I have just come back to England having lived in Holland for about 5
years.

I have previously, in England, re-wired a house - but I am not a
professional electrician.

I have bought a terrace. It would benefit from a re-wire. I am keen
to do as much work as possible myself.

I believe that I am competent to do it all - however - I know that
the regulations have changed and particularly there is a need to get a
final inspection signed off by a registered professional (or at least
the company who is registered?)


How far do people think I should go?

Could I document what work I was going to do and get that signed off
by an appropriate person in order to check and confirm that all
relevant standards would be met?

art coughed up some electrons that declared:



I have just come back to England having lived in Holland for about 5
years.

I have previously, in England, re-wired a house - but I am not a
professional electrician.

I have bought a terrace. It would benefit from a re-wire. I am keen
to do as much work as possible myself.

I believe that I am competent to do it all - however - I know that
the regulations have changed and particularly there is a need to get a
final inspection signed off by a registered professional (or at least
the company who is registered?)


How far do people think I should go?

Could I document what work I was going to do and get that signed off
by an appropriate person in order to check and confirm that all
relevant standards would be met?

Technically, you need to go to your local council (district or borough), see
the LABC (building control) dept and fill in a BNA (building notice) for
part P work (which this is).

Then you part with 100-200 quid and in theory they should inspect the work,
according to a letter to them from the ex Deputy Prime Minister's Office.

However, they probably won't and will try to get you to pay seperately for a
periodic inspection by a certified electrician (perhaps 200 quid +/- 50 in
your case).

You could:

a) Do it the correct way, and argue the toss with them about who inspects.

b) Comply without arguing and add 300-400 to your bill (still cheaper than
paying for a professional install)

c) Buy a Megger or similar multi finction installation tester on ebay, buy a
copy of the IEE On Site Guide (good idea anyway - it's small and
straightforward to read, and if you do what it says, barring good
workmanship, you'll not go far wrong). Then persuade the building inspector
to accept your Installation Certificate (pro formas downloadable from the
IET website). This is what I did. Others here have managed it too.

d) Just do it, bearing in mind that it's a non idictable criminal offence
not to notify notifiable work, but remmebering that whilst they could fine
you and put you in jail, they've got 6 months only to do that and only 1-2
years to enact other enforcement measures against you unless you do
something really dangerous. In practise it won;t happen - the only real
risk is on your buildings insurance (maybe) and awkward questions when you
sell the place. This option seems quite common based on people I know.

Do you have any other notifiable work in the pipeline, in which case lump it
together with those so that you get a clean paper trail and it hurst less?

Cheers

Tim

I'm doing this at the moment. I submitted a bulding notice on which I
detailed the work to be done and they send a sparks around when you
phone them and say you're ready to have the work inspected.

coughed up some electrons that declared:

I'm doing this at the moment. I submitted a bulding notice on which I
detailed the work to be done and they send a sparks around when you
phone them and say you're ready to have the work inspected.

All I can say is: you lucky sod! A LABC that does what they are supposed to!

Which council is it, just out of interest?

Tim S wrote:
coughed up some electrons that declared:

I'm doing this at the moment. I submitted a bulding notice on which I
detailed the work to be done and they send a sparks around when you
phone them and say you're ready to have the work inspected.

All I can say is: you lucky sod! A LABC that does what they are supposed to!

Which council is it, just out of interest?

In theory, ours does it the "the right way" as well. I say in theory,
since when I spoke to the BCO a few months back and asked if he had ever
had an BN application for an electrics only job, he could not recall
having seen one!

--
Cheers,

John.

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\================================================= ================/

Tim S wrote:

d) Just do it, bearing in mind that it's a non idictable criminal offence
not to notify notifiable work, but remmebering that whilst they could fine
you and put you in jail, they've got 6 months only to do that and only 1-2
years to enact other enforcement measures against you unless you do
something really dangerous. In practise it won;t happen - the only real
risk is on your buildings insurance (maybe) and awkward questions when you
sell the place. This option seems quite common based on people I know.

The point about enforcement / penalties can only really in practice
apply in cases of serious non compliance with the building regs /
bodging. If the job itself is done correctly then it just becomes an
issue of compliance with the procedural aspects of the law. It seems
highly unlikely that a BC department is going to waste its limited
budget for enforcement activities on a case with no public interest, no
immediate danger, and where no rectification is required.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
art wrote:
I have just come back to England having lived in Holland for about 5
years.

I have previously, in England, re-wired a house - but I am not a
professional electrician.

I have bought a terrace. It would benefit from a re-wire. I am keen
to do as much work as possible myself.

I believe that I am competent to do it all - however - I know that
the regulations have changed and particularly there is a need to get a
final inspection signed off by a registered professional (or at least
the company who is registered?)


How far do people think I should go?

If you're going to live there for some time - and you really are competent
to do the work - just ignore these stupid regs. Plenty time to worry about
bits of paper when you think about selling.

--
*I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sun, 10 May 2009 15:42:38 +0100, art
wrote:



I have just come back to England having lived in Holland for about 5
years.

I have previously, in England, re-wired a house - but I am not a
professional electrician.

I have bought a terrace. It would benefit from a re-wire. I am keen
to do as much work as possible myself.

I believe that I am competent to do it all - however - I know that
the regulations have changed and particularly there is a need to get a
final inspection signed off by a registered professional (or at least
the company who is registered?)


How far do people think I should go?

Could I document what work I was going to do and get that signed off
by an appropriate person in order to check and confirm that all
relevant standards would be met?




Many thanks to all responders.

I think I will crack on with it !!


Cheers all.

