On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 11:16:35 +0000 (UTC), "timycelyn"
wrote:
1. Politics. I'm a classical floating voter so I am NOT trying to grind any
political axes here, but I did E-mail the Tories asking them what their
attitude to Part P was. Wait a little while (it was over Christmas to be
fair..) and I've got a slightly arse-covering reply that comes out strongly
for making a bonfire of unnecessary regulations as soon as they get in, as
follows:
" Thank you for your email. I agree with you that this is a costly
and meddlesome piece of regulation. It is on our list items for
consideration for repeal/amendment in our first year in office. I will
be announcing the likely contents of our first deregulation bill nearer
the time of the election. Thank you for writing to us and confirming our
view that regulation is now over the top and often damaging.
Yours sincerely John Redwood"
I guess if anyone is ever to repeal this, it would be the Tories, but
nothing is certain in this world, certainly not their winning the next
election.....
John Redwood is very aware of Part P. He's my local MP and I have
written to him about it on several occasions as well as discussing it
with him personally a couple of times.
2. A public stink? Who knows - it could go either way really. ISTRM a
statistic quoted early on in this (?) thread that last year there were 2M
'paid' domestic electrical jobs done in the UK, and 1M DIY ones. (I may have
got the definitions wrong here, but my impression was that all tradesmen &
cowboy work was lumped into the 'paid' category.) What % of that 1M will be
seriously ****ed? - assuming that there are multiple jobs in there and so
on - my guess would be 10-25%. How many upset people does it take to make a
stink? - it really all depends on whether they have a voice and are
articulate or not. The problem here is that we are all individuals and not
represented by any official body with a voice.
The media might get hold of it, but given their generally trivial and
brainless approach to this sort of domestic topic I don't hold out many
hopes. There are two obvious and opposite lines of attack:
i) Some poor old dear sitting freezing in her house because she can't get
anyone to wire up her boiler because no-one will touch Part P in her
locality. Would require some well informed and joined up research (!)
I) The guy in court. If he had done an A1 job and a particularly diligent
local council was prosecuting him on principle, then this could be good; but
more likely it will be a guy who has done a bloody awful job, someone got a
shock, the council prosecutes and everyone applauds and says how jolly good
Part P is.
I suspect that most DIYers who want to do electrical work will
continue to do so blissfully unaware or ignoring the legislation.
3. The rebel. I'd like to get a better understanding of the powers in play
here, so here are a few questions:
i) What rights of access does yer local BCO have on private property? Are
they the same as the police where - with suitable paperwork completed - they
can insist on entry, or are they the same as - say - a planning department,
who have to be invited on by the householder? (Of course, if they are
invited on for another job, there is a risk the whole can of worms might
open up, so a prospective rebel needs to do some seriously joined up
thinking and very good work...)
ii) Sale time and sellers packs. So I eventually sell this place and get all
these surveys done, and the electrical one finds something (I'd be
surprised, but you never know surveyors) that raises an issue. Do I have to
fix this before I am allowed to sell - or do I just have to negotiate with
my buyer saying 'OK, there's this item on the report, say £500 off for you
getting an electrician to sort it out..'?
iii) Means of detection. Unless I'm missing something the private
householder (as opposed to the cowboy) has very little risk of being
detected indeed. The only routes seem to be either by BCO visit (i above),
by sale (bit late by then) or by getting it wrong and having an incident of
some nature (fire/shock) which draws official attention (there is the
insurance dimension here as well, but that's another story). Am I right?
I would agree with you on point (iii). The additional one would be
that if a building notice/application is submitted for something else
then wiring may get swept into that.
However, if you are having something built that requires BCO
involvement - even if it's only that it's more obvious to the casual
passer by, then the electrical work can be included in it even if you
do it yourself.
Quietly seething
Tim
--
..andy
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