Part P

[DurhamSparky]

Just to sum it up


Part P is a building Regulation that is statutory and which must be followed when carrying out electrical work in domestic property.

Part P is NOT a qualification and any body going around saying they are Part P qualified and have a certificate are talking Bull....!! You DO NOT need to do a 2 week VRQ course
Electrical Course | Part P Electricial Course like this one with a training scheme to register as a Competent Person.

YOU NEED TO BE COMPETENT....!! this can be achieved by undertaking formal Electrical Quals at a college or by a training provider...!!

You do however need to know about the building Regs and Part P....!! you can download Approved Document P from the planning portal website.

The following schemes are the most popular with domestic sparks. Elecsa, Niceic and Napit. Upon registration with them you will be required to conduct a formal technical site assessment that will involve you changing or modifying the electrical set up drastically (Rewire/ Cu Change)

If you pass the assessment you are then freely allowed to carry out work in areas designated by building control that fall under the Part P umbrella http://www.partp.co.uk/downloads/public/CLGbuildingworkleaflet.pdf and any work that you carry out can be notified and signed off through them (the schemes) at a small cost (£2-4) and they will inform LABC for you.

If you decide not to register with a Part P scheme. be preared that notification of work to LABC can cost hundreds of pounds and drastically increase your price. They will also expect you to still carry out the tests and paperwork before they arrive to SIGN IT OFF


Recommended courses to do are:

A formal Technical Certificate that is achieved at Level 3 on the NQF (National Qualification Framework) i.e

C&G 2330 or BTEC Advanced/National Diploma.... This gives you the Underpinning Knowledge to build on. (achieved via college or distance learning 18months - 24months is time scale)

You will also Need 17th Edition Wiring Regulations C&G 2382 (if you dont have this you wont get any where in the trade.)

NVQ 3 2356 (its a Craft Certificate that although not needed is very desirable and normally achieved when doing an Apprenticeship but now freely available to "Bolt on" to your current Qualifications via distant learning.

C&G 2391 the ultimate qualification in the electrical world..! Inspection and Testing only to be achieved with considerable site and technical knowledge, closed book exam with a 30-40% pass rate.

C&G 2392 (lesser qualification of the 2391 and aimed at new sparks with little knowledge of inspection and testing, normally used as a starter course to grasp the fundamentals of what's required)

Signing off your work..!!!

you DO NOT need 2391 to sign of your work but you will be expected to have knowledge of inspection and testing to an achievable standard required to carry out and fill in the test results.
You also do not Need 2391 to carry out PIR's but should any thing happen and you go to court the 2391 certificate is your lifeline to prove competence in the field.



hope this helps...

comments and alterations welcome

 

[Xtrojans]

hello all, quick thought on part p.
its a good growing thing and slowly embeding in our electrical way of life.
its costing me more in money and time and so called sparks who are not compling are genrally under cutting.
ive been very cheap and fair.

so as long as we try our best as proffessionals, we may lead part p for authorities to up hold and enforce.

 

[DurhamSparky]

doubt it..!

 

[Xtrojans]

lets start now, list these companies that do this practice on this forum.
Be fair and honest also the guys who don't comply with part p.
Check on companies house for all those dodgy builders you've had to go and sort out unregestered sparks.

 

[Phil]

lets start now, list these companies that do this practice on this forum.
Be fair and honest also the guys who don't comply with part p.
Check on companies house for all those dodgy builders you've had to go and sort out unregestered sparks.

lets Not name companies on an open forum.

 

[DurhamSparky]

companies house only list LTD companies!!!

 

[tazmantic]

Hi joined today and was going to ask about what courses I needed to do work on my own house but think Ill just read more tomorrow for the fear of being shot down in flames..... :0(

 

[HEC]

Hi Don't be frightened to ask questions, no matter how trivial they are. Every one has been in this position before, just some of us can't remember.

Re your question. Unless you are Part P registered you can only do certain things to your electrical system at home. They mainly come under Non-notifiable jobs, which to be frank is quite little.
You can relace your socket facias with like for like or you can replace your lights. you cannot alter or add a circuit.

You will find that there will be people on here that will shoot this reply down but in essence, what I have said is right.

If you have the competance you can do any job you wish as long as if its notifiable you pay your planning office and notify the job. they will inspect your certificate and test readings.

Hec

 

[electromonkey]

Great post DurhamSparky.

Something I have noticed here reading a load of these posts is that there is an assumption that because somebody has passed the required examinations and have been signed off by one of our assessment bodies (NICEIC, NAPIT etc) that they are able to get out there and start signing off work left right and centre.
Legally they can of course but there is a big difference between understanding how an electrical installation works and understanding building regs such as Part P and actually going in to people's homes and carrying out work. If you were to take a consumer unit change as an example, sometimes they are a nice straight forward simple jobs, other times they are a complete nightmare and require skill, knowledge, understanding but probably most of all, experience.
I can't help think that if someone isn't fully versed in the understanding of Part P, Certification and Notification then you fall short of what is required at dare I say it, a basic level and should in no way even attempt to carry out electrical work.

