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Some works can be conducted by competent amateurs without the need for subsequent testing and certification, Some works can be tested and self-certificated by appropriately qualified professionals, or will need to be tested and certificated by an appropriate third party, such as may be appointed by building control. Unfortunately, in among this array of possibilities there are people claiming to be competent, who then do things wrong. To them and others, such work may seem to be OK without proper inspection, but, lurking within may be potential fire, electrical shock or later systems failure hazards, because things are not quite right. The key is to use appropriately 'competent' persons.
Finding competent persons
For all but the competent amateur, it pays to employ a registered competent electrician, who knows how to do both the job at hand and, as part of this, get the necessary paperwork in order, to certify that, not only does the electrical installation work, it does so safely and reliably. There are many different competent electrician schemes and you will have to review their relative merits (including which have good electricians available at the right price and time) of each, to find one or more electricians to quote for your job. Naturally, if you can add one or more trusted personal recommendations to their qualified status, this can deliver even more peace of mind.
Competent Persons Register (CPR)
Alternatively, if you already have an electrician (or any other trade requiring an official recognition of competency) in mind, you can check to see if they are registered on this database. You can also search by postcode and trade to find appropriately registered tradesmen, bypassing the need to check up all the independent schemes. The same website also presents a couple of short informative leaflets to download.
Yet more registers! (Worth being aware of, but the CPR, above is a useful 'quick fix')
However, it is not quite as easy as that! As of June 2014 there are 22 competent persons’ schemes, approved by the Department for Communities and Local Government, each covering one or more trades, and many overlap with each other. To help market their services there is then another layer of ‘registers’ that such trades-people or their businesses can sign up with (presumably in return for a subscriptions). Some of these are listed here (in no particular order)
The Electrical Safety register
The Electrical Safety Register is your one-stop shop for finding a local registered electrician. It is the largest database of registered electricians in the UK and contains details for 34,000 registered electricians who carry out domestic, industrial and commercial electrical work.National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT)
NAPIT provide a simple, fast search service so that you can find a tradesperson in your area that you know you can rely on. You can also use our Jargon Buster to ensure you understand the terminology used by NAPIT and our registered installers.The NICEIC - http://www.niceic.com/
NAPIT registered installers work under a Government-approved Competent Person Scheme (CPS) to notify any electrical, plumbing, heating or ventilation works undertaken on your home to your Local Authority Building Control, in accordance with Building Regulations.
NICEIC is the UK’s leading voluntary regulatory body for the electrical contracting industry. It has been assessing the electrical competence of electricians for over fifty years and currently maintains a roll of over 26,000 registered contractors.In addition, there is now yet another layer of ‘service’ through which some or all (subject to the various subscription terms which will inevitably add another overhead cost, in addition to ongoing training and certification, liability insurance and so on, thus pushing up their cost of business) market themselves. These are the consumer review sites. Three examples (of many) picked up from a quick Google search, in no particular order and no endorsement are:
Choosing an NICEIC registered electrician is a householder’s best way to ensure a safe job. Electricians registered with NICEIC are assessed on a regular basis to ensure high standards and their work is checked against the IEE Wiring Regulations BS 7671 as well as other standards.
Notes for serious amateurs
If you are a serious amateur, whilst this will be far from everything you will have to research prior to commencing an electrical DIY project, as of June 2014, part P of the 2010 building regulations, ‘Design and installation of electrical installations’ can be found here.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_AD_P_2013.pdf
A closing note on work by tradesmen: based on personal experience.
Whenever you have ANY tradesman or engineer working in your house, keep an eye on what they do. Around a year ago, National Grid changed the gas pipe from the street to our in-house gas meter, by cutting out the iron pipe that had served the house for decades and swapping it with a plastic one. When I saw the iron pipe they were about to discard, I noticed it had a thick earthing strap and about 50cm of very thick earth wire still connected to it. Then when I looked in my meter cupboard I noticed the remains of this earth wire just hanging loose. Luckily I was able to acquire another earthing strap and connect the end to the steel pipe that had connected the old pipe to the meter, so as to re-establish the same earth-circuit (across to the copper cold water pipe) but it got me wondering how many other people have had their domestic earth circuits compromised in this way. Another aspect to this, especially for older houses, is that their earths often relied upon connections to metal water and gas pipes to establish good ‘grounds’. What is happening now that these pipes age being exchanged for plastic?
Ultimately, whilst there are many good, skilled, hardworking trades-people, there is also a sizable minority that can bring with them one of more problems, including poor work, over-charging and dishonesty, as a result of a mix of factors including sometimes being pushed into such actions by rogue employers. This is where consumer safety meets consumer awareness and rights: subjects beyond the scope of this site and more appropriate for Citizens Advice, Trading Standards (This link is to the government's look-up facility) and other advice sources, such as Moneywise. This page is in perpetual published-draft mode and in due course, is likely to be updated.
End (of this post which may be amended and welcomes suggestions for improvement)
