NIC Certified Electician Vs Part P Electrician

ahfh1

Hi,

I've always read through these forums that all electrical work should be done by a Part P certified electrician.

However a builder I spoke to today said that he doesn't use Part P electricians because he uses an NIC certified electrician instead. Am I safe if i use a NIC guy, and will he still provide me with some sort of certification for my peace of mind?

Cheers

angelavdavis

NICEIC is just a certifying authority - of which there are a few. Part P qualified electricians mean that they have sat and passed the City and Guilds Part P qualification in the latest building regulations relating to electrical installations. I have done this, but I am not registered with a certifying authority as I am not an electrician by profession - just a householder who wanted to get more qualified so I felt more confident when dealing with electrics - financially its not worth my while becoming certified.

Being registered on a scheme such as NICEIC means that should notifiable work be carried out in your house, you, as a householder, do not have to register the work with Building regulations, the registering scheme do this on your behalf (well to be exact, the electrician would register the job with the scheme who in turn notify building regs).

As I am not registered with a certifying authority such as NICEIC, I have to either call in the Building Regulations to sign off the work at the first fix and second fix phase of the job, testing the circuits to prove they pass, and get the job signed off in this way or I have a certified electrician effectively signoff my work through a similar process. He would then register the work with the registering scheme as described above.

As well as NICEIC, there are other organisations such as ELECSA and NAPIT. People have their opinions over which is better. NICEIC is more well known on the whole but it doesn't necessarily make them the best. Always ensure you check someones registration. Using a registered electrician means that you have some come back should you not be provided with the certification for the work.

baldelectrician

The NICIEC don't write the regulations, they only think they do

There are plenty of schemes

You should use a competent person for the work, links below
In Scotland:
Individuals registered;
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/ListAC.asp
Companies
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/Sear...struction&ID=2
In England and Wales:
http://www.competentperson.co.uk

iamcornholio

If the works are controlled work under Part P, then the person doing them must be qualified (ie have been trained specifically) in the Part P and then he can self certify his work. Or if an non-Part P qualifed person does the work then the local council is the only body who an check their installation work.

You can find that very experienced and qualified electricians who have been in the trade for years, are suddenly not competent to do Part P work just because they have not paid a couple of £000 and done a few days on a course.

And even though Part P has now been in place for a few years, many electricians (and builders) don't actually know what it means, and who can do Part P work

So with regards to the OP's builder, then if he uses a NIC person not qualified to Part P, then the work will have to be checked by the council under either the application for the whole building work, or a separate application specifically for the Part P work.

waynehayes

Part P is part of the Building Regulations, not a qualification as such. There are many training providers who operate a 'Part P' course, but this is basically to learn how Part P affects the electrical industry. Passing one if these courses alone does not entitle anyone to self-certify their work. To do this, as already stated, they need to join a certified competent persons scheme: Napit, NICEIC etc. Indeed, many members of the various schemes have never done a 'Part P' course, nor do they need to as they have other qualifications.