A few weeks ago, in the discussion about nominating Part P for Radio 4's
Christmas Repeal award, the suggestion was made that an alternative approach
would be to raise a No. 10 petition - which I have duly done. I am aware
that there is already one about abolishing Building Regs in general - but
that one doesn't have a prayer, and mine is far more specific.

You can find it at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Part-P-Review/

The petition says:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to carry out an urgent
review into the way in which Part P of the Building Regulations operates in
practice, and to make changes designed to re-establish high levels of
electrical safety without imposing unnecessary practical and financial
constraints on professional electricians or competent DIY enthusiasts."

The 'More details' section says:
"Part P isn't working! The number of relevant fatalities has more than
doubled since its introduction [Hansard 98144] probably due to the use of
dangerous temporary 'lash-ups' rather than safe fixed wiring – thus avoiding
the hassle and expense of complying with Part P. There is no evidence to
indicate that there has ever been a problem with non-professionally
installed fixed wiring. Self certification imposes a substantial overhead on
small electrical firms. Complying with Part P is very difficult and
expensive for amateur electricians – encouraging the use of less safe,
exempt options. Even when part of a larger project, many Building Control
departments are illegally refusing to perform Part P testing within the
scope of the Building Regs fee. In summary, Part P is counter-productive and
should be scrapped. At very least, its scope should be substantially reduced
by, for example, exempting all installation work in domestic premises on the
householder's side of the Consumer Unit."

I wanted to say rather more than that - but the 'more details' part has a
strictly enforced 1000 character limit, so I had to condense it
dramatically.

I hope that you will all be able to support it.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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