A report published by the Electrical Safety Roundtable (ESR) reveals damning evidence that 72% of Local Authorities had taken no action against Part P non-compliance between 2011 and 2013. The report also highlighted that only 2% of Local Authorities had attempted to prosecute under Part P with only one successful prosecution during the entire 3 year period.
These figures appear to make a mockery of a very important building regulation, designed to protect householders against dangerous electrical work. Such lack of enforcement control is paving the way for more rogue traders and unregistered electricians to continue to put unsuspecting householders at risk as their work is going unchecked and unchallenged.
Why are Local Authorities not doing more?
On the face of it, it seems ludicrous that Local Authorities are turning what appears to be a blind eye towards Part P standards, however it seems that Local Authorities have a lack of effective deterrence powers available to them. Additionally, there have been funding cuts to housing services of 34% over the last 5 years so resources are being stretched to the limit. At the moment it seems that even the Local Authority have their hands tied to a large extent.
The publication of the report by the ESR provides ground based evidence to the Government that the current strategies in place to address non-compliance with Part P are too thin on the ground and are proving ineffective. This follows a survey of enforcement practices of every Local Authority in England and which returned an 87% response rate. This proved to be one of the largest studies of its kind.
As a result of the findings, the ESR have urged the Government to carefully consider the findings and recommendations within the report. One of the main recommendations is to give Local Authorities and scheme providers appropriate powers and support to enforce Part P effectively.
Can scheme providers do more then?
Scheme providers are a gateway for genuine electricians to register themselves on the Part P register which allows them to self certify their work as being compliant with the Part P building regulations. It would make sense therefore that if the Local Authority cannot help then the scheme provider could instead.
Unfortunately this is not an option either and there is no shortage of scheme provider members who agree that Part P is not being enforced as effectively as it should be. As a result of this concern, NAPIT sponsored the investigation that lead to the publication of the report. Unsurprisingly, the report highlighted that scheme operators have a key role to play in influencing positive change but also lack any legal enforcement powers or the ability to carry out safety checks on work carried out by unregistered contractors.
The recommendations
The central aim of the report was to gather data on enforcement in a subject area of public interest for which only small studies and anecdotal evidence have previously been available. It also aims to provide recommendations on how enforcement of Part P could be improved, including:
Giving local authorities greater powers, such as the ability to issue on-the-spot fines, fixed monetary penalties or stop notices to those responsible for sub-standard work.
Requiring electrical installers to report on dangerous situations found as gas installers are currently required to do.
Bringing DCLG, LABC and Competent Person Scheme Operators together to discuss whether agreement on how and when referrals to the Building Control Departments of local authorities should be used by scheme operators and how the local authority should act on the information.
Suggesting that Government could look into making it a legal requirement for all electrical work which falls under Part P of the Building Regulations to be carried out by a registered, competent electrical installer.
Considering the implementation of a “Local Government Transparency Scheme”, where local authority Building Control departments could name and shame those responsible for non-compliant electrical work.
All of the recommendations within the report were based on the principles of encouraging cooperation between industry, Government and local authorities and proposing solutions that take account of and seek to remove the obstacles to effective enforcement.
More stringent enforcement is needed
With current statistics suggesting that up to 20,000 unregistered electricians are carrying out electrical work in homes across the UK on a daily basis, it is clear to see that more needs to be done to tackle the growing problem of Part P non-compliance.
More Governmental support is required to at least bring electrical regulations in line with those of Gas. Most householders comply with gas safety recommendations and appear to understand the role of the Gas Safe scheme. A similar model is required for electrical regulations with a model that customers can understand to ensure their electrical safety.
Round 1 has begun....lets see where it takes us!