Part P Building Regulations: Electrical Work in Dwellings

Part P of the Building Regulations (England) sets requirements for the design, installation, inspection, and testing of electrical installations in dwellings. It came into force in January 2005 following a series of house fires and electrocutions caused by unsafe DIY electrical work.

Part P is implemented through Approved Document P, which was revised in 2013 to reduce the scope of notifiable work. The document requires that all electrical work in dwellings is designed and installed to comply with BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations). For certain types of higher-risk work — defined as notifiable work — the installation must either be self-certified by a registered competent person or notified to building control before work commences.

Part P applies to England only. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own separate building regulations: Wales has its own Approved Documents published by Welsh Ministers, Scotland uses Technical Standards and Handbooks, and Northern Ireland has its own Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order. Electricians working outside England should consult the relevant devolved authority for the applicable notification and self-certification requirements.

For electricians, understanding Part P is essential. Failure to self-certify or notify building control for notifiable work exposes the homeowner to enforcement action and property sale problems, and damages the electrician's professional reputation.

Approved Document P defines notifiable work as work that requires either self-certification by a competent person scheme member or prior notification to building control. The following types of work in dwellings are notifiable:

The key principle is that notifiable work involves higher risk — either because it creates new circuits that could be overloaded, or because it is in a location where the consequences of an electrical fault are particularly serious (water present, escape route, etc.).

Not all domestic electrical work requires notification. Non-notifiable work can be carried out without building control involvement, provided it complies with BS 7671. Common examples of non-notifiable work include:

Even for non-notifiable work, all electrical installations in dwellings must comply with BS 7671. The absence of a notification requirement does not mean the work is exempt from technical standards. A Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate should still be issued for any work that adds to or alters an existing circuit, to provide the homeowner with a record of what was done and to protect the electrician against future liability.

The most efficient route to Part P compliance for working electricians is membership of an approved competent person scheme. Registered scheme members can carry out notifiable work and self-certify it — issuing the homeowner with a certificate and notifying the local authority automatically, without building control involvement.

Scheme membership involves an assessment of the electrician's technical competence (including a site visit and inspection of previous work), annual registration fees, and compliance with the scheme's audit and complaint procedures. Annual fees range from approximately £200 to £600 depending on the scheme and the number of installers registered. For electricians who carry out regular notifiable domestic work, scheme membership pays for itself quickly in saved building control fees and administrative time.

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If the electrician is not registered with a competent person scheme, the homeowner must notify building control before notifiable work commences. There are two routes:

For most domestic electrical jobs, the building notice route is used where the electrician is not scheme-registered. However, the practical reality is that scheme registration is almost always cheaper and faster than using building control. A building notice fee of £200 to £400 per job quickly exceeds a year's scheme membership fee for any electrician carrying out regular domestic work.

Failure to comply with Part P is a breach of the Building Regulations. The consequences can be serious for both the homeowner and the electrician:

The time limit for enforcement action by the local authority is 12 months from the date of completion of the work. However, the property sale consequences can arise at any time, regardless of how long ago the work was done.

Part P compliance is most visibly important when a homeowner sells their property. Conveyancing solicitors for the buyer will ask the seller to declare all electrical work carried out since the property was purchased, and to provide certificates demonstrating Building Regulations compliance for any notifiable work.

If the seller cannot produce the relevant certificates, the buyer's solicitor may require an indemnity insurance policy to be purchased, which protects the buyer if the local authority takes enforcement action. Indemnity policies can cost £100 to £500 per claim and are not a substitute for proper certification — they simply provide financial protection. Some buyers refuse to accept indemnity insurance and require the work to be properly inspected and certified before exchange of contracts.

For electricians, this creates both a risk and an opportunity. Any homeowner who has had notifiable work done without certification faces a problem when they sell. This generates demand for retrospective inspection and EICRs. However, electricians who fail to certify their own work may find themselves called back to rectify the situation at their own expense.

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For a working electrician, Part P comes down to three practical questions on every domestic job: Is this work notifiable? Am I registered to self-certify? Have I issued the correct certificate?