# Why Bother With Part P



## chrisb271 (Jul 6, 2007)

i watched that too cornish,i got a bo!!ocking for shouting at the tv and telling him to get a proper JB on it :laughing: 

Their was a letter in the prof spark mag last month from a fly by night sparky who does moonlighting and charges people a whole lot less than us contract guys do,he says people are always asking him to do stuff and no certs provided.

What do we get from the ECA rep ? we get the typical mushroom management tactics we are used to (Mushroom management = keep everyone in the dark and give them a bit of sh!t now and then  )

" Part P was only introduced a short while ago,it takes time for the wheels of progress to turn " Like figure ! are they turning backwards ?

Its obvious that the part p thing is not policed very well if at all. 

It seems to me anyway.

Chris


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## sparkie (Apr 2, 2008)

We wonder why we bother sometimes, Most of our jobs are commercial, though we have a domestic rewire on the go at the moment.

Story that springs to mind is a property we condemned before christmas, owns a merc that she can't afford tyres for. 

We were so concerned we took photo's and left the installation labelled and turned off (she got well annoyed) Due to there being no covers on wylex boards/spiders nest of wires on the garage floor and rubber tails perished and bare. etc etc

Really really wish we could legally pull main fuse.

Being part P registered and being undercut by a handyman=call to building control:thumbsup:.


Icing on the cake, After being told that the builders were illegally wiring a house.
Brothers gf mother asks if we thought £700 for a consumer unit change was good price- after explaining that choosing not to use us because we're not a member of the masons, Our opinion was f*** off:jester:


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## frank (Feb 6, 2007)

It's that magic word. ELECTRICIAN, Like you Chris I read the PE Mag. Did you see the cover story for the lady 'electrician' that had passed Part P.
Questions I ask are

1. Was she an electrician as defined by JIB or other bodies?
2 Why does a Part P pass for a non electrician make one an electrician.

All of this is not what Part P was intended for. It is a means of regulating designated areas of domestic installations under the supervision of a suitably qualified person.

The EAW Act definition of 'qualified' determines the level at which one can work - not a Part P pass. I know blokes - thick as two short planks, having been on a Part P course funded by their employer, are now undertaking full domestic installations on the side. If only they knew what pitfalls are waiting around the corner should something go wrong.

To be generous it has to be said that domestic electrical work is not rocket science. But it has to be done correctly and safely. This can only be accomplished with training and time all of which one must be able to demonstrate in court. You can't do that after a 4 day course. Part P sends my head in a spin and just makes my blood boil. The more crap I see and hear of this the more despondent I get. When folks ask me to do domestic jobs for them, even friends and such - I just say, thanks but no thanks, not for a million,

Frank


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## chrisb271 (Jul 6, 2007)

So if you have worked in the electrical industry all your life,say 40 years for sake of argument,doing allsorts of jobs,wiring houses etc and your not with a registered body like the niceic it means that a four day course chap is technically in the eyes of part p is MORE QUALIFIED than the electrician is ??

ha ha stinks doesn't it  

if a house if wired properly then it never really needs rewiring again with the modern pvc we use now,wiring it properly needs experience,something you don't get with your four day courses.

Part p stinks !


Chris


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## cornishsparks (Oct 14, 2007)

If not informing building control of your intention to do the electrical work yourself and psaying the fees etc then surely the local authority in Dorset should be making enquries to what notification was issued in the house on Property ladder last night, suerly being filmed doing bad workmanship is liable to prosecution.


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## chrisb271 (Jul 6, 2007)

The Buildings Act 1984 ( set up by parliment ) is a statutory act so has to be followed also under the same umbrella is The Building Regulations of 2000 effectively a legal document,below this is Approved documents ( part P comes in here ) 

Approved Documents are issued by local government ( ODPM )and the CLG.

So Part P like Bs 7671 is ONLY GUIDANCE NOT Mandatory like the Electricity at Work Act or the Building Regulations 2000,breaking the last two Acts then you are breaking the law.

So taking into account that the Building control officer ( usually aged between 13 and 15yrs old ! ) can take court action against people that break GUIDANCE of Part P of the building regulations makes me worry  

My dentist said that his GUIDANCE would be to change my toothbrush every three months and not four like i have ! I am in trouble i think :laughing: 


Chris


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## sparkie (Apr 2, 2008)

last one we heard of was a developer who had to pay a fee to building control for them to check it (normalisation) and courts can charge upto £5000 per infringement.


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## chrisb271 (Jul 6, 2007)

Legally i can't see how they can enforce Part P

The document is only for guidance like Bs 7671, both can be interpreted in many ways.

So the courts can penalise you for NOT taking advise ( advise = guidance )

It all seems like some money making rackett , a job creation scheme to make lots of nice money.

Basically Part P = Bullsh!t

Chris


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## chrisb271 (Jul 6, 2007)

Going back to cornishs comment,the programme property ladder shouldn't show people doing their own electrical works if it is illegal.

Its a well known fact that very few people actually know Part P exists let alone is enforced by the courts,this is further backed up by the no brainers that come into wholesalers and ask for elctrical components like " that black wire thats quite tuff and you can bury it in the garden "

The government where supposed to do a major TV campaign to launch and imform the general public that Part p was in force and yet three years down the road and the number of joe public that actually knows has increased but only marginally.

It, like the government is a complete shamble but hey lets all bend over and take it up the tail end !! may as well,we get shafted by everyone else anyway  


Chris


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