What Is Part P Building Regulations?

Part P of the Building Regulations applies to electrical installations in dwellings: houses, flats, and their outbuildings and gardens. It came into force in England and Wales in January 2005. Scotland operates a separate system through the Building (Scotland) Regulations.

What Part P requires

The fundamental requirement is that electrical installations in dwellings must be designed and installed to be safe. Work that does not meet this standard is non-compliant, regardless of who carries it out.

Part P also identifies which types of electrical work must be notified to the local authority. Notification is the compliance route: either a registered electrician self-certifies their work (the most common route), or the homeowner or builder notifies the local authority and arranges for a third-party inspection.

Which work must be notified

Not all electrical work in a home requires notification. Replacing a like-for-like socket, switch, or light fitting generally does not. The following types of work do require notification:

• Installing a new circuit
• Adding a circuit from the consumer unit
• Any electrical work in a kitchen, bathroom, or shower room (with some exceptions for minor replacements)
• Work outdoors: in the garden or on the outside of the building
• Installing an electric vehicle charging point
• Consumer unit replacements

If there is any doubt about whether work requires notification, the safest assumption is that it does. Non-notified work that should have been notified is non-compliant, and that creates problems at the point of sale.

Self-certification by a registered electrician

The most straightforward compliance route is to use an electrician registered under a competent person scheme. The main schemes in England are NICEIC, NAPIT, and ELECSA. A registered electrician can self-certify their own work, issuing you with a completion certificate and notifying the local authority on your behalf. You do not need to contact the local authority yourself.

The completion certificate is your proof of compliance. Keep it with the property documents.

Notification through the local authority

If you use an unregistered installer or carry out the work yourself, you must notify the local authority before work starts (or in some cases immediately after). The local authority arranges a building control inspection and, if the work is satisfactory, issues a completion certificate. This route takes longer and involves a fee.

Why it matters at the point of sale

Conveyancers routinely ask for Part P certificates for electrical work carried out since 2005. If you cannot produce the certificate, the buyer may request an indemnity insurance policy, a new inspection, or a reduction in the purchase price. Missing certificates have delayed or blocked sales.

An electrician registered under a competent person scheme removes this risk at the point of instruction, not after the work is done.