Part P Explained

16 Responses to “Part P Explained”

• Mike Salway

  January 12, 2008 at 2:30 pm

  I would love to know how many people year in the UK we actually killed (or maimed) in the past due to incompetent installations. This is by comparison to other things that could do with legislating against. I suspect this was set up to enable a few friends of the UK gov to make money and a spot of “easy spin” to make the gov look like it is actually doing something beneficial without actually costing them anything.
• Miranda de Freston

  February 3, 2008 at 3:49 pm

  Received this anonymous comment today, thought people would find interesting:

  After 30 years in the electrical trade mainly in the distribution side of the indistry I now find myself in the situation that I can nologer do any new work on my or my friends properties as I do not have Part P. Many electricians work in the industrial sectors find themselves in the same boat. Like me they have the skill but do not do enough domestic work to cover the cost of obtaining Part P and the annual fee. Yet plumbers, Kitching fitters etc. are obtaining Part P and I am sorry if the argument is all about safety and improving standards are they really saying by going on a coarse for a short period of time and paying a fee you are going to have a better understanding of electrical installation than those with proper qaulifications and experience. Why did they not do what most European countries do and register all tradesmen, and only registered tradesmen can carry out work in their particular trade. Because of the extra costs imposed by the inplementation of Part P more people are turning to cowboys. The real reason for Part P is to get all work registered so it goes through the bookes and the taxes obtained.
• Andrew Harcourt

  May 11, 2008 at 2:49 pm

  I was trained in domestic electrical wiring at college in the early 1970’s. So after 30 years of doing minor electrical work, suddenly I am not allowed to. I am CORGI registered and a member of the Institute of Heating and Plumbing Engineers. However, until I choose to take an unpaid day off work and attend a ‘training course’ I am apparently unable to connect a gas boiler to the mains and I am apparently unable to follow the manufacturer’s instructions when installing a new hot water tank. I have to go to a training course to know that all radiators in a house should have a thermostatic radiator valve, and until I attend the course and answer the question ’should all houses have loft insulation and a thermostatic radiator valve on each radiator? I am not allowed to register a new boiler installation.
  There are only 2 reasons I can think of for this regulation: one is to gather more tax for the government, and the other is that with the reduction in ‘reading, riting and rithmetic’ capabilities of school leavers, there is a genuine need to check that workers can actually read the instructions that come with all boilers, water tanks, showers and so on. What a sad state of affairs!

  Apparently we need CORGI because in a typical year, 7 or 8 people are killed in the UK as a result of a gas incident. Apparently we do not need to check on peoples’ ability to drive a car in spite of the fact that 35,000 people are killed on our roads every year.
• Mark Dell

  August 30, 2008 at 3:05 pm

  How difficult is this to Police. What if a house holders gets the local retired non registered electrician in to re wire the house. The owner decideds to sell the house but tells the solicitor they cant remember who to did the work. All the electrical installation needs is the usuall inspection that is usually done when selling a house whether its re wired or not.
  The house gets sold.

  M C Dell, Manchester
• Anona Mous

  November 18, 2008 at 3:06 pm

  As someone who does the odd bit of DIY now and again, I find these new laws an unjustifiable infringement into dictating what I can and can not do in my own home. It is typical of the vast amount of controlling legislation passed by this NuLab government and infringes all our rights as individual citizens. It is none of the council’s business whether I plan to work in the kitchen or bathroom, or any other room in my own home for that matter. I’m intelligent enough to avoid anything dangerous, and even if I were not then I would be responsible for it. If I sell my home at a later date, then the potential buyer is responsible for getting it checked before they buy. This seems to me to be purely an attempt to control the individual, and raise and much income for doing b all as possible. I await a common sense administration to remove all this nonsense, but I’m not holding my breath.
• Sparky Steve

  July 12, 2009 at 9:54 pm

  Having read these comments i shall offer my pennys worth. I am a time served fully qualified electrician and have experienced the cowboys and like,many of which were kitchen fitters, so giving them the option to purchase part p pay their 800-1000 pound training fee and let them loose is irresponsible as not all installations are the same ,and all the customer has to go bye is if you switch on and it works! . At the end of the day as previous comments , its just another TAX . Maybe MPs and civil servents should have to sit a test to see if their competant persons with the mandatory retest after every new set of regulations. Just ask any part p if he knows OHMs Law- prob thinks its an asbo.
• Robin Brown

  November 4, 2009 at 7:34 am

  I am not a fully qualified elecrician but hold C + G 2360 Parts I & 2 together with a 16th. Edition C+G 2381.

