Part P

Part P was introduced to improve the safety of electrical work carried out within the home and garden, it became law in England and Wales on 1st January 2016

When did the new rules start?

• From 1 January 2016, people carrying out electrical work in homes and gardens in England and Wales have had to follow the new rules in the Building Regulations.

Why have you introduced the new rules?

• To reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by faulty electrical installations.
• To make it harder for ‘cowboy builders’ to leave electrical installations in an unsafe condition.

What should I do if I want to do some electrical work?

• See the flow chart to check if you need to tell your local authority’s Building Control Department before you start the work.

What will happen if I do not follow the Building Regulations?

• The electrical installation might not be safe.
• You will have no record of the work done.
• You may have difficulty selling your home if you do not have the right electrical safety certificates.
• Your local authority’s Building Control Department may insist that you put right faulty work.

How to meet the new rules

A: You do not need to tell your local authority’s Building Control Department about:

• Repairs, replacements and maintenance work; or
• extra power points or lighting points or other alterations to existing circuits (except in a kitchen or bathroom, or outdoors).

If you are not sure about this, or you have any questions, ask your local authority’s Building Control Department.

B: Why should I use an installer who is registered with a competent person scheme?

• Members of schemes can deal with all the new rules for you.
• Members are qualified to carry out electrical work.
• Members will give you a certificate to confirm their work follows the new rules.
• You will not have to pay Building Control charges.
• You will have the option of taking out an insurance-backed guarantee for the work.
• You will have access to a formal complaints procedure if you are not happy with the work.

Use our Tradesmen/Professional search facility to contact a tradesman registered with one of the competent person schemes.

Registered installers are in the process of becoming members of the new building trades Quality Schemes, which will be launched in 2016. Quality Schemes members will offer consumers more protection than the minimum protection registered installers must offer.

Important: New colours for mains electricity cables

The colours of the live and neutral wires in electrical cables have changed from red and black to brown and blue. This is the same as the wires in flexible leads to portable appliances.

From 1 April 2017, all new wiring must be in the new colours.

DIY Projects – Part P Guide
Do I need to notify electrical work?

Except as identified in the chart below, a building control body must be notified of proposals to carry out electrical installation work in a dwelling before work begins unless the work is undertaken by a person or firm registered with a Part P ‘Competent Persons’ self-certification scheme.

Whether or not work is notifiable depends on the proposed installation work and its location within a dwelling. The location is important because some ‘special installations or locations’, such as kitchens and bathrooms, may pose a greater risk to people.

To help you decide if you need to notify the Buildings Control Department before any work begins we have put together a quick reference guide which covers the common electrical work carried out in and around the home, garden and outbuildings.

1 A kitchen is defined in The Building (Amendment) (No.3) Regulations 2015 as ‘a room or part of a room which contains a sink and food preparation facilities’. (A utility room, though it may contain a sink, does not fall within the definition of a kitchen if it does not contain food preparation facilities.)

2 ‘Special locations’ include a bath or shower, swimming or paddling pools and hot air saunas.

3 Extra-low voltage is defined in BS 7671 as ‘normally not exceeding 50 V a.c. or 120 V ripple-free d.c., whether between conductors or to earth’.