OT - DIY domestic electrical work after 1.1.2005

Haaahaaa! It only applies in England & Wales. Though FWIW, you can take a simple test and 'self-certify' yourself to carry out the work.

Richard

Why should I have to spend the money doing so (16th regs are not cheap) Yet another example of our facist Government sticking it's bloody nose in where it's not needed.

Indeed, but I'm in Scotland, so I am free to kill myself with dodgy wiring if I want ;)

Richard

Also sprach Chris Street :-

I shall simply ignore it.

Also sprach RichardK-PB :-

However, you're not free to be hunted by pack of dogs.

I hope you feel suitably shortchanged!

Like most people will, me especially. I'll make sure I rewire the shower with bigger cable when I change it to a 9.5 KW unit from the existing 7.5KW unit. This law would encourage me to leave the wiring alone and possibly cause a fire as a result. Another example of a Bliar law that's not needed, irrelevant, impossible to police and unlikely to have any effect whatsoever.

Wait till one comes out for DIY car repairs.

Stuart

Also sprach "Stuart Gray" :-

Exactly the same thought that crossed my mind when I heard about it.

However you will be unable to sell your house. Same with the FENSA window tax they have come up with - no certificate - no sale.

They (ie the fixit industry) tried that one on the grounds of safety. As if it would be safer for me to take my car to Qwak Fit and have them bung some brakes on rather than me do it myself. No thankyou.....

How would they know when the work was done?

I intend to do the work myself and f*ck it- no plans to move or sell my house anyway.

I'd like to see the stats that show this is needed legislation.

Grr.

They would know after March 31 2006.....

It is likely that any claim on your house insurance following a fire would be invalid also.

I have mixed feelings here. I'm all for anyone doing their own work on their own property/possessions. However, after over 40 years in the electrical industry I have seem some things done bordering on the criminal.

Chris

They would know after March 31 2006.....

It is likely that any claim on your house insurance following a fire would be invalid also.

Try here:

I have mixed feelings here. I'm all for anyone doing their own work on their own property/possessions. However, after over 40 years in the electrical industry I have seem some things done bordering on the criminal.

Well, maybe!

Chris

What annoys me is that it's perfectly legal to work untrained on your own gas installation - as that can go pop and cause problems for people living next door.....

As for electrics, I've put in a new fused spur and wall heater for the bathroom, a ring main for the kitchen since there was a sad single 13A socket before and split the single ring for the rest into two rings on separate breakers, so we have an RCD protected line and a non RCD for leaky PC's. I hate to think what a sparks would have charged me for all that, and I defy anyone to find anything wrong with it. However, even though it follows the latest regs I don't have the relevant bit of paper (yet) so it's probably illegal as hell but I don't give a toss.

Rant over...

That shower was fitted in 2004. As were the power points. The house was=20 rewired in December 2004. Anyways. I can still put in spurs and change=20 sockets from single to double where needed. And FENSA explicitly allows=20 for DIY glass replacement.. indeed DIY Window replacement.

FENSA is a 'good thing'(tm) from my point of view (to a certain extent).=20 It regulates the sale of glass and delegates responsibility to the=20 seller (bad). but it makes the seller a *touch* paranoid and makes sure=20 that the safety glass conversation actually happens. Just after it came=20 in, we broke a pane in a high up opener in our conservatory. A chart was=20 consulted, a brief discussion about the cost of safety glass and costs=20 and we decided to go with a simple pane of the basic stuff. Rolling on=20 to earlier this year, the door of the conservatory was sticking a bit=20 and SWMBO put her hip against the opposing door to give it a good tug.=20 That pane shattered into shards giving her a couple of nasty looking=20 cuts and a split skirt where she'd been somewhat more conservativly=20 dressed before.=20

My reaction was somewhat reserved. Conversation somewhere along the=20 lines of "are you OK?" "Yes".. "OK ..You slammed your hip on a big pane=20 of glass hard and you want me to fix it.. You get to measure and buy the=20 bit of glass." She didn't go to the place I told her to go (I've at=20 least found a reasonably priced place to buy glass since moving here).=20 She went to some place she found in the Yellow Pages that was on the way=20 to where she needed to be. They told her that the pane needed to be=20 fitted by a professional by law, that it must be toughened glass and=20 nothing else would be acceptable and it'd take 3 weeks.=20

A phonecall later she diverted to the place I'd told her to go. And was=20 told that yes the glass was in a safety area and that she could have=20 either laminate or toughened (with toughened taking 2 weeks since it=20 needs to be cut before it is re-baked), that it was perfectly acceptable=20 for it to be fitted by me. We went for the laminate since although it=20 was a whole =A32 more for the pane, it is safer and could be cut the same= =20 day.=20

I'm currently in the middle of a slow project to replace the rest of the=20 toddler height panes with laminate or double glazed units. It isn't=20 illegal, it will probably increase the value of the house slightly. It=20 won't prevent the house being sold.

Warwick

If the buyer wants the house, they'll buy the house. Al

No they wouldn't. I am using new colour cables now. So cable colour doesn't determine when work was done.

There's no clause in my policy that says I need a certificate. It's possible that the insurance might not pay out in full if they could show I had been contributorally (sp) negligent, but they would have to at least prove that I had actually acted illegally to not pay out at all.

Besides, I wouldn't undertake electrical work unless I was confident that I was following the regs. Do you honestly believe that work carried out by a self-certifying sparky is significantly more safe than that carried out by a competent DIYer?

Al

Only legal if you are a competent person.

All completely legal if it follows the regs. No paper required.

Al