Hi All

I earn my daily crust selling industrial pressure washers and have done so
for 30 years off & on.

Most of these are single phase and come with a moulded 13 amp plug, but we
are selling more & more three phase lately. Three phase machines don't come
with a plug because there are so many different types.

Usually I will arrive on site to commission the kit and train the operators
and that involves fitting the plug, or at least maybe swapping two phases to
get the motor running the right way.

Is this legal under part P? I'm not a qualified lecky, I've just been doing
it for 30 years using common sense. Could I be judged a 'competent person'
or am I leading with my chin here?

Dave

On Mon, 09 May 2005 08:26:11 GMT, "David Lang" wrote:

Hi All

I earn my daily crust selling industrial pressure washers and have done so
for 30 years off & on.

Most of these are single phase and come with a moulded 13 amp plug, but we
are selling more & more three phase lately. Three phase machines don't come
with a plug because there are so many different types.

Usually I will arrive on site to commission the kit and train the operators
and that involves fitting the plug, or at least maybe swapping two phases to
get the motor running the right way.

Is this legal under part P? I'm not a qualified lecky, I've just been doing
it for 30 years using common sense. Could I be judged a 'competent person'
or am I leading with my chin here?

Dave

Part P only applies to fixed wiring in domestic premises, so you are OK on two counts..

David Lang wrote:
Usually I will arrive on site to commission the kit and train the operators
and that involves fitting the plug, or at least maybe swapping two phases to
get the motor running the right way.
Is this legal under part P?

Yes, because Part P applies (a) to fixed wiring (b) in dwellings, not to
appliances in the workplace.

I'm not a qualified lecky, I've just been doing
it for 30 years using common sense. Could I be judged
a 'competent person' or am I leading with my chin here?

The legislation is the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. From
reading my IEE Monograph Electrical Safety at Work I can't see any
requirement to be "qualified". However to cover yourself and/or your
employer it might be worth taking a Portable Appliance Testing course -
it's usually one day at an FE college.

Owain

David Lang wrote:

Is this legal under part P? I'm not a qualified lecky, I've just been doing
it for 30 years using common sense. Could I be judged a 'competent person'
or am I leading with my chin here?

IIUC Part P is domestic only, so you are in the clear in that respect.

(There may be other H&S issues like PAT testing that should be
addressed, but others will advise as it is not my area).

--
Cheers,

John.

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"David Lang" wrote in message
news
Hi All

I earn my daily crust selling industrial pressure washers and have done so
for 30 years off & on.

Most of these are single phase and come with a moulded 13 amp plug, but we
are selling more & more three phase lately. Three phase machines don't
come
with a plug because there are so many different types.

Usually I will arrive on site to commission the kit and train the
operators
and that involves fitting the plug, or at least maybe swapping two phases
to
get the motor running the right way.

Is this legal under part P? I'm not a qualified lecky, I've just been
doing
it for 30 years using common sense. Could I be judged a 'competent
person'
or am I leading with my chin here?

Dave

If you can only expose 3 or 4 people to unsafe electrical work then part P
applies (domestic) but if you can expose hundreds of people to unsafe
electrical work (industrial)then you need no qualifications at all !
There are some 'bright' people making the rules :-(

Regards Jeff

In article ,
Owain writes:
The legislation is the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. From
reading my IEE Monograph Electrical Safety at Work I can't see any
requirement to be "qualified". However to cover yourself and/or your
employer it might be worth taking a Portable Appliance Testing course -
it's usually one day at an FE college.

It was two days when I did it, with an exam each evening.
One covers the inspection and testing, and the other covers
management of testing (the law, record keeping, etc), but
there's so much overlap people always do both.

Note that these courses are designed to be accessible to
non-electricians. Pre-requesit is the ability to wire a
plug, and understanding the difference between milliohms
and megohms (most of the electricians on the course had a
real problem with the latter).

--
Andrew Gabriel

HI Jeff
If you can only expose 3 or 4 people to unsafe electrical work then part P
applies (domestic) but if you can expose hundreds of people to unsafe
electrical work (industrial)then you need no qualifications at all !

Makes perfect sense - not!

There are some 'bright' people making the rules :-(

Not all locked up yet obviously!

Dave

On Mon, 9 May 2005 16:12:33 +0100, "Jeff" wrote:

If you can only expose 3 or 4 people to unsafe electrical work then part P
applies (domestic) but if you can expose hundreds of people to unsafe
electrical work (industrial)then you need no qualifications at all !

Part P isn't about "safety", it's about income tax. The idea is to stamp
out "black" electrical jobs, done for cash in hand.

Hi Andy
Part P isn't about "safety", it's about income tax. The idea is to stamp
out "black" electrical jobs, done for cash in hand.

Some might think you overly cynical ............ I'm not one of them! I
suspect you are dead right!

Bit like deregulated parking & speed cameras.

Dave