Some helpful information on Part P by ELECSA

Information on Part P kindly supplied by ELECSA

Steve Mitchell, Managing Director of ELECSA, explains the advantages of using the job notification system for electrical contractors.

Almost every single home in the UK uses electricity for basic lighting, maybe heat, and probably to run the wide range of modern appliances that we now have in our homes. If installed incorrectly, electricity can be dangerous and in some cases fatal, which is why the government chose to regulate the electrical contracting sector by introducing Part P of the Building Regulations in 2005.

Before 2005, there was a whole legion of experienced electrical contractors out there. Just because Part P was suddenly introduced on April 1st 2005 did not make those electrical contractors incompetent. But what Part P does are two very important things; it provides a level playing field where contractors can prove their competence to customers, it provides a mechanism where they can self certify their work.

Electrical contractors can work on electrical installations without belonging to a Part P scheme. But they still need to notify work covered by Part P to their local authority building control department. This varies widely across the different Local Authorities and can work out to be expensive and time consuming. Alternatively, being a member of Part P scheme means electrical contractors can self certify their work, and notify the job through their Part P scheme provider. This saves time and hassle, and the cost per job is much cheaper.

However, ELECSA believes that not everyone who is Part P registered is notifying their work. There are probably two main reasons for this which are cost, and perceived lack of enforcement.

Electrical contractors perceive the cost and time needed for job notification as being an extra overhead for their business. But this needn’t be the case as the notification can be done quickly and easily online. Contractors offer it as a benefit to their customers, and price it into the job accordingly. It should be explained to the householder that they will be having the work done by a suitably qualified contractor who belongs to a government approved scheme.

There are other benefits that can be ‘sold’ to the householder. All the competent persons schemes must have audited procedures in place to deal with customer complaints should they arise. This can work both ways – for the householder they have an official body to approach in the event of a complaint, and for the contractor he will have backup and support if the complaint is unjustified.

With job notification, again this should be marketed as a householder benefit. They will know their work will be registered with the local authority, will comply with the building regulations and most importantly be safe. If they choose, they can also take out warranty insurance which then covers and remedial work in the future should the contractor no longer be in business. Although this has negative implications, it shouldn’t be seen this way. Contractors can cease trading for any number of reasons. They may decide to go into another trade or business, so warranty insurance can provide the customer with security and peace of mind.

The other main reason that some contractors do not notify their work is the perceived lack of enforcement. There is still the culture of ‘cash in hand’ work, and professional contractors still come up against quotes from cowboys who do not notify their work. The industry is working hard to combat this, and all the competent persons schemes are working with Local Authority Building Control (LABC) to address this problem.

Finally, there are a small amount of instances where contractors notify work when they don’t need to. This indicates that perhaps there may be some confusion in the market about which jobs are notifiable. All of the Part P scheme providers produce information on how to approach job notification. As well as providing a free technical helpline, there is a comprehensive list on the ELECSA website.

List of notifiable and non-notifiable electrical works

* Minor works are extensions and modifications to circuits
** Major works are defined as new circuits