Call to Raise Work Standards and Improve Public Awareness of Part P

gazza — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

gazza Thu, 06/03/2014

A report published today (6th March 2014) by the Communities and Local Government Committee (not be be confused with the DCLG, Department of Communities and Local Government) suggests that work standards have shown improvement since the introduction of Part P 8 years ago, but there is still some way to go before deeming Part P to be a success story. The committee have identified the following proposals to improve the overall effectiveness of Part P:
competence requirements to be rolled out within five years for all those actually doing electrical work to which Part P applies.
During the five-year transition there should be an annual limit—agreed by the industry—on the maximum number of transactions that a single qualified supervisor can review.
Government to double public awareness of Part P within two years and aim for an awareness level similar to that of Gas Safe within five years.
Patchy enforcement is currently undermining the effectiveness of Part P. It is essential that those who deliberately stay outside the competent persons schemes and operate in breach of building regulations are identified, reported and prosecuted.
The committee have identified two main areas of focus to bring Part P very much into the limelight and that is to raise standards amongst electricians by insisting on full qualifications up to the Quality Supervisor (QS) standard and raising public awareness of Part P significantly. Currently public awareness of Part P is an alarming 14%. The committee want Part P to have an awareness level comparable to that of the Gas Safe scheme.
Improving qualification levels
The committee is questioning the integrity of the current QS system which according to the NICEIC has been in place for over 50 years, where one electrician who holds a QS (NVQ level 3 equivalent) qualification is responsible for signing off the work of electricians who are not at QS level. The committee wants to see all electricians working to the QS level and has proposed a timeline of 5 years in which to achieve this.
The NICEIC also state that 80% of the work carried out under Part P is carried out by sole traders and standards are already high. The committee therefore feels that it won't be too challenging to increase the qualification level of the remaining 20% to that of QS standard.
Whilst the idea of higher qualification requirements amongst electricians is a good one in principal, the proposal has been brought forward for Government consultation with very little input from the electrical industry particularly those actually carrying out the electrical work – domestic installers, small electrical contractors and larger firms who are potentially faced with the reality of increased costs and increased numbers of QS level electricians which may not be a necessary standard for the type of work that is being carried out.
Whilst NAPIT have welcomed this move, concern has also been expressed by the NICEIC and ELECSA regarding the long term effects such a proposition may have on the electrical industry particularly in relation to the cost burden vs taking on more apprentices for example.
There has also been concern amongst the main scheme providers that the suggestion made of incompetent electricians being registered is not correct. Only suitably qualified electricians can obtain registration and members of the public using the services of a qualified and registered electrician can be sure that their electrician is competent. The idea of an incompetent person turning up at peoples doorsteps is not an accurate one. According to the Governments own impact assessment on Part P 27,000 more electricians are sending off regular samples of work to be checked and are being assessed on a regular basis than before.
Warmly Received
One proposal the committee suggests that has been warmly received by the electrical industry is to impose a limit on the number of jobs a QS is able to sign off. This is to maintain a high level of working standards and avoid the scenario of a quick check and sign off.
Improving Public Awareness
Both the Government and the Electrical Industry acknowledge that public awareness of Part P is at an abysmal level. The Government want to aim for public awareness of Part P to be around 45% which is a similar figure to that of the Gas Safe scheme. NAPIT have welcomed this move claiming it is something that they have long campaigned for.
The first major step taken towards this was the recent agreement of the introduction of a single register produced in collaboration with CERTSURE and NAPIT where members of the public can search for an electrician. The introduction of a single register is the culmination of Governmental discussion that has been ongoing since 2012 when 2 individual registers were created.
The new register will not be endorsed and will hold the details of only qualified and registered electricians. The register will be complete by June 2014 according to the NICEIC.
The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) welcome the Government proposals to raise public awareness of Part P. The ESC are perfectly placed to help the Government and the Electrical Industry to raise public campaigns on the dangers of electricity.
Industry Support
Furthermore the ESC support the Governments proposal of enforcement programmes to protect Part P aimed at individuals who deliberately stay outside of the Part P regulations and operate in breach of Part P standards and regulations. However the ESC believes that imposing a levy on members of scheme providers which would provide the finding for programmes of this nature would be undermining.
The Electrical Safety Council will be changing it's name to Electrical Safety First on the 28th March 2014.
What Happens Next
The report will be consulted and reviewed sometime in the next year by the Minister for communities and local government, Eric Pickles.
If the proposals are approved, the electrical industry will have 5 years in which to implement them.

News Categories

Exclusive Industry News, Part P Changes, Part P Awareness, Part P Improvement