Part P Rules: Keep Your Electrical Certificates as a UK Homeowner
For most homeowners, Part P applies to fixed electrical installation work in your home and its outbuildings. The jobs that usually trigger notification are new circuits, consumer-unit replacements and additions in special locations such as bathrooms. You achieve legal sign-off through one of three routes: a registered competent-person installer who self-certifies, a third-party certifier, or direct notification to building control.
TL;DR:
Part P also covers shared areas of flats and outbuildings connected to the home supply; a separately supplied summerhouse falls outside its scope.
An identical socket or light fitting usually needs no notification; garden lighting or a cooker connection may require it when installed on a new circuit.
Registered installers should provide a BS 7671 installation certificate and, for notifiable work, a Building Regulations compliance certificate within 30 days of completion.
If you hire an unregistered electrician, arrange third party certification or notify building control yourself before work begins, or legal responsibility falls to you.
An EICR assesses an existing installation rather than certifying new work; it typically costs £150 to £300 when no repairs are needed.
Table of Contents
What Part P requires and the scope of the rules
Part P exists to make sure fixed electrical work in homes is designed, installed, inspected and tested properly, so it does not become a fire or shock risk. The core requirement, known as P1, means any new or altered electrical installation has to meet the safety standards set out in BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations. It is not a vague aspiration: it is a technical standard that an installer tests against before signing anything off.
The rules cover dwellings, the shared common parts of blocks of flats, and outbuildings or garden fittings that run off the house supply, such as a garden office or a shed with lighting. A summerhouse with its own separate supply sits outside this scope, but as soon as a cable runs back to your consumer unit, Part P follows it.
Compliance is not a verbal assurance. It is demonstrated through the BS 7671 testing regime: insulation resistance checks, earth continuity tests and polarity checks, all recorded on a certificate. Combined with fire safety considerations elsewhere in a renovation, as we explain in our fire safety guidance for renovation projects, this is why electrical work on a refurbishment or extension needs the same rigour as structural work, even when it looks like a small job on the surface.
Which jobs are notifiable: a homeowner checklist
Gov sets out which electrical jobs need notifying to a building control body unless they are carried out by an installer registered with a Competent Person Scheme. The 2013 update to Approved Document P narrowed this list considerably compared with earlier versions, so the current trigger is mostly about new circuits and special locations rather than a blanket rule for every room in the house, as Electrical Safety First explains.
Jobs that usually need notification include:
Installing a brand new electrical circuit anywhere in the home.
Replacing a consumer unit (fuse box).
Adding to or altering circuits in a bathroom, shower room, sauna or around a swimming pool.
Most like-for-like replacements, such as swapping a socket or light fitting for an identical one, do not need notifying. The grey areas tend to be the jobs homeowners underestimate: adding garden lighting on a new circuit, wiring in a new cooker connection, or fitting solar PV panels. Each of these can trip the notifiable threshold the moment a new circuit is involved, even though they feel like routine upgrades. If you are planning fuse box work specifically, our guide to fuse box regulations for UK homeowners sets out what registered installers need to provide.
Who can certify the work: schemes, certifiers and building control
Homeowners have three lawful routes to get notifiable electrical work signed off, and understanding the difference saves confusion later.
Competent Person Scheme self-certification: an installer registered with a government-authorised scheme can certify their own work. Ask for their scheme operator and registration number, and check it before work starts rather than taking it on trust. You should receive a BS 7671 installation certificate and a Building Regulations compliance certificate within 30 days of completion, as Approved Document P sets out.
Third-party certification: if your chosen installer is not registered with a scheme, an accredited third-party certifier can inspect and test the completed work, usually within similar notification windows, before issuing the compliance paperwork.
Building control notification: you, or your installer on your behalf, notify your local authority building control body directly before work begins. An inspector then assesses the work and issues a completion certificate once satisfied.
Competent Person Schemes sit within a wider mandatory technical competence framework that requires registered businesses to maintain skills and undergo revalidation, which is part of why self-certification carries legal weight without a separate council inspection.
How to get sign-off: a step-by-step process
Getting this right is mostly about sequencing. Miss a step and you can end up with work that is technically sound but legally unrecorded.
Plan before you start. Decide whether the scope of work is likely to be notifiable, and confirm which compliance route your installer will use before any cables are touched.
Put it in the contract. Agree in writing who notifies building control, which certificates you will receive, and the expected timescale for each document to arrive.
During the works. Make sure inspection and testing happen to BS 7671 standards as the job progresses, not as an afterthought once walls are closed up, and that an inspection and test schedule is completed alongside the main certificate.
At completion. You should receive a BS 7671 electrical installation certificate (or minor works certificate for smaller jobs) and, for notifiable work, a Building Regulations compliance certificate within 30 days. If paperwork does not turn up, chase the installer or their scheme operator directly rather than letting it drift.
If problems surface later. Non-compliant work discovered during a house sale can usually be regularised retrospectively through building control or a third-party certifier, who will inspect the existing installation and issue appropriate documentation.
Pro Tip: Keep every certificate from day one in a single folder, physical or digital, labelled by room and date: it is the single easiest way to avoid delays when you come to sell.
Costs and typical timescales homeowners should expect
There is no single nationwide Part P fee. Local authority building control charges are set individually by each council and depend on the scope of the work, so it is worth asking for a written quote before committing to the building control route.
