Please would you quote the section of Approved Document Part P which states that, when using the LABC rather than a Competent Person or Third Party Certification scheme, the installer must inspect and test their installation? I'll save you the time: there isn't one.
If my interpretation of part P is correct, the LABC will do a test according to BS7671, so it should be very much useable if they sign it off.
Guess I'll fit the CU the night before!
Quite. There wouldn't really be a need for the 'LABC route' if everyone who used it was fully competent and equipped to undertake I&T to the required standard.
Quite so. As I wrote before, the LABC can only fail to issue a completion certificate if they deem the work to have been non-compliant and, as we've both said, if one is using the LABC route, only the LABC can determine (by means of the I&T they charge for) if that is the case.
I'm struggling to understand exactly where you are 'coming from'. What you say above could apply, to a lesser or greater extent, to any electrical work if the person concerned did not have the necessary knowledge, skill or equipment to deal with 'problems', whether the workdone was notifiable or not. Are you just 'anti' DIY electrical work, or what?
In reality, if you have an electrical installation which is 'usable' now, it's very unlikely that you would need 'a Megger' to sort out anything you did which rendered the installation 'unusable'.
Yep, it's completely paradoxical.. makes me doubly certain that the LABC officer I've spoken to either hasn't read Part P, doesn't understand it, or just wants to keep his seat warm..
I think the only BS7671 test I'll be unable to do is the 'insulation resistance' test, though I'm happy to trust the cable manufacturer there..
Well no. Before energising you would need a calibrated low ohm resistance meter. Several basic "dead" tests to do here including continuity and polarity. Also documenting the R1+R2 of the circuit. Measuring insulation resistance of a circuit is not just the cables, but also tests the accessories and the connections that you have made. Once energy has been applied you'll need to determine the Zs of the circuits and test if the RCDs/RCBOs are in spec (there's a particular tester for that job).
Quite. As I implied, if people who used the 'LABC route' were all "fully competent and equipped to undertake I&T to the required standard" they would essentially be equivalent to CPS members, even if they had not proved their abilities to the CPS and paid their membership fee - so 'the LABC route' would not be needed.
Faulty cables are by no means the only cause of low insulation resistance. Do you have the means of measure loop impedances etc. (EFLI, Zs or whatever)?
Thanks.. I thought BS7671 covered testing procedures which included the dead & live tests you've mentioned?
That's very true, but I wouldn't have thought that a DIYer wanting to notify electrical work would be an exceptionally rare " 'off the wall' hand grenade" event, would it? I would have thought that such situations would be pretty common, and that they are one of the main reasons for the existence of a "notify LABC directly" route?
BS7671 has a chapter on testing, but you need adequate test equipment and the knowledge of what to expect, what the limits are etc....
I have heard of them reluctantly working with someone who has the qualifications and equipment to comply with BS7671, but they really really dont want to go down that road. They dont ever want to have to come to site for a tiddly little job like this. here's how they like it:
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