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Q&As
How Much Electrical Work Can I Do?
Next year we will be converting a barn into a home and i would like to do as much of the work as I possibly can. This includes electrics – definitely first fix and possibly second fix. I am not a qualified electrician but a very competent DIY-er. I am unsure under the currently regulations (ed 17) and new regulations (ed 18) from July 2018 what I would be allowed to do? The online forums are contradictory in what is allowed. I would be grateful for your guidance including the role of building control in the commissioning of the system.
Kind regards,
Steve Callaghan
Asked by SYBarn
One Answer
I get asked a lot about this and my answer is always the same. Get a Part P qualified electrician, qualified to Part 17 of the IET Witring Regulations on board. The simple fact is that they can sign everything off to the satisfaction of Building Control, you can’t.
If you ask your local building control to sign off your DIY work, they will want to inspect everything and charge you commercial rates for the privilege so it will still cost you. Asking a qualified electricial to sign off your own DIY work is risky for them because if something you have done incorrectly causes a problem, it is they who will get the blame and it can cost them their livelihood, and that’s why they don’t tend to do so!
A sensible halfway house would be to hire a qualified electrician, but agree that you will help with the carcassing work like running cables and help with the second fix finishing work, while all the connections are done by the qualified tradesman. This might allow you to negotiate a reduced price for the work, but to be honest, they will be on site for the same amount of time and will probably want the same pay for their time as a result – the only saving is if the work can be completed quicker and I bet he can work faster on his own rather than having to tell you what to do and supervise what you have done.
There is very little you can do on a DIY basis without notification and absolutely nothing when it comes to wiring up a whole house to the consumer unit. My advice, therefore, is either do a course to get qualified to do the work yourself or bite the bullet and pay for a Part P Qualified tradesman to do the work for you.
– Mike Hardwick, Build It expert