.

Personality I cannot see a 3A BS1362 fuse tripping faster than B type 6A MCB.

All the best with it.

Don't they just.

[ben]

Nothing to apologise for. I might not have known - and same for someone else reading this thread.

[stephenten]

The bathroom fans thing is an interesting one....

Due to wishing to fit extractor fans directly above a shower and a bath in two different upstairs rooms, I chose 12 volt versions.

I put the isolator 3 way fan switch in above the doors to to both rooms on the landing side.

I wired in from the ceiling rose in each room, via the isolator switch and thence on to a fused neon switch in the loft. The Stepdown transformer was wired to that fused switch neon.

Then the ceiling fan was wired to the transformer.

I made sure the fused neon switch was right next to the stepdown transformer and it was the instructions that stated a 3a fused supply.

[ARW]

:-)

The hotel I stopped last night had a 12V fan in the en-suite with the

12V transformer mounted on the wall directly below it.

Both the fan and transformer were outside the zones. My guess is the handyman fitted it and used a 12V fan as he thought it was safer - bloke down the pub probably told him it was.

It had no fan isolator and no 3A fuse (this one should have had a 3A fuse according to the manufacturers installation guide) but I doubt that they really matters in real life.

I used the shower without checking beforehand for supplementary bonding or that there was RCD protection on all the bathroom circuits and I still lived:-)