Can I legally change a light fitting myself?

bflare

In the property I rent there are 2 wall lights fitted to one of the bedrooms. They are pretty outdated & I would like to change these for a pair of more modern ceramic uplighters. I am competent at DIY & minor electrical jobs. I understand that a legislation was brought in around 2005 called Part P for electrical safety. However, it appears that I should be ok to change an already existing light fitting myself without needing to hire a qualified electrician.


Can someone please confirm if this is correct?

Kiran

You don't own the property so the answer is, although not in contravention of part P the landlord probably won't allow it.

FreeBear

You do not need to be "qualified" to do any electrical work. The regulations say "a competent person", and anything more than a minor repair/replacement/addition requires building control approval. You could do a complete rewire of a house, and as long as it is signed off by BC, perfectly legal. This isn't to say that you should.. There is plenty that could go wrong, so if in doubt, a "competent person" should always be consulted.


The only advantage of having a "qualified" electrician to do the work is that they can test and self certify the installation.

Risteard

FreeBear wrote: »

they can test

Which is absolutely essential to ensure safety.

casper_g

Are you the tenant or the landlord?

Although a like-for-like swap of a wall light doesn't need building regulations sign-off, if you're the landlord you'll want to know (and be able to prove) that the electrics are safe, so you'd probably want an updated inspection report. The qualified person who does that for you might as well swap the lights too.

If you're the tenant, you should check the landlord is ok with the change. No landlord with any common sense will let a tenant with no evidence of competency work on the electrics!