  Am I allowed to rewire my own house and submit the installtion for test [by others] to comply with part P building regulations. I am competent to do this but since retiring regulations seem to have changed greatly. Can anyone explain? A reply posted or direct to my e-mail would be appreciated. robin.brown999@live.co.uk
• Kroe

  November 10, 2009 at 11:52 pm

  So what is everyone saying then?
  That the need to regulate an industry that can leave any part of someones home or workplace lethal to the touch, or a serious fire hazard is not there?
  That anyone who has taken the necessary procedures to be assesed by an independant regulatory board, and deemed competant, must be a cowboy who is wet behind the ears? While a bloke who can’t be botherd to get assesed, or won’t shell out for the fees must be an honest time served sparky, sadly screwed over by the system.
  Surely not!!

  The competant person scheme is not a simple ‘training course’. It is a scheme that annually checks a tradesmans workmanship, along with their business procedures. In order to ensure customers are not getting the wool pulled over their eyes, by lazy, fly-by-night sparks, that wont get registered.

  And by the way ohms law is, voltage is equal to current multiplied by resistance.
• R.Fellows

  November 12, 2009 at 7:37 pm

  Stumbled accross this blog.

  My history
  Studied NVQ2 Electrical manufacture (installations) and GNVQ2 Electrical Engineering in 1999. I didnt get an apprentiship and had a series of dead end jobs untill I decided in Jan 2007 to become an electrician. I worked in the industry since then taking any work I could find. Ive worked on schools, hospitals, houses, chemical plants and even a marina. I paid for all my courses myself and took the time off work unpaid to do so. I compleated C&G PAT, then my 17th edition wiring regs, NVQ3 Electrotechnical Installations. With this recession moving in end of 2008 and being unemployed because of it I decided to do the Part P qualification and go self employed. I took the qualification and passed in march 2009. The course was very dumbed down and some of the questions didnt even make sense as you would simply not go about installing in that way… The course was run by a Plumber (nothing against Plumbers) and I was suprised in the lack knowledge he had. I was to demonstrate to him my knowledge but instead I felt he was learning from me…

  I am still confused as to what is notifiable and what is not! I asked a friend who is in NICEIC (which has 4 levels of membership), building control and the book “the part P doctor” and got different answers to what is notifyable and what isnt. My friend told me periodic inpsections in dwellings require building control to be notified… Building control said “No but the person must be “compitent.”".

  I didnt think allot to the Part P defined and allied scope (I had to take both apparently) nor in the manner it was delivered.

  Here is one of the questions from Part P.

  You are have to join a 10mm single core Earth cable which is to be sealed in a floor which will not be accessible for inspection afterwards. What sort of joining medium would you use?

  Options where something like:
  “Choclate bloks”
  Juntion box
  Thru crimp
  Solder

  I thought about it and said you wouldnt. You’d pull a new cable in… Why would you join an earth which should be an uninterupted single piece of cable?
  Some of you may say “ah but the customer cant afford a new cable… or its cheaper…” Striaght from the regs: the budget of the client shall not be taken into account when selecting materials…

  Part P is a waste of time and money for everyone involved (except the Gov amd the Part P “SCHEMES”). It ties the hands of electricians, confuses home owners and adds hundreds of pounds to jobs. Part P is not difficult to pass and therefore not a barrier against bad and dangerous practice. Cowboys arnt going to bother and allot of homeowners dont care as long as its cheap, works and doesnt cost them allot.

