Building Control Electrical Work Certification (Wales)

[tuftythesquirrel]

Hello,

I am in Wales and am attempting to find out from my Building Control officer what paperwork I need to satisfy him regarding the electrical work. He has said I need a BS 7671 EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate).

I’ve been an electrical engineer for decades so I want to carry out the electrical work myself. However, even though I have a degree in electrical engineering and worked in the automation industry for that period, I do not have an 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS7671:2022) qualification.

My electrician says he can’t provide that since he won’t be carrying out the work himself. BS 7671 says “the person signing the EIC is responsible for the "Design, Construction. Inspection and Testing". That’s is quite clear.

The current approved document P, as I understand it, seems to cater for installers who are not qualified e.g. contractors or DIYers (See 1.24 below). It then specifically says not to use the BS 7671 EIC for the certification (See 1.27 and 1.28 below). It doesn’t say what you need to provide and hands it over to BC, who in my case ask for a document (EIC) that shouldn’t be used!

c. Where installers are not qualified to complete BS 7671 completion certificates
1.24
Where such installers (who may be contractors or DIYers) carry out notifiable electrical work, the building control body must be notified before the work starts. Where the work is necessary because of an emergency the building control body should be notified as soon as possible. The building control body then becomes responsible for making sure that the work is safe and complies with all relevant requirements in the Building Regulations.

Certification of notifiable work....
c. Where installers are not qualified to complete BS 7671 completion certificates....
1.27
A building control body will not issue a BS 7671 installation certificate (as these can be issued only by those carrying out the work), but only a Building Regulations completion certificate (the local authority) or a final certificate (an approved inspector).

Third party certification
1.28
Unregistered installers should not themselves arrange for a third party to carry out final inspection and testing. The third party – not having supervised the work from the outset – would not be in a position to verify that the installation work complied fully with BS 7671:2001 requirements. An electrical installation certificate can be issued only by the installer responsible for the installation work.

So my question is does anyone else have experience of what I need to do (in Wales would be nice), since what my BCO is asking for doesn’t seem correct.

Thanks.

 

[Murdoch]

What your BCO is what you need to do ……..

have read the 2010 version of part P ?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I am in Wales and am attempting to find out from my Building Control officer what paperwork I need to satisfy him regarding the electrical work. He has said I need a BS 7671 EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate).

So my question is does anyone else have experience of what I need to do (in Wales would be nice), since what my BCO is asking for doesn’t seem correct.

I think your answers are in bullet points 1.25 & 1.26 that you omitted to copy & paste? Basically the BCO should either inspect the work themselves or nominate someone to check it on their behalf then if they are happy they will issue the building regs compliance notification.

1.25 The amount of inspection and testing needed is for the building control body to decide, based on the nature and extent of the electrical work. For relatively simple notifiable jobs, such as adding a socket-outlet to a kitchen circuit, the inspection and testing requirements will be minimal. For a house re-wire, a full set of inspections and tests may need to be carried out.

1.26 The building control body may choose to carry out the inspection and testing itself, or to contract out some or all of the work to a specialist body to carry out the work on its behalf. Where the building control body is a local authority it cannot require the building owner to undertake this work. However, under the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 2010, the authority may charge a higher building control charge when first notified the work or levy a supplementary charge later, based on the recovery of its costs

 

[mort2376]

Or have an EICR carried out which when the original electrician has done a runner is an option I have offered and has been accepted by building control.

But it's usually a more in depth EICR as I took every accessory off and checked every terminal.

 

[Phoenix]

My electrician says he can’t provide that since he won’t be carrying out the work himself. BS 7671 says “the person signing the EIC is responsible for the "Design, Construction. Inspection and Testing". That’s is quite clear.

If you are competant to design and install, then just use a three signiture EIC and just have him sign for inspection?

 

[mort2376]

My electrician says he can’t provide that since he won’t be carrying out the work himself. BS 7671 says “the person signing the EIC is responsible for the "Design, Construction. Inspection and Testing". That’s is quite clear.

On an EIC form it's 3 separate boxes. Designed so 3 people can fill the form in.

The designer, who may never actually visit the job itself.

The installer, who, surprise surprise installs the job.

The inspection and test person, usually in larger companies a designated person holding an inspection and testing qualification such as 2391.

It can be the same person does all 3 roles, or 3 people take a role each.

Either way it's done correctly as long as each individual is competent to do the role required.

 

[Bruspark]

On an EIC form it's 3 separate boxes. Designed so 3 people can fill the form in.

The designer, who may never actually visit the job itself.

The installer, who, surprise surprise installs the job.

The inspection and test person, usually in larger companies a designated person holding an inspection and testing qualification such as 2391.

It can be the same person does all 3 roles, or 3 people take a role each.

Either way it's done correctly as long as each individual is competent to do the role required.

Or these days:
The designer, J Smith Esq ltd, long retired, who once did an outline drawing subsequently used in 10,000+ installations

The installer, who subbed it to a kitchen fitter he knew from a weekend demolition job

The inspector (of remittances) who works in the accounts dept of the Designers umbrella company . .

Just joking . . .