Building regulations certification of electrical installation and repairs in dwellings

The Committee invites submissions from those with experience of the operation of the electrical competent persons scheme to establish whether it is operating in the best interests of the public.

Competent Person Schemes allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations as an alternative to submitting a building notice or using an approved inspector.

Following up its inquiry and subsequent report on building regulations, the Committee took oral evidence on 2 September 2013 from bodies responsible for accrediting the competent persons scheme for domestic electrical works. A number of those who watched the session subsequently wrote to the Committee to express concern about the operation of the scheme.  Today their submissions have been posted on the Committee's website. The Committee wants to establish whether these are isolated problems or point to wider, systemic inadequacies with the competent persons scheme.

The Committee is keen to establish:

• the extent to which members of the public are aware of the competent persons scheme and that certain domestic electrical works need to be reviewed and certified to meet the requirements of Building Regulations;
• the extent to which those carrying out electrical works are adequately trained to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations and the extent to which all those working for a company are brought up to the same level of skills;
• the extent to which those carrying out electrical works, to which the Building Regulations apply, review or have their work reviewed to ensure that it meets the requirements of the Regulations;
• the adequacy of the review of electrical works carried out by Competent Persons;
• the effect of competition between accreditation bodies, and the two separate registers of electricians, on the standards of review of domestic electrical work; and
• the adequacy of the supervision by DCLG of the accreditation schemes.

Deadline

The Committee asks for written submissions in accordance with the guidelines below by midday on Thursday 5 December 2013. As a guideline submissions should be no longer than 3000 words.

Please note
As part of a scheme to encourage paperless working and maximise efficiency, the Committee is piloting a new web portal for online submissions of written evidence. Written submissions for this inquiry should therefore be sent via the Communities and Local Government website.

• Link to submit your evidence
• Link to guidance on submitting written evidence

Please note submissions should not be submitted as pdfs. If you have any problems with the web portal please contact Emma McIntosh, Senior Committee Assistant on 0207 219 4972.

Submissions should be uploaded via the Committee website no later than the deadline.

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