  Having or not having Part P qualification means nothing. Ive seen bad electrical work carried out by electricians with and without it. Its hit and miss and down to personal character, experience and training…

  You wouldnt do a GCSE after an A-level to prove your knew what you were doing, so why are they making us sparks do it?
• Craig Newton

  December 21, 2009 at 5:56 pm

  I consider myself to be fairly intelligent and competent at most DIY jobs like my father was. I am just recently converting my kitchen/dining room into one and can’t have someone install my kitchen without a qualified Part P electrician. To move two sockets and a cooker socket would cost me £600. I could very comfortably, safely and competently do this job within 2 hours myself. I now have to use the last of my holidays in the turn of the year to fit the kitchen myself but am left with no holidays until april to enjoy with my kids! Apparently these regulations came about after a “POLITICIANS” daughter was killed from a poorly installed piece of electrics. My guess is he tried to save a bob or two and used the friend of a friend! My question! Would this regulation have come about if someone like us lost our child??????? No it would have been blinked at and forgotten!
• rob stevens

  February 11, 2010 at 6:25 pm

  I trained as an electrician with one of the largest electrical contractors in the world, did a full 4 years apprenticeship and a further 2 years of experiance to gain my J I B approved status, this was over 25 years ago, i have worked on all types of jobs incuding the channel tunnel, various nuclear and coal powerstations, schools, hospitals, etc im sure other electricians will agree there is nothing complicated in a private dwelling and any competant electrician or 2nd year apprentice for that matter could safely wire a house !, this is just another tax and has nothing to do with saftey, if it was, there is a very simple soloution, which is simply to stop selling electrical installation materials to any one that isnt electrically qualified this is so easy to implement as the majority of elctricians are already registered with the JIB, registration is free, you are issued with a card that has your photo on it, and your technical qualifications, your card is specfic to you with a number on it that the JIB can identify, you cannot get a card unless you have the relevant skills, i am not lazy about getting qualifications and have my 17th edition which i had to pay for myself, i dont normally write things like this but feel so strongly about this subject, our job is mentally and physically demanding, dangerous (i personally know of people who are dead or so seriously injured they cannot work anymore), the working conditions are normally pretty rough,the hours are long,you normally have to travel for a couple of hours a day (at your own costs), i think you get the picture!, on top of that the majority of work is sub contract and therefore comes with no holiday pay no sick pay no job security & very little rights of employment. all for a salary of between £10 & £15 an hour, i have not got the £2500 to get part p qualified and i doubt whether any body would lend it me in the current economic climate?, and after all why shoud i have to as previously mentioned this is just another stealth tax not a ground breaking saftey ineceitive as you would be lead to believe, i just want to earn a living, i wonder how many electricians are unemployed at the moment as even in times of trouble i could always pick up some work but not anymore!, should mechcanics be regulated you wouldnt want your brakes fixing by some cowboy would you?, where does it all end ?, be warned it could be your livleyhood thats next, having seen the work of part p domestic installers, they wouldnt be working in my house!, dont forget most electrical work is hidden and cannot be physically checked, so time to get real & if it really is a saftey issue stop selling materials in diy superstores, cut out the cost of administration and policing of the part p rip off, its cheaper for the customer more sparks will have work and everyones a winner, the only thing part p has done is encourage ill equipped and untrained people to have a go themselves to save money and red tape, and invented another cash cow for the powers that be!, the rich get richer and the poor get ripped off again. My advice would be just because someone can self certify it doesnt mean there work is of a high standard after all self certification means exactly that, the work is done and then deemed to be of a satisfactory standard by the person thats done it, and i have yet to meet someone that would admit to doing a bad job!, there is no substitute for experiance and the old tried and tested methods of getting tradesmen recommended to you by friends and family or if this is not possible ask for references / see completed jobs. Finally as an electrician if i do a job which is unsafe i am held criminally responsible and therfore worst case scenario could wind up in court facing manslaughter charges, surely reason enough to do a safe and competent job, Food for thought indeed.
• Will

