Page 1 of 1

Competent Person

Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:07 pm
by Neil54
I have a question.
A few years ago I completed a City and Guilds Certificate in "Design, Erection and Verfication of Electrical Installations" all very grand. This was so I could test and certify some installations.

Now "part P" has arrived, some people say I am exempt part P as I can already certify work but when I ask a college who run the course (and hence are looking for fees) the say I am not.

Who is correct?

Many thanks in advance.

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:16 pm
by ericmark
Oh I wish we could be exempt but no one is exempt from Part P. There are two methods of complying.

1) Join a club
2) Pay council

The clubs have slightly different membership requirements but all demand an annual fee and have to inspect a sample of your work not sure how many jobs you need to do per year to be worth while but a fair few.

The councils in Wales all charge the same £100 plus vat for first £2000 worth of work of each job. In England there is some variation. It is reported some councils will charge a lower fee for people presenting paperwork but as yet this is no suppose to happen.

My MP tells me this is under review and councils may officially be able to show some discretion.

The £100 minimum is causing many problems with loads of DIY'ers just not telling council what they are doing and so in real terms it is failing and a lower start price does seem to be answer.

If you are referring to what is required to join club then this does vary. But they insist on books, paperwork, and equipment as well as some qualifications. I have heard some will take just a C&G2382 but when I rang up about a JIB card even with Degree in Electrical/Electronic engineering and C&G2391 plus 30+ years experience they wanted to list me as an electricians mate. Being a member of IET does very little until you have a job of responsibility. Exams are worthless it seems.

I agree sometimes it does seem daft. The county council building control officer who has to inspect your work when he goes home can't do electrical work in his own kitchen.

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:52 pm
by moggy1968
there is no such thing as 'exempt part P'
it's not to do with courses etc, it's to do with wether the part P providers consider you as a competent person or not for the purposes of registration.
This may mean they require you to have certain qualifications to demonstrate competency and knowledge
I suggest you contact them direct for advice on what their requirements are.
I would avoid NICEIC initially, go for NAPIT or ELECSA

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:39 pm
by sparx
Technically any 'competant Person ' can carry out inspections and tests,
Part-P only applies to doing work!
However you must have correct ''design liability' insurence in place as well as normal public liability since you are stating the installation is fit for continued use.
You are NOT exempt from Part-p. no one is if they do 'work' in domestic premises, also you cannot certify other peoples work even if fully registered for part-p of building regs.
One more point, as you say you took exam prior to P-P it will be to pre 17th edition of regs so is no longer valid for any work, you will need to sit regs & I&T exams again, then join one of the schemes to register for P-P,
PITA I know but we all have to now!
Off to do update ECS cscs health and safety exam tomorrow (I'm 62 FFS) it never ends,
regards Sparx