quelquod wrote:UncleEbenezer wrote:I need one of you guys to wire up behind my walls so I can put up wall lights! I could do the job myself but I wouldn't be properly, um, competent. And I suspect the lack of certification might bugger up things like my insurance and the house's saleability.
I’d expect you’re perfectly competent really. You might have to look hard to find an electrician who sticks firmly to the regs when retrofitting wall lighting. And does that work really require certification in England? I’m surprised.
Yes happily anyone can do almost any electrical work in England.
To start with any
like-for-like replacement of anything electrical anywhere, including parts of the fixed electrical installation, is simply allowed to be done by a competent person without certification or notification.
Additions and alterations can be done* by competent persons outside of special locations. These special locations are outdoors, and within zones of wet-rooms (saunas, showers, bathrooms, and swimming pools). Either a
Minor Works or an
Electrical Installation Certificate must be issued though. This can also be done by that competent person but test equipment is required to ascertain certain measurements (so an electrician would be useful here if only for the testing).
Within
special locations, in addition to the certification, the local authority must be notified. This now can be done by a Part-P registered electrician if he/she has had a chance to see the work and is satisfied that it is done correctly, especially parts that have become hidden from view. I think there is still an expensive way of doing this with the local authority directly but that may have been phased out as they couldn't cope back when it was the only way.
Chris
* To the latest version of BS7671
PS According to Part 2 of BS7671 (Wiring Regulations) a Competent Person is:
A person who possesses sufficient knowledge, relevant practical skills and experience for the nature of the electrical work undertaken and is able at all times to prevent danger and, where appropriate, injury to him/herself and others.
PPS Changing out a fuseboard/consumer-unit also requires notification to the local authority.