Building control question

john_howard_fisher

Hi all

if i do work, eg electrical how can anyone prove it was not there before i bought the house. lets say i did work and wanted to sell in many years time, could I say it was done when I moved in? Is there a special record for these type of things?

thanks

planemad

*I'm a qualified electrician*

I could tell a DIY job normally but this is years of experience.

Some components are date stamped as is some cable but proving is very hard.

Electrical work is covered under Part P of the building regulations.
No one to this day has been prosecuted for working in their own house.

But I will say that you need to air on the side of extreme caution as if anyone could do it competently I have wasted 5 years of my life doing an apprenticeship when I left school and have the on going cost of training to the latest editions of the wiring regulation and having to pay to be able to self certificate my work under the part P reg.

I have to go to the expense of all this and home-owners who put their life and other at risk with dodgy installs get away with it.

I quote customers for a job, which will be a fair job, 100% safe and compliant with the wiring regs I will respect their home and give them the correct certificates to be able to sell their house and meet the law.
I run a van that I have to fuel and insure, I have to pay insurance for my trade and I say £200 please for that board change.

They say thats too much as the bloke up the road who know a bit bout electrics can do it for £80.

Guess who they choose????!!! - the guy who will run 9.5kw showers with 4mm cable and who will generally put their lives at risk and what do the authoritys do about it? NAFF ALL.

BaileyB

Cable colours are different too, but there was a overlap when you could get the new colours before part p came in. Thats why the old colours go for silly money on ebay

martinthebandit

A very important and fundamental point to note is that DIY electrical work has not been outlawed. It has been brought within the remit of the Building Regulations and cannot be carried out as freely as it was before, and in many cases cannot be carried out without involving your local council, but you may still DIY.

taken from here http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/diy-electrical-work-and-the-law-t6296.html

Oh and ultimatehandyman is a very handy site if you do any DIY

planemad

martinthebandit wrote: »

A very important and fundamental point to note is that DIY electrical work has not been outlawed. It has been brought within the remit of the Building Regulations and cannot be carried out as freely as it was before, and in many cases cannot be carried out without involving your local council, but you may still DIY.

taken from here http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/diy-electrical-work-and-the-law-t6296.html

Oh and ultimatehandyman is a very handy site if you do any DIY

Totally correct - the problem is no one get prosecuted for doing it.

Also the building control notification and inspection costs are normally higher than getting a spark in the first place.
So people don't do either and do it themselves without the relevant certification and they just lie when selling their property.
This put lives at risk!!

john_howard_fisher

thanks for the replies. appreciate it.

baldelectrician

If somoene were to actually look it is quite easy to tell- cables and sockets have the date of manufacture stamped on them for years.

martinthebandit

planemad wrote: »

Totally correct - the problem is no one get prosecuted for doing it.

Also the building control notification and inspection costs are normally higher than getting a spark in the first place.
So people don't do either and do it themselves without the relevant certification and they just lie when selling their property.
This put lives at risk!!

which is why it was a crap new labour nanny law and should be repealed ASAP, and as for putting lives at risk, care to have a look at the stats for deaths caused by faulty electrics from before and after the law came in and put them up here?

planemad

martinthebandit wrote: »

which is why it was a crap new labour nanny law and should be repealed ASAP, and as for putting lives at risk, care to have a look at the stats for deaths caused by faulty electrics from before and after the law came in and put them up here?

How many DIYers would understand the rules and regulations set out in the IEE wiring regs for electricial installs.
Do the majority of DIYers own the £600 piece of test equipment that allows them to ensure that they have the right R1 + R2 Values that the supply will disconnect within the correct time to best possible save their life in the event of a serious fault.
Do they understand the ZS and ZE readings and how to obtain them to ensure that under fault condition the quickest path to earth is not through them.
Would they understand equipotential bonding of CPC conductors.
Do they understand the requirements of installing in special locations.

Can they actually sign a certificate to say that they are competent and that the work complies to BS7671?

Compliance to the IEE and the testing and inspection of an install is fundamental in ensuring that the install is safe - failure to follow the regulations in itself puts lives at risk as you do not understand or know what would happen under fault condition.

DVardysShadow

baldelectrician wrote: »

If somoene were to actually look it is quite easy to tell- cables and sockets have the date of manufacture stamped on them for years.

But so what. You are allowed to change components like for like and you are allowed to do your own work. So finding dates on components is far from conclusive of anything

1984ReturnsForReal_2

DVardysShadow wrote: »

But so what. You are allowed to change components like for like and you are allowed to do your own work. So finding dates on components is far from conclusive of anything

To right.

& also if I see clipped cables in a loft I pretty much think it must be DIY because most sparkies don't bother.