Electrical Information
The Building Regulations set out overall criteria and requirements to ensure electrical safety. Approved Document P provides further practical guidance for undertaking this type of work. You should bear in mind that any electrical work you carry out within your home, garden, garage shed and other storage buildings may need to comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations. If you are unsure about whether you are required to comply you may wish to contact your local authorities building regulations department.
All electrical work should follow the safety standards in BS 7671 (the ‘wiring regulations’) which can be found on the British Standards Institute (BSI) website.
These rules have been introduced to help reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by faulty installations.
The Building Regulations only set standards for electrical installation work in relation to dwellings (houses, flats etc). If the work is carried out in industrial or commercial buildings it is covered by the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for making sure that electrical installation work in these kinds of buildings is safe and if you have any queries about work in these buildings you should contact HSE.
The Building Regulations do not restrict who may carry out electrical installation work. If you want to do the work yourself you should make sure that you know what you need to do before starting any works. There are a number of reputable guides that you can use to help you.
The Building Regulations do not set standards for the safety of electrical appliances but they do require that fixed connections of appliances are safe.
Local Authority Building Control
You should make a Building Regulations application to Building Control if the electrician you employ to carry out the works is not registered as a competent person under the schemes mentioned below or if you do the work yourself. You should contact your local authority building control department before you start the work. They will explain the requisite procedures to you.
It is also best to discuss with Building Control how they wish to inspect and check the works you are carrying out.
Approved inspector building control
An approved inspector is a body which carries out the same functions as local authority building control. If you use an approved inspector they will explain to you how the approved inspector system works. If at the end of the work the approved inspector is satisfied that the work is safe, you will be given a copy of the final notice
Competent Person Schemes
In relation to electrical safety this means that an electrician who is registered by an organisation authorised by the Secretary of State and is able to certify the work carried out is safe, without you having to notify Building Control. Once works are complete the electrician will arrange for you to receive a building regulations compliance certificate within 30 days of the completion of the work. Your local authority will then also be notified about the work by the electrician.
The competent person should also provide you with a completed Electrical Installation Certificate which shows that the work was tested for safety.
It is advisable to ask the electrician to provide information about which scheme they belong to and their membership number. You will then be able check with the organisation to make sure they are registered. Listed below are the organisations which run the competent person schemes for electrical installation work:
Related links:
Rules for electrical safety in the home ( PDF 334 kb)The Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations (CLG)