Scope of Part P (extra-low voltage)

Part P was introduced and the LABC notification requirements came in on the 1st January 2005, just over seventeen years ago. I was a founding member of the NAPIT scheme having been assessed in October 2004 and paying my membership fee ready for the launch, then my assessor came back after six months for a hour to check I was actually doing what I was supposed to be doing and I had my annual reassessment in January 2006. Not quite the walk in the park that some suggest joining a scheme was back then.

I was a mere child of forty eight back then, not even middle aged. What you do have to realise though is that many of the founding members of the competence schemes have retired or are due to retire. The new members that should be enrolling to replace them were barely out of nappies and had not even started primary school back then, as electricians in their early twenties now weren't even five years old back then.

So basically there is an entire new generation of electricians coming through now who should be joining the competence schemes to replace the old guys like me who are hitting retiring age.

But from anecdotal evidence I don't think these young electricians are joining the competence schemes. If you look at Facebook local group posts and Nextdoor you will see frequent requests for recommendations for an electrician to do domestic electrical work, in my local area this usually prompts a series of replies with recommendations often naming and recommending many electricians. However if you try checking for membership of an electrical competence scheme you will generally draw a blank, indeed one evening I checked over ten guys and there was not a CPS scheme member at all.

Now admittedly many of these jobs requests on social media are not notifiable jobs, but from the anecdotal evidence I have seen on social media along with who I see buying electrical materials at various wholesalers it seems fairly obvious to me that the older registered electricians are retiring and the younger guys replacing them just aren't bothering to register, as they can earn a living without CPS registration.

It seems to me that the only younger electricians who seem to be interested in CPS membership are those who want to install EV charge point equipment and the like.

Perhaps I have it wrong, but that is how things seem to be at the moment to me.

The point is Andy, the bar is far too low, and the schemes want to keep it that way because it is "cash for logos". Did you get 100% in the 18th edition exam? I thought not because I only know of two people who did out of hundreds! Strangely neither of these is what you know as an "Electrician"!

The idea I have been discussing is that the teeth behind any scheme are far too lax, whatever NAPIT did at first, and those teeth need the law behind them, not some voluntary scheme membership. There is then that there is no real competition behind these schemes since Stroma was sold to NAPIT, you are paying at least £500 for what? Is it the logo on the van or is it competence, and being shown to be competent? If it is then they should offer a rock bottom guarantee that your work is entirely satisfactory, and they pay for correction, etc. if not. If you are not perfect you are thrown out of the scheme. They should specify exactly what each member (electrician) may do and what not. The QS scheme would be dead immediately, every man certified him/herself. Inspectors would need further qualifications, probably at least a TEng, and significant experience of the job under training.

Your Facebook chaps would probably not stand much chance, as it would be illegal to employ an unregistered electrician. The question to answer is "do we need this given the risk to the public is extremely low" or should we dump the lot, no clubs, no notifications, and therefore lower prices?

The point is Andy, the bar is far too low, and the schemes want to keep it that way because it is "cash for logos". Did you get 100% in the 18th edition exam? I thought not because I only know of two people who did out of hundreds! Strangely neither of these is what you know as an "Electrician"!

The idea I have been discussing is that the teeth behind any scheme are far too lax, whatever NAPIT did at first, and those teeth need the law behind them, not some voluntary scheme membership. There is then that there is no real competition behind these schemes since Stroma was sold to NAPIT, you are paying at least £500 for what? Is it the logo on the van or is it competence, and being shown to be competent? If it is then they should offer a rock bottom guarantee that your work is entirely satisfactory, and they pay for correction, etc. if not. If you are not perfect you are thrown out of the scheme. They should specify exactly what each member (electrician) may do and what not. The QS scheme would be dead immediately, every man certified him/herself. Inspectors would need further qualifications, probably at least a TEng, and significant experience of the job under training.

Your Facebook chaps would probably not stand much chance, as it would be illegal to employ an unregistered electrician. The question to answer is "do we need this given the risk to the public is extremely low" or should we dump the lot, no clubs, no notifications, and therefore lower prices?