Know a bloke who can sort your electrics? For a good price? Well, only if you don鈥檛 include the 拢5000 fine from your newly empowered building control officer
Come on then, answer the question: 鈥淗ow many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?鈥� Answer: 鈥淭here is nothing wrong with that light bulb and my client demands an immediate apology and damages!鈥� The ODPM is having a kick at cowboy builders and a kick at those DIY folk by bringing in a set of rules for electrical work in the home.
From the start of last month the local authority building control officer has to be informed when you decide to light up your driveway with one of those 1000 W floods that burst into action at 2am when a moggy traipses by.
Put simply, from now on, if you intend to put in extra power points or lighting points in your bathroom, kitchen, or even carry out repairs in such tricky areas of the house, stop, pause, find the phone number of building control.
And, if you decide to phone a bricklayer friend with an interest in electrics or your uncle Fred, that won鈥檛 do.
Doing electrical work in the home is now covered by the 黑洞社区 Regulations for England and Wales. Scotland was ahead of the game; it has already addressed electrical safety. Look, the 黑洞社区 Regulations are all about standards for health and safety around buildings. True, they nudge into areas of energy conservation and access to buildings.
Another truth is that there is a legal presumption that you followed the guidance in the regulations. The building control officer is interested in whether you have complied with the principles upon which the regulations are based rather than a specific detail or design.
But if you give the regulations the elbow the local authority can bring you to the magistrates鈥� court, label you a criminal, give you a 拢5000 fine plus 拢50 for each day the contravention continues, to say nothing of an enforcement notice.
Okay, you decide that the electrical work is worthy of a phone call to building control. Likely you will be told to get an expert in. This person is 鈥渁n installer who is registered with a competent person scheme鈥�. There are two types. One is limited to doing electrical work 鈥渙nly if it is necessary when carrying out other work鈥� (an example is the CORGI services) and the other is certified 鈥渢o do all electrical installation work鈥� (this chap may have a BRE certificate). There are a handful of certifiers, so check carefully. Of course you can bypass building control if you go straight to a contractor installer. You can check their credentials by speaking to the certifying body. Thereafter the electrician is responsible for looking after all regulations, so rest easy. On completion you will receive a certificate of compliance. There is also supposed to be an option to take out an insurance-backed guarantee for the work. If the fellow hasn鈥檛 behaved, the certifying bodies have a formal complaints procedure. Doing all this through a general building contractor sounds okay to me. But you builders will have to do all the checking and get the certificate on completion.
Two free booklets are available, courtesy of John Prescott, on the ODPM website. The first is 黑洞社区 Regulations Explanatory Booklet. It has a picture of the deputy prime minister on almost every page. Seriously, it鈥檚 easy to read. Full marks, ODPM. The booklet is wrong (now) where it says installing or replacing electrical wiring is beyond the remit of the regulations. So go to the second booklet The 黑洞社区 Regulations 2000, Electrical Safety Approved Document P.
Two more points. Selling a property may be difficult when you can鈥檛 produce the right safety certificate. I can see panic at conveyancing stage. Take it all seriously. The other is the bright idea of having licensed installers, certified tradesmen. Hurrah. Can we think about expanding this to those who install purported fire-rated elements of buildings?
A 鈥渢wo-hour fire-rated鈥� ceiling or partition will not work at all if the fitter doesn鈥檛 follow the installation rules. So too the fire-rated door installer and others besides.
By the way the 1000 W light doesn鈥檛 work now. Nor does the cat. How many deputy prime ministers does it take to change that light bulb?
Tony Bingham is a barrister and arbitrator specialising in construction. Email him at info@tonybingham.co.uk
But if you give the regulations the elbow, the local authority can take you to the magistrates鈥� court and label you a criminal
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