Electrical safety
Electrical work requiring Building Regulation application
You will need to obtain building regulation approval from
us when you are:
- Providing a new installation or rewiring a dwelling.
- Replacing a distribution board or consumer unit.
- Creating an additional circuit to an existing mains
supply.
- Adding additional sockets or switches to kitchen, bathrooms, or
'special locations'.
- Installing extra low voltage lighting, other than pre-assembled
C.E marked lighting sets.
- Making or altering an electric supply to domestic outbuildings,
or external locations or other 'special locations'
A 'special location' is a location containing a
bathtub or shower basin, swimming pools or padding pools, or hot
air saunas.
Electrical work NOT requiring Building Regulation
application
You will NOT need to submit a building regulation application
for:
- Work undertaken by an electrician registered with a Part P
Competent Person Scheme.
- Replacing sockets, switches or ceiling roses (even when in a
kitchen, bathroom or 'special location') providing it does not
include the provision of any new fixed cabling.
- Replacing like for like cables for a single circuit only, where
damage has occurred for example,. by fire or rodents etc.
Replacement cables must have the same current carrying capacity and
follow the same route.
- Refixing like for like cables for a single circuit only, where
damage has occurred for example, by fire or rodents and so on.
Replacement cables must have the same current carrying capacity and
follow the same route.
- Refixing or replacing the enclosures of existing installation
components, where the circuit protective measures are
unaffected.
- Providing mechanical protection in existing installation
components, where the circuit protective measures and current
carrying capacity of conductors are unaffected by the increased
thermal insulation.
- Installing or upgrading main or supplementary equipotential
bonding. Work must comply with other applicable legislation for
example, . Gas safety (Installation and Use) Regulations.
Work also exempt from a building regulation application,
providing it is NOT in a kitchen, 'special location' or is a
'special installation'.
- Adding lighting points (light fittings and switches) or socket
outlets or fused spurs to an existing circuit. only if the existing
circuit protective device is suitable and protects the modified
circuit, and other relevant safety provisions are
satisfactory.
'Special installations' are electric floor or
ceiling heating systems, garden lighting or power installations,
Solar photovoltic (PV) power supply systems, small scale generators
such as microchip units, extra low voltage lighting installations,
other than pre-assembles, CE-marked lighting sets.
A basic guide to electrical
safety in dwellings (17.4kb pdf file)