- Messages
- 675
WITH ALL THE REGULATIONS IN PLACE THESE DAYS, WE MUST BE SAFER NOW. AS YOU WILL SEE FROM THE (CO) CHART AT THE BOTTOM WITH ALL THE SAFER DESIGNS OF BOILERS ALL THE CONTROLLING BODIES, BELOW SMOKE ALARMS LESS OPEN FIRES HAVE WE ACHIEVED ANYTHING BY BEING GAS REGISTERED
THERE ARE OVER 200000 ROAD ACCIDENTS AND OVER 2000 DEATHS IN THE UK EVERY YEAR
THERE ARE AROUND 30 DEATHS PER YEAR DUE TO (CO) POISONING IN THE UK THESE FIGURES HAVE NOT CHANGED PER YEAR SENSE GAS REGULATION WAS MADE COMPULSORY
YET EVERY YEAR WE ARE INSPECTED HAVE TO PAY ALMOST £200 AND HAVE THE PLEASURE OF RE-TRAINING EVERY 5 YEARS COSTING OVER £1000 WITH GAS APPLIANCES BECOMING SAFER EVERY YEAR DO WE REALLY NEED TO TO LEARN THE SAME THING.
WITH OVER 1000 PEOPLE KILLED DUE TO ELECTRICAL FIRES EVERY YEAR AND NOW CHANGING THE RULES TO ALLOW ANYBODY TO CARRY OUT ELECTRICAL WORK IT JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE... WELL NOT TO ME ANY WAY.
TRY TO READ SOME OF THE GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL
The British Standard that sets out the fundamental principles for achieving safety,
Independent third party checking of design proposals and work carried out by either a Local Authority or a licensed private sector organisation Approved Inspector)
The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 2010- allows local authorities to bring in external expertise and capability, and to vary building control fees when inspecting installations,
Building Regulations RevieDCLG is currently reviewing the Building Regulations, including Part P. The consultation closes on 27 April 2012, after which the final proposals will be published.
Competent Persons Scheme A scheme introduced by the Government to allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations
DCLG - the Department for Communities and Local Government
ECA -The Electrical Contractors Association
ELECSA - ECA Certification Limited.
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSR0
Gas Industry Safety Group (GISG) - Formed in 2002, the Gas Industry Safety Group encourages co-operation between the main UK gas industries, to promote best practice and providing a forum to promote gas safety.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - The HSE is a Non-Departmental Public Body with Crown status, established under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It has responsibility for enforcing the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) - A standard by which the adequacy of housing can be measured.
LABC Local Authority Building Control
NAPIT The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers.
NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) is the United Kingdom's largest private sector building control body. It is authorised by DCLG to operate a Part P Competent Person Scheme.
Notifiable work -Work that is deemed notifiable, as stated in Approved Document P, must be notified to the relevant Local Authority's Building Control (LABC) department. If the work is carried out by a registered electrical contractor (also known as a 'competent person')
Part J -Part J of the Building Regulations covers the safe installation and use of combustion appliances, including boilers.
Part P - Part P of schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2000 is the sole specific legal framework that covers the safety of electrical installations in the home.
P1. Reasonable provision shall be made in the design and
Risk Based Assessment (RBA) An approach to vetting Competent Persons favoured by several scheme operators, where the vetting extent is based upon a risk-based analysis of the Competent Persons performance and quality controls. RBA would allow Part P scheme
Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 - There is liability in negligence on the part of the landlord for death or personal injury arising
UKAS accreditation The United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the Government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. According to NICEIC, UKAS accreditation for NICEIC and ECA Domestic Installer Scheme works out as a cost of £30 per da
Phil Buckle, from the Electrical Safety Council, agreed, and he cited the recent statistics: "Fires attributed to mains wiring—that is, after the distribution system—have declined by 17.5% from 1,057 in 2004 to 872 in 2008. It has had a significant impact on safety"
PROPOSED CHANGES TO PART P
The DCLG consultation document issued in January 2012 outlined possible changes to the Building Regulations regime, and set out the options for amending Part P in 2013, to:
revoke Part P; and
amend Part P, to reduce the costs and burdens it imposes on installers, building control bodies and consumers.
The third option of amending Part P is the Government's preferred option because, in the Government's view, "it would significantly reduce the cost to business of Part P in a way that continues to deliver the health and safety benefits sought" The proposed reduction in costs would be achieved by:
making a greater proportion of electrical installation jobs non-notifiable and
allowing DIYers and other unregistered installers (firms not registered with a Part P Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme) to employ a third party qualified electrician to inspect and test their work as an alternative to using a building control body.
Competent Person Schemes For an organisation to run a Competent Person Scheme (CPS), it has to meet stringent criteria.
