Firms urged to get ready for Part P

The Government has announced that from 1 January 2005 anyone carrying out electrical installation work in domestic premises must comply with a new Part P of the Building Regulations.

Electrical contractors will have the choice to become registered under a “competent person” scheme so that they can issue Building Regulations certificates of compliance, or otherwise notify local authority building control before any work commences, with the chance of an inspection as work progresses. Firms will need to balance the cost of becoming registered as a competent person against the costs associated with building control.

The Government’s Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has approved five competent persons assessment schemes. These are run by: BRE Certification (in association with the ECA and the IEE); BSI; ELECSA; NICEIC and Zurich Certification.

Welcoming the government’s announcement, ECA director David Pollock said: “The implementation of Part P will protect consumers from incompetent electrical installers. This is the culmination of a long and energetic lobby on the part of the Association and other organisations.”

The ECA/IEE/BRE Certification scheme is based on the Electrotechnical Assessment Scheme and will cost £540+vat. ECA members can take advantage of a special rate of £320+vat.

“The challenge now will be to process the many thousands of electrical firms who, it is anticipated, will want to become approved as competent persons in time for implementation of Part P at the start of 2005,” said Pollock, who warned electrical contractors to apply for competent person status sooner rather than later.

The NICEIC claims to have already received 7000 applications for Part P registration from firms on its Approved Contractor roll. There is no cost for this. It estimates that around 8000 firms on its roll carry out domestic work. New applicants for its Domestic Installer Scheme will be charged £325+vat.

BSI has launched a Kitemark scheme for electrical contractors which, as well as technical competence, will tackle quality management issues. While covering work in dwellings, the BSI scheme goes beyond Part P for those firms working in the commercial sector. “We have a different offering to the rest of the market and will be going deeper than some of the other schemes,” explained Tony Maskens, strategic business development manager at BSI Product Services. “The Kitemark is instantly recognised by consumers.”

ELECSA, a partnership between FENSA, which runs a scheme for glazing contractors, and the British Board of Agreement, is offering a £150 discount off its normal fee of £500+vat for applications received before 31 December 2004.

David Cowburn, director of Zurich Certification commented: “By giving the industry multiple routes to compliance with the new regulations, the Government has demonstrated its willingness to give electrical installers the choice and flexibility they have been crying out for.”