Hello,

I've just had an interesting but puzzling experience.

We've just had a new garage door fitted (old one rotted away) - and
the new door 'intrudes' further into the garage than the old one.

Consequently, I'm having to move a couple of fluorescent light
fittings by 3".

Now, I can do this a number of different ways .....

1. Move the fittings and leave the wiring undisturbed.

2. Take the opportunity to replace the fittings with new (non-rusty)
units, replace the (30 year old) wiring, earth the new light units
(current ones aren't grounded) and also replace the grotty-looking
light switch.

Now, I was aware of the Part P malarkey, so did a bit of investigation
.......

On the Part P website it says ... "Many jobs carried out on a DIY
basis will be small jobs that do not need to be notified to building
control, but householders are recommended to have them checked by a
competent electrician to make sure they are safe." I noted the use of
"are recommended to", which isn't the same as "must"

I then phoned the local Building Regs office and was told ...

If you do (1) then there's no problem - if you do (2), it will have to
be inspected by a qualified person.

Guess what I intend to do?

"curmudgeonly old git" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

I've just had an interesting but puzzling experience.

We've just had a new garage door fitted (old one rotted away) - and
the new door 'intrudes' further into the garage than the old one.

Consequently, I'm having to move a couple of fluorescent light
fittings by 3".

Now, I can do this a number of different ways .....

1. Move the fittings and leave the wiring undisturbed.

2. Take the opportunity to replace the fittings with new (non-rusty)
units, replace the (30 year old) wiring, earth the new light units
(current ones aren't grounded) and also replace the grotty-looking
light switch.

Now, I was aware of the Part P malarkey, so did a bit of investigation
......

On the Part P website it says ... "Many jobs carried out on a DIY
basis will be small jobs that do not need to be notified to building
control, but householders are recommended to have them checked by a
competent electrician to make sure they are safe." I noted the use of
"are recommended to", which isn't the same as "must"

I then phoned the local Building Regs office and was told ...

If you do (1) then there's no problem - if you do (2), it will have to
be inspected by a qualified person.

Guess what I intend to do?

Errrr, not ring the Building Regs office in future?


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

I then phoned the local Building Regs office and was told ...

If you do (1) then there's no problem - if you do (2), it will have to
be inspected by a qualified person.

Guess what I intend to do?

Ignore their erroneous interpretation of the law?

Christian.

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
I then phoned the local Building Regs office and was told ...

If you do (1) then there's no problem - if you do (2), it will have to
be inspected by a qualified person.

Guess what I intend to do?

Ignore their erroneous interpretation of the law?

Christian.


Wonder if it is, though.

one can certainly replace a fitting, so no problems replacing the lighting
unit, or the switch.

the cable can be replaced.

is it the upgrading of the circuit so there is provision for earthing that
is the problem, or the fact that it is all being done in one go?

or perhaps that it's outside that makes this notifiable.


having said this, I know what I'd do, considering the miniscule probability
of being caught out & difficulty of proof...



--
Richard Sampson

mail me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

Wonder if it is, though.

one can certainly replace a fitting, so no problems replacing the lighting
unit, or the switch.

The erroneous interpretation is not about whether this counts as a minor
work or not. It is that they say that if it is a minor work then it MUST by
law be inspected by an electrician.

Christian.

On 9 Mar 2005 04:16:13 -0800,
(curmudgeonly old git) strung together this:

Guess what I intend to do?

Hurl yourself off a cliff?
--

SJW
Please reply to group or use 'usenet' in email subject

Lurch wrote in message . ..
On 9 Mar 2005 04:16:13 -0800,
(curmudgeonly old git) strung together this:

Guess what I intend to do?

Hurl yourself off a cliff?

It gets better ...

I had assumed that 'technically', the mimimum amount of work required
was non-notifiable, but ...

According to the regs., it's non-notifiable if I'm "Re-fixing or
replacing the enclosures of existing installation components" - but
only "If the circuit's protective measures are unaffected." - which I
presume includes earthing the (currently unearthed) light casings.

So that means producing suitable wiring diagrams drawn to an
appropriate standard, submitting them to the planning authority &
having the result inspected, tested & certified.

Bugger.

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:25:54 -0800, curmudgeonly old git wrote:

Lurch wrote in message . ..
On 9 Mar 2005 04:16:13 -0800,
(curmudgeonly old git) strung together this:

Guess what I intend to do?

Hurl yourself off a cliff?

It gets better ...

I had assumed that 'technically', the mimimum amount of work required
was non-notifiable, but ...

According to the regs., it's non-notifiable if I'm "Re-fixing or
replacing the enclosures of existing installation components" - but
only "If the circuit's protective measures are unaffected." - which I
presume includes earthing the (currently unearthed) light casings.

So that means producing suitable wiring diagrams drawn to an
appropriate standard, submitting them to the planning authority &
having the result inspected, tested & certified.

Bugger.

As I discovered the whole effect of the legislation is not to
encourage/allow/insist on regulating DIY through the BCO, but to
effectively drive DIY underground. The intention was clearly to make the
use of registered sparks the only realistic option. IMHO, the likelihood
is that the market will split into a 'formal' and 'informal' sectors.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

On 09 Mar 2005, Christian McArdle wrote

Wonder if it is, though.

one can certainly replace a fitting, so no problems replacing the
lighting unit, or the switch.

The erroneous interpretation is not about whether this counts as a
minor work or not. It is that they say that if it is a minor work
then it MUST by law be inspected by an electrician.

Did they say that, though? I took the BCO's response as an indication
that they considered option (2) to fall outside the remit of "minor
works".

--
Cheers,
Harvey

curmudgeonly old git wrote:
According to the regs., it's non-notifiable if I'm "Re-fixing or
replacing the enclosures of existing installation components" - but
only "If the circuit's protective measures are unaffected." - which I
presume includes earthing the (currently unearthed) light casings.

s/includes/excludes ?

So that means producing suitable wiring diagrams drawn to an
appropriate standard, submitting them to the planning authority &
having the result inspected, tested & certified.

But you started this job last year didn't you, so you've got until the
end of March to complete it ...

Owain