COSTS OF BECOMING A COMPETENT PERSON SCHEME
Maintaining approval with an authorised body along with admin costs would come to typically £800-1,000 per annum,
The DCLG memorandum described the process of registering with a Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme, such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA:
Some installers must first attend training courses to gain extra qualifications in order to reach the required level of competence and purchase electrical test equipment. There are now around 39,000 installers registered with Part P Competent Person Schemes who have had their competence assessed; samples of their work checked regularly for compliance. At the time Part P was introduced there were 13,000 registered installers.
This process of registering, while ensuring that installers are suitably qualified, also adds to the burden place on installers.
Mandatory electrical competence scheme
We asked ourselves whether we should go further, in introducing a mandatory scheme; indeed, some of our evidence called for a mandatory registration requirement to be imposed upon electrical installation work as currently exists in the case of gas installations in the Gas Safety Register. The Electrical Safety Councilomeowners When we asked the Minister about imposing a mandatory registration requirement on electrical installation work, he replied that it was not "justified by the evidence we have. In the climate of the current Government, it would be a major regulatory step, which we would want to see real justification for before we considered doing it" We agree with the Minister that the imposing of a mandatory electrical competence scheme would be a considerable imposition on the electrical installation industry. It would only be justified if the current arrangements were failing. There have been calls for a mandatory requirement to use qualified electricians to install any electrical installation—in effect, the Gas Safe model applied to electrical work—with its mandatory use of registered installers. On balance, we are not convinced that such a scheme would be justified for electrical works at the present time. In our view it is better to improve the current arrangements, as we have suggested in our Report, and that a strengthened Part P Building Regulation regime would be better than a fully mandatory scheme at the present time. However, we recommend that the Government reports back to us in two years, on the success of the Government's changes, and in the report review the possibility of a mandatory use of registered installers. Building regulation approval[/B]
Oe of the options in the current DCLG consultation paper on Part P is to allow people who wish to carry out DIY electrical installations or electricians who do not wish to seek Competent Persons Scheme membership themselves to carry out electrical work and then employ a suitably qualified electrician to provide a view (by way of a certificate), which satisfies the requirements of Building Control, and which the Building Control body can then rely on. Paul Everall, from the Local Authority Building Control, thought such a move could be "a satisfactory solution in those sorts of circumstances".
The Minister told us that:
he proposed reductions in the requirements to get building regulation approval are going to be replaced by the option of getting competent advisers to do that. We do not believe that will do anything other than reduce the cost of the inspection; it will not reduce the level of inspection.]
This proposals, however, requires all parties working together, and we received evidence that showed that CPSs could work more closely with the Local Authority Building Control, to assist more closely with adherence to the Building Regulations. Paul Everall told us that better, and earlier, integration between the LABC and CPSs generally would help to control those not complying with Part
: Department of Health and HSE statistics
THERE ARE OVER 200000 ROAD ACCIDENTS AND OVER 2000 DEATHS IN THE UK EVERY YEAR
THERE ARE AROUND 30 DEATHS PER YEAR DUE TO (CO) POISONING IN THE UK THESE FIGURES HAVE NOT CHANGED PER YEAR SENSE GAS REGULATION WAS MADE COMPULSORY
YET EVERY YEAR WE ARE INSPECTED HAVE TO PAY ALMOST £200 AND HAVE THE PLEASURE OF RE-TRAINING EVERY 5 YEARS COSTING OVER £1000 WITH GAS APPLIANCES BECOMING SAFER EVERY YEAR DO WE REALLY NEED TO TO LEARN THE SAME THING.
WITH OVER 1000 PEOPLE KILLED DUE TO ELECTRICAL FIRES EVERY YEAR AND NOW CHANGING THE RULES TO ALLOW ANYBODY TO CARRY OUT ELECTRICAL WORK IT JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE... WELL NOT TO ME ANY WAY.
TRY TO READ SOME OF THE GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL
The British Standard that sets out the fundamental principles for achieving safety,
Independent third party checking of design proposals and work carried out by either a Local Authority or a licensed private sector organisation Approved Inspector)
The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 2010- allows local authorities to bring in external expertise and capability, and to vary building control fees when inspecting installations,
Building Regulations RevieDCLG is currently reviewing the Building Regulations, including Part P. The consultation closes on 27 April 2012, after which the final proposals will be published.
Competent Persons Scheme A scheme introduced by the Government to allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations
DCLG - the Department for Communities and Local Government
ECA -The Electrical Contractors Association
ELECSA - ECA Certification Limited.
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSR0
Gas Industry Safety Group (GISG) - Formed in 2002, the Gas Industry Safety Group encourages co-operation between the main UK gas industries, to promote best practice and providing a forum to promote gas safety.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - The HSE is a Non-Departmental Public Body with Crown status, established under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It has responsibility for enforcing the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) - A standard by which the adequacy of housing can be measured.
LABC Local Authority Building Control
NAPIT The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers.
NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) is the United Kingdom's largest private sector building control body. It is authorised by DCLG to operate a Part P Competent Person Scheme.