Tim S wrote:
coughed up some electrons that declared:

I'm doing this at the moment. I submitted a bulding notice on which I
detailed the work to be done and they send a sparks around when you
phone them and say you're ready to have the work inspected.

All I can say is: you lucky sod! A LABC that does what they are supposed to!

Which council is it, just out of interest?

Kettering.

John Rumm wrote:
Tim S wrote:

d) Just do it, bearing in mind that it's a non idictable criminal offence
not to notify notifiable work, but remmebering that whilst they could fine
you and put you in jail, they've got 6 months only to do that and only 1-2
years to enact other enforcement measures against you unless you do
something really dangerous. In practise it won;t happen - the only real
risk is on your buildings insurance (maybe) and awkward questions when you
sell the place. This option seems quite common based on people I know.

The point about enforcement / penalties can only really in practice
apply in cases of serious non compliance with the building regs /
bodging. If the job itself is done correctly then it just becomes an
issue of compliance with the procedural aspects of the law. It seems
highly unlikely that a BC department is going to waste its limited
budget for enforcement activities on a case with no public interest, no
immediate danger, and where no rectification is required.


Do you remember the prosecution of a market trader for selling food in
pounds and ounces?


NT

wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
Tim S wrote:

d) Just do it, bearing in mind that it's a non idictable criminal offence
not to notify notifiable work, but remmebering that whilst they could fine
you and put you in jail, they've got 6 months only to do that and only 1-2
years to enact other enforcement measures against you unless you do
something really dangerous. In practise it won;t happen - the only real
risk is on your buildings insurance (maybe) and awkward questions when you
sell the place. This option seems quite common based on people I know.
The point about enforcement / penalties can only really in practice
apply in cases of serious non compliance with the building regs /
bodging. If the job itself is done correctly then it just becomes an
issue of compliance with the procedural aspects of the law. It seems
highly unlikely that a BC department is going to waste its limited
budget for enforcement activities on a case with no public interest, no
immediate danger, and where no rectification is required.


Do you remember the prosecution of a market trader for selling food in
pounds and ounces?

Yup, but I don't recall him being prosecuted by building control for
doing a proper job, but neglecting to send them a building notice...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 12 May 2009 05:33:06 +0100 John Rumm wrote :
Yup, but I don't recall him being prosecuted by building control for
doing a proper job, but neglecting to send them a building notice...

I've been out of building control for 25 years but there's no way that we
would ever have prosecuted someone for a merely technical offence.
Magistrates are [fairly] ordinary people and take a very dim view of such
things, probably a £50 fine and £50 costs. In eight years I was involved
in three cases that got to court:

1. A DIYer who cut open a drain and then didn't carry on with the work,
causing serious annoyance to a neighbour

2. An elderly woman who was prosecuted for failing to comply with a
dangerous structure notice - the roof of her cottage was collapsing. Not
as bad as it sounds: I collected her and brought her to court, afterward
took her home. We told the magistrate that we didn't want her fined, but
once she'd been found guilty we (the LA) were able to get the necessary
remedial work done, paid for by a charge put on the property (she had no
money)

3. A builder who removed a chimney breast and left the remaining breast
and chimney unsupported: in court he claimed to have put in a steel beam
which he'd removed when the householder wouldn't pay!

--
Tony Bryer, 'Software to build on' from Greentram
www.superbeam.co.uk www.superbeam.com www.greentram.com

In article
,
wrote:
Do you remember the prosecution of a market trader for selling food in
pounds and ounces?

IIRC, he was actually prosecuted for not having a weighing device which
conformed.

--
*The beatings will continue until morale improves *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
,
wrote:
Do you remember the prosecution of a market trader for selling food in
pounds and ounces?

IIRC, he was actually prosecuted for not having a weighing device which
conformed.
I recently asked for, and was given 1/2 lb of cheese (approx)- in a french
supermarket. (this year)

You can buy /sell in any units as long as the measuring equipment is
currently approved. So it is quite legal to buy a gallon of fuel from your
Shell garage just so long as the pump measures out 4.5486-ish litres

There are loads of things in France sold in imperial measure, so while we
are buying TV's in cm diagonal screen sizes, they're sold in France with
screen sizes in inches!

John

John

--
John Mulrooney
NOTE Email address IS correct but might not be checked for a while.

The grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace

In message , JTM writes
In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
,
wrote:
Do you remember the prosecution of a market trader for selling food in
pounds and ounces?

IIRC, he was actually prosecuted for not having a weighing device which
conformed.
I recently asked for, and was given 1/2 lb of cheese (approx)- in a french
supermarket. (this year)

You can buy /sell in any units as long as the measuring equipment is
currently approved. So it is quite legal to buy a gallon of fuel from your
Shell garage just so long as the pump measures out 4.5486-ish litres

There are loads of things in France sold in imperial measure, so while we
are buying TV's in cm diagonal screen sizes, they're sold in France with
screen sizes in inches!

Germany too

you can buy a pound of apples (albeit a 1/2 kilo,), the inch is called
the "zoll", and horsepower are PS (Pferdestärke)


--
geoff

JTM coughed up some electrons that declared:

There are loads of things in France sold in imperial measure, so while we
are buying TV's in cm diagonal screen sizes, they're sold in France with
screen sizes in inches!


They do that in China too: "English inches"

In article ,
Tim S writes:
JTM coughed up some electrons that declared:

There are loads of things in France sold in imperial measure, so while we
are buying TV's in cm diagonal screen sizes, they're sold in France with
screen sizes in inches!


They do that in China too: "English inches"

It's even funnier US to UK. A VDU will claim 22" monitor (US),
20" monitor (UK). It's the same one in the box, but US still
do tube diagonal, which is now illegal in EU and must be the
display area diagonal.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]