Part P certificate and kitchen appliance installation

caroharo

We are having a new kitchen installed by a small, well respected local kitchen company which has everything to lose if he has poor reviews.  The current double oven will be kept but we will have a new hob.  Both appliances will be in the same position as they are at present.  The company owner has included in his quotation installation costs of over £200 each for the hob and the oven, including Part P certificate, and £50 for the Part P certificate for the ring main.  When we asked him about this, he said that a recent change in building regulations meant that when a kitchen was completely stripped out and replaced, appliance cabling had to be fully checked for safety compliance (ours is 30 years old) and brought up to date even if the appliances were to be placed back in the same position.  He said that this only applied when a whole new kitchen was being replaced but not in the case of new appliances being installed in an established kitchen.  I don't think he's trying it on but find it very surprising if we have to pay over £400 for putting appliances, new or otherwise, back in the same place as before - can this be correct?  He said the new legislation stemmed back to a case where an MP's daughter died after an electrician fitting incident.

FreeBear

caroharo said:  He said the new legislation stemmed back to a case where an MP's daughter died after an electrician fitting incident.

Not true.

Part P amendment went through the parliamentary process in July 2004 - The consultation and drafting had kicked off two years previously.

Mary Wherry died on July 32st 2004, so the legislation was not introduced in a knee jerk reaction to her death. I'm also not aware of any requirement to do full safety checks when doing a full kitchen refit. Although... It is good practice to do so, and would be needed if any of the circuits are modified.

£400 does sound well steep for fitting a hob+oven (assuming they are both on the same circuit) and only £50 for work to the ring main.