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Select committee inquiry

Building Regulations certification of domestic electrical work

Closed

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee · Opened 23 October 2013 · Closed 26 March 2015

9 recommendations · 7 conclusions
Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

What the inquiry looked at

“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. The Committee wanted to establish whether these are isolated problems or point to wider, systemic inadequacies with the competent persons scheme. Inquiry terms of reference”

The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.

What it found

In the committee's words, from the summary of 7th Report - Building Regulations certification of domestic electrical work (Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report) ↗

Since its introduction over eight years ago Part P, which brought some domestic electrical work within building control, has pushed domestic electrical installation standards up. But it is now clear that further improvement is needed. We have particular concerns about the competence of those actually carrying out electrical works in domestic homes and about the negative effect on their training. Our key recommendations are that the competence and qualifications of those actually carrying out work must be raised.

Under competent persons schemes—the main mechanism for certifying that domestic electrical work complies with the Building Regulations—compliance is checked by a qualified supervisor. This means that the person who turns up on the doorstep does not have to be a qualified electrician and the scheme has the effect of branding as competent some who may be incompetent. We call for competence requirements to be rolled out to all those doing electrical work to which Part P applies.

In the meantime the qualified supervisor will continue to have a crucial role in ensuring the integrity of the system. We welcome the recent raising of the requirements for new qualified supervisors. In addition, there has to be a limit on the number of notifications that a single qualified supervisor can authorise in a year, to ensure qualified supervisors devote an adequate amount of time to checking each job.

Public awareness of Part P stands at a dismal 14%, which may even be an over-estimate, and which compares to 45% for Gas Safe, the replacement for CORGI. The Government should aim to double this figure within two years and aim for a public awareness level broadly comparable with Gas Safe within five years. We urge the Government working with the scheme operators and those concerned with domestic safety to make a determined push to raise awareness with a focus on the new brand and the register which schemes operators are now at last finalising.

Enforcement by local authorities is patchy. Local authorities need to have more resources to tackle those who put the public at risk by breaching Part P. We recommend a package of measures from improvements, to make it easier to report breaches, to on-the-spot-fines for those in breach of Part P.

If the competent persons schemes are to continue as the Government's preferred route for compliance with building control, it needs to tighten the operation of the schemes and ensure that those who stay outside a scheme and attempt to carry out notifiable work in breach of building control are identified and stopped. In the absence of a determined drive to improve the competent persons schemes for domestic electrical work the case for moving over to require a mandatory use of registered installers will become overwhelming.

What the government said

The government responded on 20 May 2014.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response.

The government accepts some of the Committee's concerns and agrees to monitor Part P and discuss supervision with industry, but does not accept requirements for all domestic electrical workers to meet qualified supervisor standards or for a levy to fund local authority enforcement.

  • On monitoring Part P, the government "notes the Committee's request" for results by February 2015 and "will use its best endeavours to achieve this", with timing depending on the availability of up-to-date statistics.
  • It does not intend to ask UKAS to change its practice on the confidentiality of internal assessment reports. It will inform the Committee of the results once published, including which schemes are listed as compliant by 6 June.
  • It "does not accept" that all people engaged in domestic electrical work need to meet current qualified supervisor entry requirements, but will "discuss with the industry whether any changes are needed" to ensure supervision is robust.
  • It is "not convinced" that a levy on registered installers to fund local authority enforcement would be fair or proportionate, and it does not consider special fining or costs arrangements for Part P breaches appropriate.

Read the government's response ↗ Read the report ↗ Report an error

How the inquiry ran

Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 23 October 2013 to its close on 26 March 2015.

