With amendment 3 on its way, there will be some changes over the terminology used to describe a qualified electrician.
It has been a long standing bone of contention within the electrical industry as to the wording used to describe a qualified electrician as a competent person. This term at best could be confusing and at worse could be open to abuse with some householders terming themselves as competent persons without actually holding the qualifications and other individuals passing themselves off as a competent person knowing it to be wrong.
Looking ahead to Amendment 3
With Amendment 3 coming into full effect this year, it has been confirmed by the IET that the definition 'competent person' will be removed completely and replaced with clearer terminology that reflects Electrotechnical vocabulary and will be reflected throughout the wiring regulations.
It has been confirmed that competent person will be replaced with 'skilled person' and 'instructed persons'.
As an example, Regulation 134.1.1 has been changed from:
"Good workmanship by competent persons or persons under their supervision and proper materials shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation. Electrical equipment shall be installed in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the equipment."
to:
"Good workmanship by skilled (electrically) or instructed (electrically) persons and proper materials shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation. The installation of electrical equipment shall take account of manufacturers’ instructions."
When will the changes take effect?
For now using competent person won't be a problem, however it would be a good idea to start using the correct terminology as soon as possible to ensure you are up to speed by the time Amendment 3 comes into effect fully on the 1st July 2015.
The change from competent person to skilled persons or instructed persons will hopefully clarify what has been a grey area within the electrical industry for a long time.