Workshop electrics

[RogerS]

.....
If you choose to get the council in then they will tend to really go to town as most councils use registered electricians to test and sign off, so it could work out more.

Not round our way. They take a quick look and if seems OK and you seem to know what you're doing then you get your completion certificate signed off.

That completion cert is nothing to do with the electrics. If you get the proper electrical cert then they have to do electrical tests etc which isn't covered in a "quick look and if it seems OK" test.

I agree which only goes to show what a complete pigs-ear the system is. One option is to DIY - which is what I did for the complete house rewire including garage, kitchen, bathroom etc as part of the refurbishment. The refurb was done under a Building Control Notice for which I paid the fee. Any electrical work was included in this fee and BC were responsible for deciding what checks were needed. As far as I was concerned, the BC Completion Certificate is what mattered when it came to sell the house because by virtue of issuing the certificate BC are saying that everything including the electrics is OK. The fact that BC did not bother to get an electrician in is their choice. A quick Google shows that their policy is no different to many other councils.

So it does rather make a mockery - or does it? At least in the short term, it won't since anyone intending to DIY (unless they are stupid in which case even the most blase BC inspector should recognise their failings) will make sure that they follow the rules as they don't know that they won't be inspected and tested by an electrician. In the longer term then maybe some DIYs will start to cut corners feeling confident that they won't get caught out. So how long before some numpty in ODPM sees this as a loophole and plugs it.

Glad you agree with me re having to be a member of an organisation scheme before being let loose on other peoples properties. Trouble is that costs.

 

[wobblycogs]

I don't doubt for one minute the figures were all but plucked from thin air as is usually the case. To me at least the whole thing looks like the various industry bodies buying a bit of legislation to protect themselves.

There is no requirement to be part of a certification scheme:

"Competent persons who only infrequently carry out work in domestic premises need not register with a competent persons self-certification scheme. However if they are not registered they must notify building control before carrying out the work and should meet all of the requirements of BS 7671 regarding design, installation, inspection and testing, and certification."[/b]

To sign the BS7671 Form 4 or join a self-cert scheme you have to hold an EAS certificate / qualification. Joining a self-cert scheme means you don't have to notify building control before you start work.

Perhaps it's wrong to say you can self-cert with an EAS qualification. It would be more correct to say you can sign the required forms. Self-cert implies that you don't need to inform building control and get a completion certificate which you do if you only hold an EAS qualification. The only way to avoid building control is to join a CP scheme.

I certainly don't want to get prosecuted so I have checked and double checked where I stand and I even have it in writing from the head of my local building control so I'm confident that I'm working within the law.