§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Phil Hope)It was announced in a Written Statement on 10 April this year that preliminary analysis of the responses to the consultation on our proposals to introduce a requirement on electrical safety in dwellings into the Building Regulations had received broad support.
Full analysis has confirmed this support and the arguments in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) show that such an introduction would be beneficial to health and safety in reducing the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by defective electrical installations in homes. Overall the RIA estimates that there would be a net benefit over the first ten years of £93 million at current prices. The RIA also makes it clear that for the introduction to be successful there would need to be schemes of registered competent installers who would be able to certify that their work was in compliance with all requirements of the Building Regulations. Following the advice of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee, I am therefore pleased to be able to announce that it is our intention to amend the Building Regulations to include a requirement on electrical safety in dwellings as soon as suitable competent person schemes are in place. I wish to do this as soon as possible and therefore urge any body intending to apply to run such a scheme to apply to my Department by 15 October this year.
Making householders aware of the need to protect themselves and their families from incompetent workmanship is in line with our drive for better, safer communities in which to live and work. The new measures will also raise industry standards and contribute towards our overall aim of creating a better-qualified workforce. They reinforce the emphasis in the Fire White Paper published on 30 June of greater prevention of fires.