  1. Oral evidence 3 sessions
  2. Report 6 Mar 2014
  3. Government response 20 May 2014
  4. Correspondence 7 letters

What it recommended 9 recommendations · 7 conclusions

1We found some of the arguments that the Government advanced on 18 December 2012, to...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We found some of the arguments that the Government advanced on 18 December 2012, to justify narrowing the scope of Part P, to lack evidence and therefore to be unconvincing.
2We recommend that when the Government reviews the operation of Part P in 2015 that,...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that when the Government reviews the operation of Part P in 2015 that, as well as the effects on safety and the burden on business and local government, it assess the impact that making the 2013 changes has had on public awareness of Part P and on the understanding that (i) those carrying out DIY and large and small contractors have of what is and what is not notifiable for the purpose of building control and (ii) all work is still subject to compliance with relevant standards.
3In order to allow us to review the outcome of the 2015 review of Part...
Concluded (the committee's words)
In order to allow us to review the outcome of the 2015 review of Part P, it would assist us if in response to this report the Minister could supply the following. First, the Department’s timetable for carrying out the work and confirmation that the work will be completed and passed to us by the end of February 2015, to allow us to consider it and, if necessary, take evidence and report before the end of the parliament. Second, it would be of assistance to know: (i) against what criteria Part P will be reviewed (including those we have suggested in this report), (ii) who will carry out the review, (iii) how the evidence will be collected and (iv) the degree of independence in the process.
4We cannot see any convincing reason why results of the UK Accreditation Service review of...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We cannot see any convincing reason why results of the UK Accreditation Service review of the competent persons schemes should not be published in full and indeed any reticence or withholding of the results risks being counter-productive and interpreted as screening the operation of the Part P competent persons schemes from scrutiny and criticism. We recommend that the results of the UK Accreditation Service review of the Part P competent persons scheme operators due in June 2014 be published in full.
5We welcome the UKAS review and when it produces its findings we shall pay close...
Concluded (the committee's words)
We welcome the UKAS review and when it produces its findings we shall pay close attention to what it reports on competence. It will, understandably, measure the operation of the system against the rules set by government. We would therefore expect it to focus on the competence of the qualified supervisor rather than directly on that of the electrician on the doorstep. The concerns put to us go to the competence of the electrician on the doorstep and whether the qualified supervisor ensures such competence, which is a question we examine later in this report.
6In our view the Government has until 2015 to show that the competent persons scheme...
Concluded (the committee's words)
In our view the Government has until 2015 to show that the competent persons scheme model can work effectively for domestic electrical installation. We emphasise that it is for the Government—not the competent persons scheme operators or local authorities—to ensure the effective and consistent operation of Part P. This Government and its predecessors have favoured the competent persons model for the implementation of building control compliance over a mandatory requirement to use a qualified electrician. The Government has to demonstrate that its preferred model can match a mandatory model.
7We recommend that the Government change the terms of the competent persons schemes for Part...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government change the terms of the competent persons schemes for Part P to require by a specified date that all those carrying out domestic electrical work have a qualification equivalent to NVQ, Level III and to have completed successfully a significant period of supervised on the job training for the work they undertake, which is notifiable under Part P. Our aim is to ensure that all work notifiable for the purposes of Part P will have to be carried out by a suitable qualified person.
8In our view a requirement for those carrying out notifiable domestic electrical work to have...
Concluded (the committee's words)
In our view a requirement for those carrying out notifiable domestic electrical work to have a qualification equivalent to NVQ, Level III and to have completed successfully a significant period of supervised on the job training would have additional benefits. It could feature in a campaign to raise public awareness as a guarantee of an assured standard by the person carrying out the electrical work and also in the longer term reduce the need for vigorous enforcement as the quality of work improved.
9We recommend that all qualified supervisors—not just those new to the profession or moving within...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that all qualified supervisors—not just those new to the profession or moving within the profession—be required to meet the standards, including qualifications, set out in the Building Regulations: Competent Person Self- Certification Schemes—Conditions of Authorisation from 6 June 2012 within the next 10 years.
