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[djhowie]

Ive just built an extesion, the building control officer has been out and wants an elctrical test cert for the extension. Im aware of the NICEIC test but he also mentioned another type of test that he waould also be happy with. He mentioned the something IE something but I didnt catch the name of the test/standard. Can anyone help me with this?

And if you know the answer to the above, is this the simpler test than the NICEIC as I'm aware that because I've wired this myself, I'm going to get ripped off for testing cos no one is going to certify work that they didnt do.

Any advice would be appreciated thanks
Howie

[sparx]

Hi howie, first thing, no such thing as an NICEIC test!!!!
All testing is done to the IEE wiring regs. standard, currently 16th Edition.
You are right no one is allowed to issue a completion cert. for work they did not do.
All you can get now is a 'Periodic Inspection' cert. which consists of at least 3 pages of testing, to include Insulation , continuity, earth loop impedance tests, visual checks on main & equipotential bonding, visual inspection of sockets, lights, switches ect.
Costs vary but we charge £40 + £20/Circuit, bearing in mind ALL circuits must be checked not just the ones you worked on!
regards SPARX

[djhowie]

Hi Sparx,
Thank you for your reply. After thinking about it for a while, I've decide to do the whole thing myself. I've wired a separate ring for the sockets in the extension but have just extended the existing lighting circuits keeping the ground and first floor separate. Im happy with it, but i haven't called the man from the council out yet.
I've earth bonded the bathroom to the radiator, installed mains smoke detectors and an extract fan, basically everything he asked for so I may dig my heels in on this one. I was thinking, what am I paying the council for if I'm going to have to pay someone else as well? I thought the idea behind building control was to come to inspect to see if something complied with regs, not to tell me to go away and test it. If he wants it tested, surely he should bring a local authority electrician with him. Anyway,he is due again to check my insulation in the loft so i will broach the mattter then and post the outcome.

Regards Howie

[ban-all-sheds]

Howie - when you submitted your original notification about the extension to BC, what did you tell them you would be doing to comply with Part P of the Building Regulations?

You are right that the fee you pay them is supposed to cover the electrics as well, but if you didn't tell them that a non-registered person would be doing them then they may not have factored that into their fee, and also if you didn't tell them then they would not have been expecting to do it and so would not have sent someone along at 1st fix to inspect.

The responsibility to comply with the Building Regulations was entirely yours, but I have a horrible feeling that you went ahead and built this extension without a full understanding of what the regulations are....

[djhowie]

Having originally submitted a full plans application which has been provisionally passed with some of the finer detail to be agreed on site the BC had plenty of opportunity to ask any questions at anytime upto now. The BC officer (a Spark by trade) asked me about who was doing the 1st fix. After I informed him that I was doing it he told me that it would then become a statutory inspection after I had completed the wire runs.

He's been back since and inspected and hasnt got a problem. But i think he is expecting a test certificate for just the circuit in the extension when Ive completed the works.

He's due back after the loft insulation has been added so I will sort it out with him them. Ive just finished dry lining it all so as money is a bit tight, I'm not skimming it this side of xmas. I intend to finish off the sockets and switches and then see what he has to say

[ericmark]

From doing my fathers house it seems they are responsible for ensuring the paperwork is correct and if they don't think it is right then they can at their expense check your work matches the paperwork submitted. But you need to supply the paperwork to start with. There is provision for three names to be entered on the paperwork. The designer, The Installer, and The Tester on my fathers house it was designed by a firm who disappeared into the welsh hills and I put down their name although never got a signature think the council shut them down. Then I entered two names for installer the firm as original and mine as remedial and my name as tester. They were not happy and I believe they took the firm to court but still issued the Part P for me. You would need to show your competent to do the work with either college qualification's or apprenticeship etc. And you can get someone else to test and sign just that part of the form. Nothing says you can't do it if you can show you are able. One pointer to your ability is the completion of the forms which use names like EEBADS and use table 4A to show installation method. The blank forms are available from all sorts from the 16th Edition (also called BS 7671:2001) to the guide to part P down loadable from internet this allows commercial electricians to do the odd domestic job without problems but if your not an electrician and can't prove your ability not just to make it work but make it work safely to the regulations then you will have problems and rightly so the whole idea of Part P is to stop people who don't know what they are doing making shocking mistakes. If you don't understand R1 and R1 etc then you shouldn't be doing the job. Even as an electrician of 30 years when the new BS 7671:2001 regulations came out I had to sit an exam to show I could read the book. And another to show I could test correctly pure experience was not enough.

I am sure you can see it is unlikely that you can get a Part P unless you can show what your doing and the ability to correctly fill in the forms required goes a long way to showing you know what your doing.

Yours Eric

[sbelectrical]

true eric part p is out there to try and stop diyers and cowboys all i can say to this is get an niceic approved contractor to periodic it and cert it should cost no more than £200.00, heh you,ve saved loads by wiring it yourself and remember thats why were called trades men :lol: