Why Should You Choose a Qualified and ‘Part P’ Approved Electrician to Work on Your Home?

So, why should you choose a qualified and approved Electrician to work on your home in the UK?
It’s very important to remember that all electrical work must comply with British Standard 7671 for reasons of safety. Indeed, many jobs must now be notified to the Planning Authority’s Building Control Dept, to comply with what is known as ‘Part P’ of the Building Regulations to remain legal. It’s crucial that you employ an Electrician who is fully qualified to BS7671 and who’s work is regularly inspected by an independent body – to make sure they’re doing their job properly and ensure your safety. Not every Electrician you encounter will have taken the considerable time and invested the large sums to achieve this standard, but you really do have to ask yourself ‘Why not?. Electricity is inherently dangerous and should only ever be installed and maintained by people who are competent and who continually maintain their qualifications and insurance.
So, what is all this ‘Part P’ anyway?
The Building Regulations are divided into sections, which are lettered from ‘A’ to ‘P’ at the time of writing. Each section deals with an aspect of Building Work. For example ‘Part F’ deals with Ventilation, ‘Part B’ is Fire Safety and ‘P’ is Electrical Safety. If an Electrician is a member of a ‘Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme’, (just as Gas & Boiler Fitters are on the ‘Gas Safe Register’), he/she can handle all this automatically when they complete the work. They carry out the work in a compliant way and self-certify the job to Building Control. This process is straightforward and requires no input from, or further costs to, the customer. However, householders and unregistered Tradesmen must submit plans and an application fee to Building Control before work starts. This option is obviously both expensive and time consuming.
You might think this process can be skipped, as who will ever find out? Well, whilst ‘Part P’ hasn’t been very well advertised up to now, it is becoming so and likely to gather pace. Work can come to the attention of Building Control in lots of ways, who can then check the planning status of that work. It is an offence to fail to comply and pleading ignorance is no defence. Ultimately, they can demand the work is demolished! Also when your property changes hands, the subject is increasingly likely to come up during searches & enquiries. So, whilst you may not agree with it, it needs to be done and the best way to do it is through an Electrician who is a member of such a ‘Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme’.
If you choose a member of both NAPIT and TrustMark, it means they’re fully authorised to certify work to all UK Local Authorities, whenever required on your behalf. This saves you all the time, expense and paperwork required submitting plans, then potentially awaiting a visit from, your local Building Control Dept. It also means you get the correct, legal certificates. If you decide to sell your home, you may be asked for these as proof that work was properly completed. This should be done by your contractor as part of their professional service at NO ADDITIONAL COST to you. This is only possible with companies who members of bodies such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA. An unregistered Tradesman will not be able to do this.
Any good tradesman will value their reputation What Is A Feeder In Electrical and will take pride in their work.
To demonstrate this, they will normally enrol in additional Government assurance schemes such as TrustMark and Electric Safe to demonstrate their competence even further. Good tradesmen are always focussed on customer satisfaction and the highest quality of workmanship.
Finally!
Make sure that anyone you let into your home shows you some photo-id identification and be prepared to contact the phone number displayed Texas Electrical License Lookup for further proof. The first thing they ought to do upon meeting a new customer is introduce themselves and provide that photo-id.
Remember – All work should be Guaranteed and fully Insured!