Welcome to the forum.
Part P 'qualifications' are something of an oddity as they simply provide knowledge about that part of the building regulations, but not any electrical training. Initially they would have been intended for electricians who needed to bring themselves up to date with building regs, but seem to have lingered as a money making scheme for England and Wales.
18th edition course is again a means for electricians to update knowledge in line with changes to the wiring regulations, but provides no training outside of those changes.
The best way to prove competency would be c&g 2365 or it's EAL equivalent, gain NVQ level 3 and complete AM2 at a minimum as this route would provide evidence of competency to schemes such as NICEIC or NAPIT who allow members to self verify work. There may be ways of speeding up entry to these schemes, but I would advise getting in contact with them and asking what they require as they've tightened up considerably on this of late.
Think of it in terms of gas safe and ask yourself if you'd consider it appropriate to have people become gas safe registered without proving any underpinning knowledge of plumbing or gas heating systems?
The Part P "qualification" was an attempt to plug a hole where none electrical contractors had a small component of their work that was electrical.
This would lead to one of three options;-
1, The company would employ an electrician. This proves problematic as there is often not enough electrical work and the spark ends up being a temporary electrician and majority labourer. Typically, and understandably, the spark didn't stick it out.
2, You sub out the electrical work, either expensive or unreliable as most sparks aren't interested in small jobs. It can also be hard to manage as, if work overruns, the spark may not be available when required.
3, What became the most common choice, they winged it. "Is only a few wires, how hard can it be". Quite often this would lead to functioning installations that may be funementally unsafe.
The, well meaning, intent of Part P was to bring those that chose option 3 up to a standard that could recognise a safe and compliant installation, if not bring it into compliance, before completing their work to a safe and compliant level.
Many a company went down this route and it worked well, within the extent of the scheme.
Where it went wrong was companies and individuals were using Part P as a route into trading solely in complex electrical work without any further training and assessment. This is what narks traditional route Electricians, people with a five week course masquerading as "electricians".
The five week courses did offer skills training, albeit basic, along with Inspection and Teating to allow the successful candidate to sign off their work.
I think the Part P scheme, if still in operation, would be Ideal for the OP.
I think what has been cracked down on, and rightly so, is the Part P qualified achieving "Approved Contractor" status without undergoing further training and assessment.
