Part P of the building regulations for England covers electrical safety in dwellings. Its core requirement is that electrical installation work is designed and installed so that it protects people from fire and injury. The detail of how that is achieved sits in BS 7671, the wiring regulations. Wales has its own equivalent arrangements, and Scotland and Northern Ireland work to their own systems, so always confirm locally.
What Part P actually asks for
It is a safety requirement, not a catalogue of products. It applies to fixed electrical installations in homes and to areas such as gardens and outbuildings that share the supply. Alongside it sits the notification process, which is the administrative side people usually mean when they say Part P.
Registered electrician or building control
For notifiable work you can use an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, who self certifies and arranges the compliance certificate, or you can notify your local authority building control yourself and pay their fee. On an extension the first route is usually simpler and cheaper because it folds into the electrician's normal certification.
How it affects an extension
New circuits in a new room are notifiable, and so is a consumer unit change if the existing board cannot take the load. That means your electrician should be planning certification from day one, not scrambling for it after the plasterer has been.
- Agree who notifies before first fix begins
- Check the electrician's scheme registration for the work in question
- Ask when you will receive the certificates, not just whether you will
Why it matters when you sell
Conveyancing enquiries routinely ask for certification of electrical work carried out since the regulations applied. Missing paperwork does not always stop a sale, but it invites a retention, an indemnity policy or a price conversation you would rather avoid.
Typically notifiable
The list is narrower than many people assume, but the items on it are common in renovation work.
- Installing a new circuit
- Replacing a consumer unit
- Work in special locations such as within bathroom zones
Self-certification
A registered electrician notifies the work through their competent person scheme, and you receive the compliance certificate. The alternative — a building control application — is slower and usually more expensive for the same outcome.
Why it matters later
Unnotified notifiable work becomes a conveyancing problem. Buyers' solicitors ask, and a regularisation application costs more than doing it properly at the time. If work has already been done without paperwork, an EICR is the usual route to establishing condition.
Common questions
- Is Part P a qualification?
- No. It is a section of the building regulations. Electricians hold qualifications and scheme registrations that let them certify work under it.
- Can I do my own electrical work?
- Some non notifiable work, yes, but it must still comply with BS 7671. Notifiable work needs the notification route followed properly.
- Does Part P apply to a garden office?
- Work on a supply from the house to an outbuilding is commonly notifiable. Confirm your specific case with building control.
- Does it apply across the UK?
- Part P applies in England, with equivalent arrangements in Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own regimes.
- Is replacing a socket notifiable?
- Like-for-like replacement generally is not, though you should still receive a minor works certificate for alterations.
- Is a kitchen refit notifiable?
- New circuits within it are. Reusing existing circuits with alterations generally is not, but it still needs certifying.
- Does this apply in Scotland?
- Scotland has its own building standards regime; the principle of certified, competent work still applies.
- Do you handle the notification?
- Yes, notification and compliance paperwork are part of the job for notifiable work.
Ask us what will need notifying on your project and we will set it out in writing with the quote.