  June 20, 2010 at 5:00 pm

  I come from an engineering background. Experienced in electrics, Gas, welding, mechanics. Time served Agricultural Engineer.
  I work for a Manufacturer of gas appliances. I do guarantee repairs on Range cookers, Stoves, and gas fires. I don’t always have to take the wires out of the fuse spur to repair the fault. I was told by my employer I have to do this to disconnect and re-connect to the supply.
  I think this is ridiculous, trained gas engineers know how to use multi-metres……. Or Voltage testers. Thats all I need to do my job. I will never have any interest in re- wiring a house. Never have… Never will. Sparks job. Would sparks fit a central heating system? Fit a gas fire… I dont think so. Every one to there trade in my view.
  Met up with my mate hes a spark… told him I have to do this. Just laughed. I have limited knowledge but I certainly know how to test a circuit.
  I think its ridiculous That you can do a 5 day course and be qualified to do all this domestic work… Mad in my view… Takes 4 years apprenticeship min to be competent to do most trades.

  Will.
• John Wallis

  July 20, 2010 at 6:16 pm

  I am a qualified Electrical Technician Engineer, time served Electrician, have attained C & G Full Technological Certificate plus 4 Endorsement subjects, C & G 2382 - 100 17th. Edition, C & G 2391 Inspection & Testing, C & G 2377 - 02 Portable Appliance Testing and I am told that I can no longer carry out electrical work in my own home or anyone elses because I am not Part P registred given the fact that I am also registered with the J.I.B. as an approved electrician beggers belief. I am also registered with the I.E.T. as Eng. Tech. M.I.E.T.

  It is my oppinion that this current legislation misses the spot. Whats more, why should I have to fork out £500 per annum for the privleage of being part P registered to the fat cats of the N.I.E.C., N.A.P.I.T. etc. etc. Shurely qualified Electricians such as myself should satisfy a non profit making organisation of their competance via a written examination, and possble trade test on a one off basis and that should be it, until we get another edition of the wiring regulations.
  Why not make it Law that all electricians should be nationally registered, and proved competant as such by vertue of their qualifications and experience and not be forking out £500 or so per year.

  Are the D.I.Y. cowboys bothered about Part P. In a word NO!!!!!!!!!!!
• Paul Foster 1956

  October 16, 2010 at 3:12 pm

  Having read the comments,and got to say you can’t knock em… the H/Safety along with rules n reg’s , is tearing the arse out the trades this country. JIB must be run by a bunch of la-di-da snotnosed collage boys that woulnt know how the spring mechanism works on a bog roll holder ……Its nobeds like them with the stupid rules have now managed to put me and i reckon 100’s of “old school” tradesmen like myself out of work , Its quite clear that years of experience counts for nothing . Now you can be a Gas safe registered fitter/plumber in 70days !!!!. its a joke seeing some of the quality of installations left by inexperienced so called now qualified tradesmen , that 3months ago were packing shelves in tesco’s leave behind in there wake,, to throw it in,, get the bucks,, and run…then on to next poor sod that’s gullible enough to be sucked in from the badge dangling off his jacket ……………..BODGE IT N SCARPER is an understatement.. ………….I got C&G level3, the CSCS , the IPAF, the CRBcheck, the PIMEScard, the HVAC, and now its £750 back to school P1 card befofe i can get a job fitting a bog seat.. Anyway . ,,Im off to sell dildo’s on a market stall .f*ckit .
• CHRIS

  December 25, 2010 at 6:19 pm

  I have a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and have done my own house wiring for donkey’s years now it would seem I am breaking the law. I am also very puzzled about aprt p registration. To register I must declare myself competent and then let someone inspect two of my installations. So surely that mean I must start work as unregistered and break the law twice before anyone can come our and look at the installations. The whole thjing is stupid anbd stinks.
• Amanda Godwin

  April 18, 2013 at 9:30 pm

  I think the point is:

  - How can a kitchen fitter do a 2 week course and pay £500 to a registration body and then carry out the work that a REAL electrician has spent 3-4 years training to do?

  - Why does the qualified electrician that spent 3-4 years training need to pay the same £500 to join a registration body or apply to the council for building regs to have someone with less knowledge in their field inspect their work

  At the very least the government should make it so that a REAL electrcian should NOT need to pay anything more than a minimal administration fee to join these schemes and because they have had extensive training they shouldnt need to have as many inspecitions as someone on a 2 week course at the local college.

  If you agree sign the government petitions http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/search?q=part+p

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