The original Approved Document P Electrical Safety came into effect on 1 January 2005. Its purpose, as with all other Approved Documents was to provide practical guidance for some of the more common building situations.
Part P has changed
Part P of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations (England and Wales) has been amended in an attempt to provide greater clarity of the requirement and to make enforcement more proportionate to the risk.
To reflect these amendments, a new version of Approved Document P has been issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). This came into effect on Thursday 6th April 2006 and may be obtained from the ODPM website (www.odpm.gov.uk/electricalsafety).
What are the changes?
In the 2005 version, there were two requirements, P1 (Design, installation, inspection and testing) and P2 (Provision of information). The new version contains only one requirement, P1 (Design and Installation), which is reproduced overleaf.
Requirement P1, now entitled ‘Design and installation’ no longer refers to inspection and testing. However, this does not mean that inspection and testing is no longer required. Section 1 (Design, installation, inspection and testing, and provision of information) of the new Approved Document P states in sub-section 1.7 that; Electrical installations should be inspected and tested as necessary and appropriate during and at the end of installation, before they are taken into service, to verify that they are safe to use, maintain, alter and comply with Part P of the Building Regulations and with other relevant Parts of the building Regulations.
The importance of certification is stressed in sub-sections 1.8 to 1.11.
Requirement P1 now also refers to the need to protect persons operating, maintaining or altering the installations. This wording originally appeared in P2, which has now been deleted. The provision of sufficient information requirement has been removed.
However, sub-section 1.33 of the new Approved Document P states that Sufficient information should be left with the occupant to ensure that persons wishing to operate, maintain or alter an installation can do so with reasonable safety. Sub-section 1.34 reinforces the need to meet the requirements of BS 7671 regarding provision of information such as electrical installation certificates, labels, operating instructions, log books and in the case of larger more complex installations detailed plans.
To download the online Revised Version of Part P, click on the link below or order a hard copy from RIBA Bookshops Mail Order, 15 Bonhill Street, London, EC2P 2EA. Order through the orders telephone line: 020 7256 7222, Fax: 020 7374 2737, Email: [email protected] or visit www.thebuildingregs.com to buy online.
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(article extracted from IET, Wiring Matters, Summer 06)