January 1 was D-Day for sparkies.
The Government’s new legislation in the form of Part P – an additional section of the Building Regulations - came into play with some fairly significant consequences for electricians in England and Wales.
The law now requires that all electrical installations in homes, barring a few exceptions, have to be carried out by a 'competent person’.
Consequently, sparkies should already have started to apply to be certified as a 'competent person' under the new legislation; all work started before January 1, 2005 completed by March 31, 2005 will be exempt but, thereafter, will be subject to the new rules.
“I didn’t pay too much attention to the leaflet but when my daughter mentioned it, I took a look. I’m glad I did. |
“The consequences of not gaining competent person status are likely to be costly and time-consuming for those sparkies who haven’t done anything about it yet.
“If I couldn’t certify my own work then I’d have to notify the local authority’s building control office so that they could inspect the work while it was taking place and when it was completed. That would cost time and money in building notices and inspection fees.”
Gaining competent person status doesn’t come cheap. Assessment for competency costs more than £600 per person and surveillance assessments, costing more than £300, take place once a year.
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Added James: “It does seem like a lot of money up front but, I should be one of the first to hold a competent person certificate, and I’m likely to have an advantage over the other sparkies who don’t. I think customers are more likely to choose me over a sparkie without the certification. The whole point of Part P is to stop cowboy electricians giving the rest of us a bad name.”
Jim Speirs, director general of the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC), commented: "Part P is long overdue - we're delighted that the law now demands that homeowners and occupants employ only government-authorised electricians for electrical work and don't embark on DIY electrics." |
