Part P of the Building Regulations, which aims to protect all home improvers from unsafe electrical installations, continues to draw important attention. A new document is due to published in October.
Meanwhile the ongoing work of the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) that is dedicated to reducing the numbers of deaths and injuries in the home caused by electrical accidents has attracted considerable positive discussion.
Phil Buckle, the ESC’s director general, says: “Building regulations are vital to ensuring the safety of consumers and help them to select contractors whom householders can be confidant will do a good job.
“We are delighted to see so many MPs coming out in support of these views, and are committed to doing all we can to highlight to householders the scope of the requirements and their importance for securing the safety of their families.”
Nick Raynsford MP, president of the National Home Improvement Council, for instance, suggests: “What more can be done to alert members of the public to their responsibilities and to the risks of undertaking electrical DIY work without ensuring that it is checked as compliant with the requirements of Part P?”
He praised Part P for increasing the number of electricians being inspected and he also felt that it was ‘a good plan to legislate so that retailers had to include labeling risks on products.’
Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, has spoken firmly against any possible watering down of the regulations. She points out: “All MPs will have received an important briefing from the Electrical Safety Council. More than any other information I’ve received, it highlighted that as the result of the regulations being in place it has produced an excellent safety record. That is a very strong argument for keeping regulations as they are.”
Ms Blackman-Woods added her voice to the calls to apply more pressure to retailers, and asked for there to be a plan to ensure retailers committed to promoting Part P if the initial voluntary route did not succeed.
Clive Betts MP was sure that the regulations had improved standards and his committee was clear ‘that their scope should not be diluted’ He underlines: “The whole industry, including the Electrical Safety Council which expressed concern about watering down the regulations, should be involved. We must raise awareness.”
Betts points out: “While the main decisions of Part P are yet to be revealed, the responsibilities of retailers to promote the requirements of Part P came to the fore in discussions.
More information: www.esc.org.uk/
