Often times we'll have a handyman attending a property to carry out a number of small jobs and some of these will include general electrical works. However, sometimes, due to legal requirements, we will need to separate out some of these jobs and rather ask a qualified electrician to carry them out because of Part P Building Regulations.
Part P of the Building Regulations
Since 2005 the law on who can carry out electrical repairs in the home has changed. These laws, known as the Building Regulations, were updated in 2012 to include clarification on what is termed ‘Part P’. This states that it’s the householder or landlord’s responsibility to ensure that any electrical repairs are completely safe and don’t pose a danger to anyone in the property. These are not guidelines – they’re a legal requirement and are strictly enforced.
When Part P was brought into effect, a list of jobs was drawn up that should be tackled only by a qualified and registered electrician. These ‘notifiable’ jobs are those that may be more challenging for someone with little or no formal training and need to be ‘signed off’ by an electrician approved by the local building control body. So if you have to do any of the following jobs, you’ll need to employ a fully qualified and registered electrician:
- Re-wire sockets or lights that are faulty and causing the fuse to trip
- Replace an old or damaged fuse board
- Install outdoor or garden lights that run off mains electricity
- Install additional sockets or a light switch as a spur from a ring main
- Install communal hallway smoke alarms or emergency lighting
- Install home entry systems
- EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report)
- Run new circuits
- Install electric radiators (where there weren’t any before)
- Install electric towel radiators if there isn’t any existing electrical feed and a new electrical circuit is required
Repairs you can do yourself or have the handyman carry out for you:
However, there are some jobs that you can do yourself without calling in a qualified electrician as long as you or the handyman you/we hire is competent with DIY works. These do not fall under ‘Part P’ guidelines, so you don’t have to notify your local building control body if you want to:
- Replace light bulbs or plug fuses
- Replace a simple light fitting
- Replace an existing socket or light switch like for like
- Make repairs to loose wirings in switches, light fittings, or plugs
- Replace a hard-wired smoke detector
- Fit a replacement door bell
- Replace dimmer modules
- Replace light switches
- Replace sockets
- Replace spotlight transformers
- Connect or disconnect appliances
- Re-position sockets (as long as it doesn’t involve a running new circuit or wiring)
- Install new or replacement extractor fans (like for like)
- Replace like-for-like electric radiators
- Replace like-for-like towel radiators
So as you can see, there are still plenty of jobs around the house you can do yourself or can be done by a handyman. However, for anything that comes under "Part P" a fully qualified electrician must be employed.
Our advice is provided in good faith, without any liability accepted by us.