§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the implications of the Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/ 1808) for professional electrical engineers, electricians and private householders undertaking their own work of electrical installation. [HL68]
§ Lord RookerThe regulations introduce requirements on electrical safety in dwellings as Part P of the building regulations. They will require that from 1 January 2005 electrical installations should meet the standards in BS7671. Meeting these standards will help reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by defective installations. Almost all those in the electrical engineering contracting industry already work to the standards in BS7671.
The regulations allow private householders to continue to undertake their own work. Where they do so 18WA they will need to notify the local authority of work they plan to undertake; the local authority will then be responsible for inspecting and testing the work to ensure that it is safe. It will not be necessary for private householders to notify some minor less risky types of work.