Part P of the Building Regulations 2010 requires electrical installations to be designed and installed so that the people who operate, maintain or alter them are reasonably protected from fire or injury. It covers fixed low and extra-low voltage installations in or attached to a dwelling, in outbuildings and gardens supplied from a dwelling, in the common parts of blocks of flats (but not lift supplies), and in business premises on the same meter as a dwelling. All of that work must comply. Only some of it has to be notified.
Notifiable work in England
Since 6 April 2013, three kinds of work have been notifiable in England:
- Installing a new circuit.
- Replacing a consumer unit.
- Adding to or altering an existing circuit in a special location.
A special location is a room with a swimming pool or sauna heater, or the space around a bath or shower. That space runs from the floor to 2.25 m, or up to the shower head if it is fixed higher, and out 0.6 m from the edge of the bath or shower tray. Where there's no tray, it extends 1.2 m from the centre of the shower head.
Everything else is non-notifiable: extending or altering circuits anywhere other than a special location, and any replacement, repair or maintenance work, wherever it is. Approved Document P gives two useful examples. Fitting a built-in cooker isn't notifiable unless it needs a new circuit. Connecting an electric gate to an existing isolator isn't notifiable, but running a new circuit to that isolator is.
Notifiable work in Wales
Wales didn't adopt England's 2013 changes, so more work is notifiable. New circuits and consumer unit replacements are notifiable. So are additions and alterations to circuits in a kitchen, in a special location (somewhere with a bath or shower, a swimming or paddling pool, or a hot air sauna), or connected with a special installation. Special installations include outdoor lighting or power, electric floor or ceiling heating, generators such as solar PV, and extra-low voltage lighting that isn't a pre-assembled CE-marked set. A kitchen is a room, or part of one, with a sink and food preparation facilities.
Minor work that isn't notifiable in Wales includes replacing accessories without new fixed cable, replacing a damaged single-circuit cable on the same route with the same current-carrying capacity, installing or upgrading bonding, and adding lights, sockets or fused spurs to an existing circuit, as long as the work isn't in a kitchen or special location and doesn't involve a special installation.
| Job | England | Wales |
|---|---|---|
| New circuit, for example for a shower or cooker | Notifiable | Notifiable |
| Replace a consumer unit | Notifiable | Notifiable |
| Alter a circuit within 0.6 m of a bath or shower tray | Notifiable | Notifiable |
| Add a socket to a kitchen ring | Not notifiable | Notifiable |
| Fit a socket on an outside wall, off an existing circuit | Not notifiable | Notifiable |
| Add a light to a bedroom lighting circuit | Not notifiable | Not notifiable |
| Replace a light fitting or accessory | Not notifiable | Not notifiable |
Adding to an older installation
When you extend or alter an installation, only the new work has to meet current standards. Approved Document P says there's no duty to upgrade the rest unless the new work would make the existing installation less safe, or the existing installation's condition means the new work couldn't operate safely. Before adding load, check that the rating and condition of the existing equipment, including the distributor's, can carry it, and that protective measures, earthing and bonding are adequate.
How to notify
If you're registered with a scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, you self-certify. Within 30 days of finishing, the occupier must get a Building Regulations compliance certificate and building control must be told. You or your scheme can do both.
Appoint a registered third-party certifier before you start and tell them within 7 days of finishing. If they're satisfied, they give the occupier a certificate and notify building control within 30 days of your notice.
Not registered? Tell building control before work starts. With the council that means a building notice or a full plans application, and under a building notice you can start two days after submitting it.
If an emergency repair can't wait and you aren't self-certifying, the regulations let you give a building notice as soon as reasonably practicable after starting.
Building control can take your BS 7671 certificate and qualifications into account when deciding how much to inspect. When it is satisfied, the occupier gets a completion certificate from the local authority, or a final certificate from a private registered building control approver.
What the customer receives
- The BS 7671 certificate, given to whoever ordered the work. That's an Electrical Installation Certificate for new circuits and consumer unit replacements, or a Minor Works certificate for additions and alterations that don't include a new circuit.
- Proof of Building Regulations compliance for notifiable work: a compliance certificate under a scheme or third-party certifier, or a completion or final certificate from building control. It normally goes to the occupier. For rented property it can go to whoever ordered the work, with a copy to the occupier.
Non-notifiable work should still be designed, installed, inspected, tested and certificated to BS 7671. GOV.UK warns that the person doing non-compliant work could be prosecuted and fined, that building control could make the owner pay to put faulty work right, and that owners without the certificates may lack the evidence of compliance they need when selling.