An EICR costs around £150 to £300 where no remedial work is needed, according to Electrical Safety First, with larger properties, restricted access or extensive remedial work pushing the figure higher. Using a registered installer on the competent-person route generally keeps costs and timelines tighter than a separate building control application, since the certification happens as part of the job rather than as a follow-on administrative step.
Certificates explained: EIC, minor works, EICR and completion certificates
It is easy to assume “the Part P certificate” is one document. In practice you are dealing with several, each covering something different.
An Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) covers new circuits or substantial alterations, while a Minor Works Certificate covers smaller additions that do not involve a new circuit. Both confirm the work has been tested against BS 7671.
An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is a different document entirely: it assesses the condition of an existing installation rather than certifying new work, and is the certificate landlords rely on for periodic safety checks, as covered in our guide to EICR certificates for UK landlords.
A Building Regulations completion or compliance certificate is the document that confirms notifiable work has satisfied Part P itself. Keep all of these together: a buyer’s solicitor will usually ask for them during conveyancing, and gaps can slow down or complicate a sale.
Checklist: what to check before hiring an electrician
Before notifiable work begins, a few checks protect you and keep the paperwork on track:
Confirm Competent Person Scheme registration and ask for the registration number and scheme operator directly.
Agree who notifies building control, which certificates you will receive, and the timeframe for delivery.
Check the installer’s insurance and qualifications, and ask about examples of completed Part P projects similar to yours.
Pro Tip: A registered installer should be able to produce their registration details without hesitation: treat any reluctance as a reason to ask more questions before signing anything.
Responsibilities of homeowners versus electricians under Part P
Part P splits responsibility fairly clearly, though homeowners often assume it falls entirely on the installer. The electrician carrying out notifiable work is responsible for following BS 7671 standards, testing the installation properly, and either self-certifying through their Competent Person Scheme or arranging third-party certification. They are also responsible for issuing the correct certificates within the required timescales.
As the homeowner, your responsibility is oversight rather than technical compliance: choosing a properly registered installer, confirming in writing who will notify building control, and making sure you actually receive and keep the certificates once the job finishes. If you commission work directly from an unregistered installer without arranging third-party certification or notifying building control yourself, the legal responsibility for notifying shifts to you, and enforcement action can follow if it is skipped.
This division matters most when work is bundled into a larger project, such as a kitchen refurbishment with a new circuit for an induction hob, or a loft conversion with new lighting circuits. In those cases, the main contractor coordinating the project typically takes on the practical task of liaising with the registered electrician and confirming paperwork, while you retain the right to ask for proof at any stage. Our overview of electrical solutions for home renovations covers how this coordination tends to work in practice.
How we manage Part P compliance on refurbishments and extensions
On refurbishments, loft conversions and extensions, we build Part P compliance into the project from the site survey onwards rather than treating it as a late-stage formality. Once the scope is confirmed, we bring in registered installers for any notifiable electrical work and manage the certification route, whether that is competent-person self-certification or building control notification, under project oversight.
At completion, you receive the BS 7671 certificates for the work carried out, along with Building Regulations compliance documentation where notification applied. Because the work sits within our project management, there is no subcontractor chain to chase for missing paperwork, and warranties sit alongside the statutory certificates in your project records.
— Mateja
Arranging Part P-compliant electrical work with us
Electrical work rarely sits in isolation on a refurbishment, extension or loft conversion: it threads through the kitchen, the bathroom, the new circuits for a loft, and the consumer unit serving all of it. We manage that coordination directly, arranging registered installers where notifiable work is involved and handling the certification route as part of the build rather than as a separate task for you to track down.
With us, that means:
Fixed, itemised quotes agreed after a site survey, with no hidden costs on electrical elements.
Project oversight coordinating trades rather than relying on a long subcontractor chain.
Certificate handover at completion, including BS 7671 documentation and Building Regulations compliance paperwork where it applies.
If you are planning a kitchen or bathroom refurbishment, a loft conversion or a full property refurbishment, get in touch for a site visit and quotation for your project.
FAQ
What are the building regulations for electrical work?
Electrical work in homes falls under Part P of the Building Regulations, which requires fixed installation work to meet BS 7671 safety standards and, for notifiable jobs, to be certified through a registered installer, a third-party certifier or building control. The rules apply to dwellings, shared common parts of flats, and outbuildings connected to the house supply.
What are the four rules of wiring?
There is no official “four rules” framework within Part P or BS 7671; the standard instead sets detailed requirements covering design, installation, inspection and testing of electrical work. Any summary beyond those four stages should be treated as a simplification rather than a cited legal standard.
How much does an EICR cost?
An EICR typically costs around £150 to £300 where no remedial work is required, according to Electrical Safety First. Larger properties, restricted access or the need for remedial repairs can push the price higher.
How often is an EICR required in the UK?
Electrical Safety First recommends an EICR roughly every 10 years for owner-occupied homes and roughly every 5 years for rented properties. Landlords face a stricter statutory deadline for acting on any issues an EICR identifies, as covered in detail in this EICR deadline guide for landlords.
Do I need planning permission for electrical work during an extension?
Electrical work itself does not usually need separate planning permission, but when it forms part of a larger extension project, a measured survey is often required to support the planning and building control process. Part P certification then runs alongside the building control sign-off for the wider extension.
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