Do I need a qualified Electrician?

[baller]

I have made a few art pieces and two of them require simple 240v mains-powered illumination. Of the two, 1 is a lamp, and 1 is a bookcase, both are manufactured in the UK. The lighting is mains LED AND fluorescent, with dimmer switches. I've done lots of LED work, and have house wiring before (like-for-like).

I've already made the pieces and wired it up for testing and everything is fine. The wiring is a simple circuit going from the light source to a dimmer switch (attached to the art-piece) and then to the UK plug - no earthing as there is nothing to be earthed. I'm a product design engineer with a master's degree, but I remember being told that despite this I do need 'part p' certification (or something like that) in order to do household wiring - not sure if this applies to furniture/decor.

Obviously the lamp and bookcase is not fitted to a house and is transportable. Wiring it up myself was so easy that finding & getting an electrician to do it would be harder work and would also mean that the artwork wouldn't be 100% 'mine'. Then again, I'd rather hire an electrician than face jail time ;D

Legally, do I need to hire a qualified electrician to wire the electrics if I want to sell the lamp and bookcase?

 

[flyingsparks]

Part p is for fixed wiring and has nothing to do with what your doing. This is something I was considering making some lamps etc and so interested in what others say but I think if your planning to sell them they need to be ce marked and comply to some bs numbers. An electrician could pat test it to make sure it's safe but not sure that's good enough for selling your own product. The idea behind the bs and ce stamp is to make sure not only electrically safe but also things like no toxic paint is used, things can't harm people etc etc. Hope this helps a bit!

 

[riveralt]

Unfortuntely there are loads of things you need to do before you can sell electrical goods in the UK or European market.

This leaflet from a local council gives you an overview and your proposed product appears to need to meet a number of approvals including energy efficiency, waste management, electrical safety et al.

http://dropshipforum.co.uk/download.php?id=856

Another option is to speak to a company that will ensure your product meets all the standards for whichever market you intend to sell to.
like.. http://www.productapprovals.co.uk/

You should also consider patent applications to protect your product from copyright theft.

Probably the first port of call would be to get proper advice and for this I would start at http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073858805