10We recommend that there should be a limit on the maximum number of transactions that...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that there should be a limit on the maximum number of transactions that a single qualified supervisor/competent person can effectively review each year. The purpose of our recommendation is to increase the time that a qualified supervisor has to review the work carried out by those who are not competent persons for the purpose of a Part P scheme. We do not specify a ratio. Instead, the Government and the competent persons scheme operators should agree what is a reasonable number given the obvious current imbalance. They could, for example, define what a reasonable audit process would be, which would give a number of audits and with a given time per audit that would define reasonable numbers.
11In our view it is not acceptable to say that, because enforcement is poor, improvements...
Concluded (the committee's words)
In our view it is not acceptable to say that, because enforcement is poor, improvements cannot be made to the Part P competent persons schemes. We conclude that the Part P competent persons schemes need to change. All those carrying out domestic electrical work should be brought up to the competency level of those who meet the 2012 requirements for a qualified supervisor. When this is achieved the need for qualified supervisors will reduce. We recognise that such a change will take time and we propose that this adjustment be made over a five year period. At the end of this period any person carrying out domestic electrical work would have to be certified competent, which would mean that they were qualified, trained and experienced. At the moment the scheme has the effect of branding as competent some who are plainly incompetent and in the process undermining the operation of competent persons schemes. Pending the full implementation there needs to be an end to the 'grandfather' rights enjoyed by those qualified supervisors who came into a scheme before 2013 and a limit on the number of notifications that a single qualified supervisor can authorise in a year.
12Our inquiry is not the vehicle to examine the merits or otherwise of targets but...
Recommended (the committee's words)
Our inquiry is not the vehicle to examine the merits or otherwise of targets but it must be accepted that 14% public awareness of Part P or of the competent persons schemes that implement compliance is unacceptable. We conclude that the Government should aim to double this figure within two years and aim for an awareness level broadly comparable with Gas Safe within five years.
13We welcome the establishment of a single register open to, and covering, all those registered...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We welcome the establishment of a single register open to, and covering, all those registered with a competent persons scheme for Part P. We urge the competent persons scheme operators to build on the work they have done and to ensure that a single register linked to a single brand is fully operational by 30 June this year.
14We recommend that the Government, through the conditions of the Building Regulations: Competent Person Self-Certification...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government, through the conditions of the Building Regulations: Competent Person Self-Certification Schemes—Conditions of Authorisation permit, or if necessary seek legislative provision, to require the competent persons scheme operators for Part P to focus publicity on the single electrical register and linked brand mark.
15With the results of the UKAS review of the Part P competent persons scheme operators...
Concluded (the committee's words)
With the results of the UKAS review of the Part P competent persons scheme operators due in June 2014 and on the basis that the report is published in full, we conclude that it would be premature in this report to comment further on the monitoring and supervision of the competent persons by the scheme operators. We shall consider the matter further when the UKAS review has been completed and consider the matter again.
16We conclude that the evidence points at best to patchy enforcement by local authorities, though...
Recommended (the committee's words)
We conclude that the evidence points at best to patchy enforcement by local authorities, though for understandable reasons. If the competent persons schemes Building Regulations certification of domestic electrical work 29 continue and if the changes we have recommended in this report are made, it is essential that those who stay outside a scheme and attempt to carry out notifiable work in breach of building control be identified, reported and prosecuted. We recommend that as a matter of urgency the Government put in place new arrangements to incentivise and assist local authorities to strengthen enforcement of Part P. We suggest such arrangements could include the following: a) a levy on those registered with a competent persons scheme to be used to provide a fund to enhance enforcement; the funding arrangements for enforcement could be managed on behalf of local authorities, possibly through an agency such as LABC; b) local authorities to inspect a sample of the notifications; c) the Government working with local authorities to put in place and publicise arrangements to allow householders, contractors and scheme operators to report work carried out in breach of Part P; d) where there is prima facie evidence of a breach the local authority should investigate and, where a breach has been found to have occurred, the authority should have a range of sanctions available including on-the-spot fines; and e) where a local authority successfully prosecutes a breach through the courts, the court should as a matter of course award the local authority its full costs from initiating and pursuing the prosecution and a portion of the fine imposed because of the breach.

Evidence

Oral evidence sessions 3

Correspondence 7 letters