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Requirements for an electrical design & the EIC

Heera

Hi All

Just a quick question, is it a legal requirement the following section to be signed? The main contractor, sub-contracted a designer and the employed a installer, however hey signed all sections apart from the design section. I can't remember it being a legal requirement but the MC can sign it as a departure?

I/We being the person(s) responsible for the design of the electrical installation (as indicated by my/our signatures below), particulars of which are described above, having exercised reasonable skill and care when carrying out the design and additionally where this certificate applies to an add1t1on or alteration, the safety of the existing installation is not impaired, hereby CERTIFY that the design work for which I/we have been responsible is to the best of my/our knowledge and belief in accordance with BS 7671 :2018, amended to ….. except for the departures, if any, detailed .as follows:  

Thanks

Heera

  • 0 in reply to Chris Pearson
    Chris Pearson said:
    I suppose that another way of putting the question is whether an EIC which is not signed by the designer (but has been signed by the constructor, and inspector and tester) is valid.

    Regulation 644.4 implies it would not be valid for full conformity ...

    644.4 The person or persons responsible for the design, construction and verification of the installation shall issue the Certificate, which takes account of their respective responsibilities, to the person ordering the work, together with the records mentioned in Regulation 644.3.

    The recommendation for the interval between initial verification and the first periodic inspection shall be recorded on the Certificate.

    I guess in reality, the certificate would be vaild for the installation and verification (inspection & testing) ... there would be no statement of conformity for the design ... if the Designer were engaged to provide a BS 7671-conformant design, then surely the obligation of the Designer would be to complete their statement on the certificate accordingly? 

    So, perhaps in this case, the main contractor should follow up with the Designer?

    A sticking point, though, is that the designer might not have been engaged to completion of the work to make sure that their design is what has been "built" on-site. 

  • 0 in reply to Chris Pearson

    should the EIC be started when the design is drawn up and then retained until the work is complete?

    That makes sense to me - the EIC would be passed onto the installer and then the inspector along with the design itself.

       - Andy.

  • 0

    I suppose that another way of putting the question is whether an EIC which is not signed by the designer (but has been signed by the constructor, and inspector and tester) is valid.

    I can certainly see a practical problem, especially is there is a long interval between design and completion of the work. Can you get the designer to come back and sign? Alternatively, should the EIC be started when the design is drawn up and then retained until the work is complete?

    I can see no legal reason why the MC should not sign, but he is then assuming responsibility for the SC's work. This does not seem very different from, say, a head of department signing for subordinates' work.

    What do the major construction companies do?

  • 0

    Since a "certificate" is a statement of truth (when you sign it, you are vouching for the veracity of the statements made), it would not be correct for someone to sign for something they didn't do. In fact, if anything were to go wrong (civil claim, or someone is hurt and there's a criminal case) it could go badly in court for someone making a false certification statement.

    If the installation contains solar PV or battery storage, or other forms of generation, it is a legal requirement to apply BS 7671. If you have an agreement or contract that specified BS 7671, then BS 7671 is a requirement for the works.

    BS 7671 requires someone to take responsibility for the design, and sign the certificate, so if this is not done, it can be argued that verification of the installation does not fully conform to BS 7671, so, if BS 7671 is a requirement, there's possibly room for a claim.

    If one of the respondents signing the certificate is registered with a Competent Person Certification Scheme, like ECA, NICEIC or NAPIT, it might be worth asking their helpline for advice. This especially important if the works is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations, where I guess you'd want to check the work has been properly registered. I'm sure there are other cases where similar things happen, and the registration schemes probably have recommended way of dealing with it.

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