Notifiable work -Work that is deemed notifiable, as stated in Approved Document P, must be notified to the relevant Local Authority's Building Control (LABC) department. If the work is carried out by a registered electrical contractor (also known as a 'competent person')
Part J -Part J of the Building Regulations covers the safe installation and use of combustion appliances, including boilers.
Part P - Part P of schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2000 is the sole specific legal framework that covers the safety of electrical installations in the home.
P1. Reasonable provision shall be made in the design and
Risk Based Assessment (RBA) An approach to vetting Competent Persons favoured by several scheme operators, where the vetting extent is based upon a risk-based analysis of the Competent Persons performance and quality controls. RBA would allow Part P scheme
Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 - There is liability in negligence on the part of the landlord for death or personal injury arising
UKAS accreditation The United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the Government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. According to NICEIC, UKAS accreditation for NICEIC and ECA Domestic Installer Scheme works out as a cost of £30 per da
Phil Buckle, from the Electrical Safety Council, agreed, and he cited the recent statistics: "Fires attributed to mains wiring—that is, after the distribution system—have declined by 17.5% from 1,057 in 2004 to 872 in 2008. It has had a significant impact on safety"
PROPOSED CHANGES TO PART P
The DCLG consultation document issued in January 2012 outlined possible changes to the Building Regulations regime, and set out the options for amending Part P in 2013, to:
revoke Part P; and
amend Part P, to reduce the costs and burdens it imposes on installers, building control bodies and consumers.
The third option of amending Part P is the Government's preferred option because, in the Government's view, "it would significantly reduce the cost to business of Part P in a way that continues to deliver the health and safety benefits sought" The proposed reduction in costs would be achieved by:
making a greater proportion of electrical installation jobs non-notifiable and
allowing DIYers and other unregistered installers (firms not registered with a Part P Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme) to employ a third party qualified electrician to inspect and test their work as an alternative to using a building control body.
Competent Person Schemes For an organisation to run a Competent Person Scheme (CPS), it has to meet stringent criteria.
COSTS OF BECOMING A COMPETENT PERSON SCHEME
Maintaining approval with an authorised body along with admin costs would come to typically £800-1,000 per annum,
The DCLG memorandum described the process of registering with a Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme, such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA:
Some installers must first attend training courses to gain extra qualifications in order to reach the required level of competence and purchase electrical test equipment. There are now around 39,000 installers registered with Part P Competent Person Schemes who have had their competence assessed; samples of their work checked regularly for compliance. At the time Part P was introduced there were 13,000 registered installers.
This process of registering, while ensuring that installers are suitably qualified, also adds to the burden place on installers.
Mandatory electrical competence scheme
We asked ourselves whether we should go further, in introducing a mandatory scheme; indeed, some of our evidence called for a mandatory registration requirement to be imposed upon electrical installation work as currently exists in the case of gas installations in the Gas Safety Register. The Electrical Safety Councilomeowners When we asked the Minister about imposing a mandatory registration requirement on electrical installation work, he replied that it was not "justified by the evidence we have. In the climate of the current Government, it would be a major regulatory step, which we would want to see real justification for before we considered doing it" We agree with the Minister that the imposing of a mandatory electrical competence scheme would be a considerable imposition on the electrical installation industry. It would only be justified if the current arrangements were failing. There have been calls for a mandatory requirement to use qualified electricians to install any electrical installation—in effect, the Gas Safe model applied to electrical work—with its mandatory use of registered installers. On balance, we are not convinced that such a scheme would be justified for electrical works at the present time. In our view it is better to improve the current arrangements, as we have suggested in our Report, and that a strengthened Part P Building Regulation regime would be better than a fully mandatory scheme at the present time. However, we recommend that the Government reports back to us in two years, on the success of the Government's changes, and in the report review the possibility of a mandatory use of registered installers. Building regulation approval[/B]
Oe of the options in the current DCLG consultation paper on Part P is to allow people who wish to carry out DIY electrical installations or electricians who do not wish to seek Competent Persons Scheme membership themselves to carry out electrical work and then employ a suitably qualified electrician to provide a view (by way of a certificate), which satisfies the requirements of Building Control, and which the Building Control body can then rely on. Paul Everall, from the Local Authority Building Control, thought such a move could be "a satisfactory solution in those sorts of circumstances".
The Minister told us that:
he proposed reductions in the requirements to get building regulation approval are going to be replaced by the option of getting competent advisers to do that. We do not believe that will do anything other than reduce the cost of the inspection; it will not reduce the level of inspection.]
This proposals, however, requires all parties working together, and we received evidence that showed that CPSs could work more closely with the Local Authority Building Control, to assist more closely with adherence to the Building Regulations. Paul Everall told us that better, and earlier, integration between the LABC and CPSs generally would help to control those not complying with Part
: Department of Health and HSE statistics
