Part P: Too little too late - May's Speakers' Corner

Part P: Too little too late

I fear it is too little too late regarding Part P. Let's face it, Part P was not introduced as a method of obtaining “quick fire” or a short cut to qualifications to become an electrician. It was introduced as a way of monitoring what goes on electrically in a domestic property.

Firstly, why is it only domestic property that commands this type of scrutiny and monitoring?

Surely all electrical installations need to be of the same standard, regardless.
Admittedly, your avid domestic DIY-er would be more likely to have a go at installing a new socket or minor electrical work, and believe me I've seen some of it and it would make you cry, but, I’ve also seen some factory maintenance sparks work to and it leaves a lot to be desired!   

I could set up on my own as an electrician tomorrow and carry out work in a variety of premises, factories, commercial, shops, etc and not be required to be involved with any of the governing bodies or notify the work.

Why should kitchen fitters, bathroom fitters etc be able to obtain an electrical qualification in weeks when all us time served sparks take years and gain valuable site experience year on year?

Do these trades update themselves with the current regulations as we have with all our electricians now 17th edition qualified, which I stress costs money!

As soon as I carry out work in a domestic property that comes under the realm of notification (i.e. “Part P”) I need to be a qualified member of one of the governing bodies, why?

Why should this work be classed as any different as any other?

The grey area is, do we don’t we?

We could all ignore it and rely on the local building control to check and certify the work, passing this cost onto the client, in a way a far better method as you have an independent non biased person doing the checking.

Where it all falls down is that the local building control does not have enough qualified people to do this checking.

The Government would have been better off letting each council set up their own department with qualified personnel in place to carry out the checking, or assist contractors with the costs of becoming registered with the likes of a trade association, therefore ensuring all contractors are under the realm of some governing body.

As a company we have 5 apprentices, two fourth year and three second year. It's not cheap employing these lads especially during their first years as they are only useful as a pair of hands, but if we didn’t where is the next generation of good electricians going to come from? This is where the Government needs to assist companies in the training so we can continue to employ apprentices as the norm and keep the skilled trades alive.

I think now Part P has been in place for a few years, it needs reviewing with Government, local councils and contractors to see where the pit falls are and we should all throw ideas in the hat to try and improve areas where it's failing.
 

Best Regards,

Steve.