I am a small works builder and have been asked to replace some very high light fittings (not just the bulbs!) in a school. Am I legally allowed to carry out this work? Before "part p" I used to do all my own electrical work but part p only seems to cover "dwellings"
Electrical
- Thread starter emlioy001
- Start date
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you can do what you want in your own home, but if you are working somewhere that might effect others you need to be quailified, not just experienced, imagine someone making a claim against your work and the council then checking and finding out you are not an electrician, i would think you would need to prove you were suitably qualified and have relevant PLI before they gave you any electrical work, or at least i hope thats what would happen!!
Legally you may - there are no restrictions unless there's a dwelling on the site (e.g. caretaker's or headmaster's house) which shares its supply with the school.
Check your liability insurance carefully though - if your insurers don't regard you as qualified to do this type of work then they may not pay out if anything goes t**s-up.
Also ask the client to confirm that their insurances don't mandate that electrical work be done by a qualified electrician, or a NICEIC contractor etc.
Check your liability insurance carefully though - if your insurers don't regard you as qualified to do this type of work then they may not pay out if anything goes t**s-up.
Also ask the client to confirm that their insurances don't mandate that electrical work be done by a qualified electrician, or a NICEIC contractor etc.
ban-all-sheds surely you would expect/demand anyone working in your kids school to be fully qualified to do a specific task that could endanger kids or staff? there must be a care of duty on anyone commissioning work to make sure those given the work are qualified or all the tenders we price would be one by all the jack of all trade/illegal/incomers?
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Sorry cant belive that a school has asked a builder to change light fittings.
They have a set policy (well my local authority do) that any works like this are put out to tender & you can only put in for such tenders if you are on the authorities list of approved companies.
To get on the list you have to have proof of quals & applicable insurances...amongst other things.
How do I know? my other half works for the local education authority at a school in the facilities/contracts dept, dealing with such work & associated tenders.
But hey if you want crack on who are we to stop you
They have a set policy (well my local authority do) that any works like this are put out to tender & you can only put in for such tenders if you are on the authorities list of approved companies.
To get on the list you have to have proof of quals & applicable insurances...amongst other things.
How do I know? my other half works for the local education authority at a school in the facilities/contracts dept, dealing with such work & associated tenders.
But hey if you want crack on who are we to stop you
to be fair the OP asked can he legally do it, and ban-all-sheds has said yes you can, we have now moved on to discuss what is contractually likely/should happen, which is a different thing, but i am also surprised a school has asked someone to do this work, can't see their approved contractors being too happy
I agree it's odd.
But we don't even know if it's an LEA school....
But we don't even know if it's an LEA school....
Ive worked on installations in a secondary school with one of my previous employers who was NICEIC reg but only for highway lighting.
We put in extra fused spurs for smartboards and CCTV cameras dont recall any test cirts being issued.
All the work was agreed between our manager and the school site manager ( caretaker )
We put in extra fused spurs for smartboards and CCTV cameras dont recall any test cirts being issued.
All the work was agreed between our manager and the school site manager ( caretaker )
I have asked this question before but did not include some perhaps critical details...I the past i have been asked to replace fleuressent strip light bulbs in a school which are inaccessable [too high/health & safety etc] for the caretaker to reach.I do have specialist reach equipment! However occasionally the light fittings themselves are faulty and need to be replaced [" like for like" ] I am not a qualified electrician but have been advised by an electrical body that this type of work does not require certification. Does anybody know if i were to carry out this work would i be operating within the law? Obviously as a limited firm i hold liability insurance.But please i am not looking for opinions from disgruntled electricians who would prefer the law to state that only they are allowed to change a kettle plug! Thank you for your time.
Legally, unless you are competent you should not be carrying out any electrical work in a place of work, this comes from the Electricity at Work Regulations.
How can you claim you are competent? This is why it really is a job for an electrician who can show competence in this field. It isn't until something goes wrong that you realise how thin the ice is that you are stood on.
Where I work, only electricians are allowed to do even the simple tasks such as replace plugtop fuses.
How can you claim you are competent? This is why it really is a job for an electrician who can show competence in this field. It isn't until something goes wrong that you realise how thin the ice is that you are stood on.
Where I work, only electricians are allowed to do even the simple tasks such as replace plugtop fuses.
Would your liability insurance cover you if something went wrong?
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