This isn't a personal attack on anyone here. I think it is a failure of the system more than anything.

My advice to anyone who has picked up qualifications but has had very little hands on work is to go and get yourself some experience first. You may feel you are getting under paid but I can assure you, it is a case of the short term loss for the long term gain.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Hi Don't be frightened to ask questions, no matter how trivial they are. Every one has been in this position before, just some of us can't remember.

Re your question. Unless you are Part P registered you can only do certain things to your electrical system at home. They mainly come under Non-notifiable jobs, which to be frank is quite little.
You can relace your socket facias with like for like or you can replace your lights. you cannot alter or add a circuit.

You will find that there will be people on here that will shoot this reply down but in essence, what I have said is right.

If you have the competance you can do any job you wish as long as if its notifiable you pay your planning office and notify the job. they will inspect your certificate and test readings.

Hec

I'm afraid what you have said is not right....Anyone can add to or alter an existing circuit within their home as long as it does not involve kitchens and bathrooms,or external wiring not fixed to the external fabric of the building.
In essence anyone can add sockets/lights to an existing circuit in their lounge,bedrooms,hallway,outside as long as attatched to the building etc ,with no requirements under part P.

Building Regulations - Part P FAQs - IET Electrical

 

[tazmantic]

Hi HEC thanks for the reply, so heres how I stand as Ive put in my newbe post Ive been a maintenance sparky for the last 20 years (including my 4 year apprenticeship) but this has mainly been in factories machine fault finding, single and 3 phase systems and instalations but Ive never done domestic apart from the odd socket change etc for family, but the time has come that Id like to get up to speed with the latest regs to do with houses etc. This is not so I can rush into house bashing cus Ill be the first to admit I have not got the experience I just want to further my knowledge and get some more qualifications and then go from there. I recently did a PAT testing course (paid for by me as company is too tight lol) and that was more for personal gain etc..


So thats it really just wonder what courses would be best? Im going to do the 17th for sure (my cost again) and just wondered if it was worth doing inspection and testing and also a part P course, I have read at the start of this post about part P certificates etc but as Im not sure of the latest building regs (and I dont mind admitting that) would it be worth doing, my original plan was to do a few courses, get some certificates and do work on my own house maybe even friends and do all the tests my self not needing to contact building regs but have since found out you need to join a competent person scheme and as Im not planning on running my own business am not planning on doing that..........

So any feedback would be good..........Thanks

 

[electromonkey]

Alright Tanzmantic, how's it going,

Considering your background, I'd give one of the registration bodies a call. You can speak to someone in relation to what qualifications you already have and they can advise you of any additional ones you may need before they agree to accept your membership application.
The NICEIC, NAPIT and ELECSA all run courses themselves so they may be able to help you in that department too.

 

[lauriehurman]

Great post DurhamSparky.electrical work.

My advice to anyone who has picked up qualifications but has had very little hands on work is to go and get yourself some experience first.

But can't you see what a nonsense that is?
I'm not making a personal attack either but saying don't gain experience until you've got experience is just not very sensible.
Sorry

 

[electromonkey]

Great post DurhamSparky.electrical work.

My advice to anyone who has picked up qualifications but has had very little hands on work is to go and get yourself some experience first.

But can't you see what a nonsense that is?
I'm not making a personal attack either but saying don't gain experience until you've got experience is just not very sensible.
Sorry

I think you have misinterpreted what I have said. I was trying to point out to that doing a handful of short intensive courses does not provide you with much needed experience. It gives you the qualifications and you come away from them with technical understanding but doesn't give you the grounding required in the practical sense. Qualification does not equal experience.

 

[tazmantic]

Hi electromonkey thanks for the reply and sounds like a good idea Ill have to give them a ring see what they say and as for experance your totally right only thing with that is (and its the boat I fear I will be in shortly) when it comes to applying for jobs either for personal reasons or redundancy most employers look at the bits of paper you have not the years you have been doing it.........Im sure if I applied for a job as well as some young guy with every piece of paper (but maybe no hands on experance) they would be more interested in him...........we recently had this exact situation where I work young guy with all the bits of paper but when it came to doing the job

I was lucky when I joined the guys in charge then looked further than paperwork but my problem now is as I can do the work the MDs dont want to send me on any courses as it costs money so thats why Im looking to do it at my own time and expense....sorry for the waffle lol

 

[lauriehurman]

<<<doing a handful of short intensive courses does not provide you with much needed experience. --- Qualification does not equal experience.

>>>>

Every body agrees with this. This is the point from which we all start. The question is - what to do about it?

How about we buddy up? Each person with the experience but without the Quals teams up with the person with the pieces of paper but no experience.
A year or two of self employed domestic work should give each one the chance to get their missing experience/qualifications.
I'd say a forum like this would be the perfect place to set something like that up.

Laurie