Myth-busting – Electrical Safety installations Act 2020

Reply to the comment left by Porky at 08/08/2020 - 10:03
"Vague" is a very polite way of describing the inconsistencies between the Regulations (the only document with statutory authority), Explanatory Memorandum, various Guidance notes from MHCLG and trade bodies, coupled with the uncertainty of how the Courts will interpret the requirements.

According to the Regulations, “qualified person” means a person competent to undertake the inspection and testing required under regulation 3(1) and any further investigative or remedial work in accordance with the electrical safety standards;

The Explanatory Memorandum states:
"12.10 Carrying out an inspection of electrical installations is a complex task that requires an extra level of qualification and competence achieved beyond the standard 4-year vocational route commonly followed by qualified inspectors and testers. Therefore, government will develop, with industry experts, new guidance for landlords stipulating who can carry out the mandatory electrical installation checks.
12.11 Within the new guidance landlords will be advised that competence will be met if an inspector and tester is a member of a competent person scheme or has met the requirements set out in a checklist. In addition to the checklist in the new guidance, industry scheme operators will be invited to set up a new electrical inspection and testing competent person scheme which inspectors and testers could choose to join. A reference to these schemes would also be made in the Government’s ‘How to Rent Guide’."

The Guidance, issued in June, states in section 5:
"How do I find a ‘qualified and competent person’ to carry out the test?
The Regulations require landlords to have the electrical installations in their properties inspected and tested by a person who is qualified and competent, at least every 5 years.
Guidance has been produced by the electrical safety industry that covers how landlords can choose a qualified and competent inspector and tester. This includes, but is not limited to:
• Electrical Safety Roundtable (http://www.electricalsafetyroundtable.co.uk/electrical-safetyguidance.
aspx)
• Registered Competent Person Electrical single mark and register
(http://www.electricalcompetentperson.co.uk/)
The electrical safety industry has established competent person schemes. Membership of these will not be compulsory to ensure there is no further pressure placed on the industry, nor undue burden placed on inspectors and testers.
When commissioning an inspection, in order to establish if a person is qualified and competent landlords can:
• check if the inspector is a member of a competent person scheme; or
• require the inspector to sign a checklist certifying their competence, including their experience,
whether they have adequate insurance and hold a qualification covering the current version of the Wiring Regulations and the periodic inspection, testing and certification of electrical installations."

A final irony - the Explanatory memorandum also states:
12.6 Costs associated with familiarisation were estimated by assuming it would take the average landlord 30 minutes to read and understand the legislation and relevant guidance.

Reply to the comment left by Porky at 08/08/2020 - 09:45
I am in exactly the same position as you, 4+ decades of experience and a relevant degree and, at the risk of sounding arrogant, consider myself at least as qualified as a great many electricians out there.

(Indeed, the last job that I actually paid an electrician to do(in a commercial building that we own) I had to complete redo myself due to the poor (appalling even) quality of the work. Talk about a fire hazard! It's a good job that the work was done on a circuit with a low level fuse to limit the fault current.

This issue of what counts as "competent" in terms of electrical work has been getting under my skin for many years now. A few years ago I was driven to research deeply (you have to go very deep, because this information is extremely well hidden) into what classes as "competent" and I was able to establish that my local council (YMMV) at least has a list of what qualifications are required in order to be acceptable to the council's building control department.

It was quite a long list, and right at the bottom were people such as you and me - i.e. Building Control would accept that we were competent. Nevertheless, I would still expect a fight if push ever comes to shove. I am building a workshop with a new 100A supply at the bottom of my garden and intend to do all of my own electrical work including submissions to Building Control. However, for my tenanted properties I still (reluctantly) use electricians simply because I do not fancy having to argue with some ignoramus in court that I am not qualified to do the work. The irony being here that a lot of the time I would feel much safer not finding myself unexpectedly up before the beak if I HAD done the work personally.

Reply to the comment left by Badger at 08/08/2020 - 12:17
I agree entirely. I believe there is a short City & Guilds course for 18th edition EICR testing that would be a dodfle for you or I with degree qualification. My experience with domestic electricians is they do not have a thorough grasp of the theory and of fault finding especially subtle faults exposed with capacitive coupling in cable runs. This is becoming more of an issue with LED lighting when only a tiny leakage results in a glow when the circuit is supposed to be switched off.

Whilst there has been much discussion on Consumer Units, does anyone have experience relating to bonding of the gas and water supply pipework? EICR's undertaken five years ago were noting as the lack of bonding as C3, but more recent inspections have raised the issue to C2. Generally remedial work on the gas pipe close to the meter is not a major scope of work, but gaining access to run an earth to the stop cock on some properties can be a challenge!

Reply to the comment left by Badger at 08/08/2020 - 12:17
Clerarly you have a great kowledge and are also very practical. I know there are alot of electricians out there who although they passed an exam are not great and others like Bill who I interviewed who are exceptional. We could same the same with any qualification. It sounds like your selection process for chosing an electrician may need refining if the works in your commercial unit were so bad

Reply to the comment left by Andrew at 11/08/2020 - 07:09
The point Badger and I for that mattet was making is that a Degree qualification in the subject should be able to trump any vocational qualification attained when it comes to the legal requirements of who is qualified sufficiently to carry out the testing.
As is well known a qualification does not automatically make you proficient in any practical situation however a degree proves that you are capable of studying a subject to a very high level of understanding including the derivation of formula from first principles rather than just the use of.

Reply to the comment left by Jireh Homes at 08/08/2020 - 14:31
I'll request Bill Stiles advises - unless there has been a change in the rules it should not move from C3 to C2

Reply to the comment left by Porky at 11/08/2020 - 08:16
My apologies not appreciating you had a degree in electrical installations - I do not disagree with you, like all fields of life, you get those who can think for themselves and are logical pragmatic solutions based people and those who can only think as far as the next box on their check sheet

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 08/08/2020 - 10:51
Thank you for that really detailed helpful navigation of the rules. - great to share and help educate those less knowledgable landlords out there

Reply to the comment left by Andrew at 11/08/2020 - 07:09
He came recommended via another contractor.

He was not paid for the work (the contractor that he was working for / came via) accepted this and took the hit.

We will never use him again.