Electrical Regulations

How can you judge the work that is being done in your home is of a good standard if you are not an electrician? Before you hire an electrician, you should find out whether they are approved under “Part P” legislation. These requirements mean that anyone carrying out fixed electrical installations in England and Wales must comply with the national safety standard for them (BS:7671). A fixed installation is the term for wiring and appliances that are fixed to a building for example the sockets, switches, consumer units/fuse boxes, and ceiling fittings etc. Under the new regulations, electrical work must be “suitably designed, installed, inspected and tested so as to provide reasonable protection against them being the source of a fire or a cause of injury to persons”. This applies to almost all electrical installations in the home and garden. Part P means that the work is inspected regularly and must be found to meet high standards. It also means that electricians can self-certificate the standards of their own work. This leaves an official “paper -trail” which means that specific jobs can be traced directly to the electrician who did them.