Government recognition for competent electrical contractors- at last!
After many years of lobbying for the better statutory regulation of electrical contracting, the minister, Phil Hope MP, has announced that Government intends to amend the Building Regulations to include a requirement on electrical safety - Part P. This means that a fixed electrical installation in a dwelling will become a "controlled service or fitting" and thus subject to the statutory provisions of building control as administered by local authorities.
Electrical contractors will be able to meet the requirements of Part P by complying with BS 7671. Moreover, a firm that is certificated as a "competent person" will be able to meet the requirements of local authorities, and thus avoid the cost and bureaucracy associated with building control, by self-certifying that its work complies with Building Regulations.
The timetable for these changes is as follows :-
Introduction of new requirement on electrical safety - July 2004
BRE Certification Ltd, in partnership with ECA, is applying to run a competent person scheme based on its current UKAS-accredited Electrotechnical Assessment Scheme (EAS). Indeed, the EAS was developed by the industry, with government support, expressly for this purpose.
It is envisaged that, once Government approval is granted to certification bodies such as BRE Certification (BREC), there is likely to be a stampede of firms seeking certification in time for the introduction of the new requirement. The Government estimates that there will be up 30,000 firms seeking certification as competent persons. It should be borne in mind that the time taken to turn round an application - from submission of application, through site assessment, to formal certification - is on average in the order of 3 months.
Thus, if you do not already hold a UKAS-accredited certificate from a certification body that is applying to run a competent person scheme you would be well advised to take action NOW with a view to achieving certification before the rush starts in the new year.
To download the full article please click on the attachment above
For further information please contact one of the following Steve Mitchell (01325 460710), Stuart Burchell (020 7313 4817), Colin Mitchison (020 7313 4850) or Giuliano Digilio (020 7313 4825).
Please note:it is anticipated that in addition to BREC, both CORGI and NICEIC will be submitting applications to run a competent person scheme and there may be others. The minister has stated that the EAS provides "a minimum basis for assessing (the) technical competence" of potential members of a competent person scheme.
This article and the attached pdf document are reproduced courtesy of the ECA. For further information please click here