‘Cowboys charter’ shocks electricians

Firms of electricians across the country fear they will lose business to cowboy operators from January 1 when new regulations requiring all domestic work to be certificated comes into force.

The building regulations, called Part P, force electricians to pay for £2m of liability insurance cover and to prove they have proper qualifications.

If they can do this, they can become approved electricians, self-certifying their work. If not, they will have to call in local authority officials to inspect any work they do worth more than £200.

Roland and Marcus Carrington, of Newport Pagnell company RM Carrington and Sons, are among thousands of companies that the UK Trades Confederation says could be hurt by the changes. Mr Carrington, whose £144,000-turnover firm mostly does work on homes, has found that, after working for 35 years as an electrician, he suddenly does not have the necessary formal qualifications to be approved.

“Luckily for me, Marcus has an NVQ in electrical installations so he will be considered a ‘competent’ person for the Part P registration. I cannot believe that I could have to go back to college and take an exam. I feel it is an insult to my skill and experience.”

The Carringtons believe the Government should have given the trade more time to get ready for the new regime, which was announced on June 29 and includes a raft of new red tape, like the requirement for a firms to keep a complaints log book.

“As a small business, we just don’t have the time to deal with heaps of forms and paperwork – otherwise we wouldn’t make any money. Most of our jobs are small, so, if we do 30 jobs a week we have to put together a contract for each job over £200 and register each one.”

Marcus Carrington said he was most concerned by the burden of the additional insurance premiums. “It’s hard enough keeping the flow of business coming in and trying to make a living, but with these additional costs it means my father and I are going to have to put our prices up. Our main concern is that electricians that have not bothered to become Part P registered will still carry on working and undercut us.”

He adds that, unlike the Corgi certification for gas plumbers, few customers have heard about the new regime, which follows on from similar rules over the installation or restoration of windows in April 2002. The Government is also expected to impose new regulations on the copper piping in the next few years.

“At the moment, I cannot see any benefits from being Part P registered,” said Marcus Carrington. “Any legislation put in place to make things safer is better, but I would like to see more awareness so that I know htat homeowners will come to us because we are Part P registered rather than the cowboys who slip through the net.”

Mr Carrington’s concerns are echoed by Jonathan Reader, who set up his business, Reader Electrical Engineering, in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, last January. “Most people won’t bother as there hasn’t been enough awareness. I have started taking my customers printed material from the internet about Part P but most of them don’t understand it.

“It seems very unfair on electricians that there hasn’t been the same awareness as the Corgi regulation -everyone knows you need a Corgi-registered person to fit or maintain a boiler and you cannot buy the parts yourself. However, you can buy electrical equipment in a DIY store.”

The London Fire Brigade, which has welcomed the new regulations, said 4pc of fire deaths are caused by poor electrical wiring and appliance faults.

The UKTC has produced a leaflet on the new rules, which can be obtained by calling 0800 018 4442 or email mail@uktc.org.

From The Telegragh