Part P of the Building Regulations covers electrical safety in dwellings in England. It makes certain work notifiable: new circuits, consumer unit replacement, and any electrical work in a room containing a bath or shower. Notifiable work must either be notified to Building Control in advance or self-certified by someone registered with a competent person scheme.
- Part P does not ban DIY. It defines what must be notified and certified.
- Three categories are notifiable: new circuits, consumer units, and bathroom work.
- Self-certification by a registered installer is the cheap, fast route. Building Control is the other.
- Unnotified work usually surfaces at sale, not at the time.
What Part P is, and what it is not
Part P is a section of the Building Regulations for England dealing with electrical safety in dwellings. It was introduced in 2005 and the scope of notifiable work was narrowed in 2013, which is why older advice online is often wrong.
The most common misunderstanding is that Part P makes it illegal to do your own electrical work. It does not. What it does is require that certain categories of work are notified to the local authority and certified as compliant with the wiring regulations.
The second misunderstanding is that Part P is the technical standard. It is not — the technical standard is BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations. Part P is the legal requirement that work complies with a standard and is notified. One is the rulebook, the other is the law pointing at it.
What is notifiable and what is not
| Work | Notifiable? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Installing a new circuit | Yes | Any new circuit from the consumer unit |
| Replacing a consumer unit | Yes | Including like-for-like replacement |
| Any work in a room with a bath or shower | Yes | Including adding a light or an extractor |
| Adding a socket to an existing circuit | No | Must still comply with BS 7671 |
| Adding a light or switch to an existing circuit | No | Outside special locations |
| Replacing a socket, switch or light fitting | No | Like-for-like replacement |
| Repairing a damaged cable | No | Repair, not alteration |
| New circuit to a garage or shed | Yes | It is a new circuit |
| EV charger installation | Yes | Dedicated new circuit |
Non-notifiable does not mean unregulated. All electrical work must comply with BS 7671 whether it needs notifying or not, and should be tested and certificated. Notification is an additional requirement, not the only one.
The two routes to compliance
For notifiable work there are two legitimate paths, and the difference in cost and hassle is substantial.
Route one: a registered installer self-certifies
Someone registered with a competent person scheme carries out the work, tests it, issues the certificate and notifies the local authority on your behalf. You receive the certificate and, in due course, a compliance notification. This is how the overwhelming majority of domestic work is done, because it is quicker and cheaper — the notification cost is absorbed into the scheme membership.
Route two: notify Building Control in advance
You or your electrician submit a building notice to the local authority before work starts, pay their fee, and the work is inspected and tested on their behalf. This is the route for competent people who are not scheme-registered, and for DIY work that happens to be notifiable. It costs more and takes longer, and the inspection has to be arranged at the right stage.
What is not a route is doing notifiable work and telling nobody. That is the one that causes problems later.
What actually happens if work was not notified
In practice, almost nothing — until you sell.
There is no inspection regime that comes looking. The problem surfaces during conveyancing, when the buyer's solicitor asks for certificates for any electrical work carried out since 2005. If a consumer unit was replaced in 2014 and there is no paperwork, that becomes an enquiry you have to answer.
From there the options are regularisation — applying retrospectively to Building Control, who will want to inspect and may require work to be opened up — or indemnity insurance, which satisfies the solicitor without verifying anything about the installation. Indemnity is cheaper and quicker, and it is worth understanding what it does: it protects against enforcement action, not against the work being unsafe.
There is also an insurance dimension. Insurers can ask questions after a fire, and unnotified, uncertificated work is an awkward thing to be explaining at that point.
None of this is a reason to panic about work done years ago. It is a reason to get the paperwork right on anything done from now on, and to ask for certificates when buying.
Bathrooms: why they are singled out
Of the three notifiable categories, bathroom work is the one that most often catches people out, because the jobs feel trivial.
Water and electricity together change the risk profile entirely, so bathrooms are divided into zones based on proximity to the bath or shower. Each zone limits what may be installed and to what IP rating, and supplementary bonding may be required depending on the installation.
This means that fitting an extractor fan, adding a shaver socket, or changing a ceiling light in a bathroom is notifiable work — even though the same job in a bedroom would not be. It is the single most common piece of unnotified work we come across.
Replacing a like-for-like fitting in the same position is generally not notifiable. Adding something new is.
What to ask, and what to keep
- Before work: is this job notifiable, and if so, which route are we using?
- Before work: are you scheme-registered, and under what name should I search the register?
- After work: the Electrical Installation Certificate or Minor Works Certificate.
- After work: confirmation that the notification has been made, where applicable.
- Keep both with the deeds. They are what a buyer's solicitor asks for.
- When buying: ask for certificates for any electrical work done since 2005.
A note on Scotland and Wales
Part P applies to England. Wales has its own building regulations with broadly similar requirements for electrical safety in dwellings. Scotland operates a different system entirely, under the Building (Scotland) Regulations and their own technical handbooks.
Most online advice does not make this distinction, which is worth knowing if you are reading around the subject. Everything on this page refers to the position in England.
What electrical work costs
These are the electrical figures published across this site:
| Job | Typical Coventry guide price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electrician, hourly | £45–£90/hr | Certified, Part P |
| Typical job | £233–£473 | Sockets, lighting, faults |
| EICR (3-bed) | £150–£300 | Safety certificate |
| Consumer unit upgrade | £450–£700 | RCD protection |
| Full rewire (3-bed) | £3,000–£6,000 | Whole-house |
Notification via a registered installer is normally absorbed into the job price. Going through Building Control instead carries a separate local authority fee.
We will tell you before we start, handle the notification where it applies, and give you the certificate at the end.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do my own electrical work under Part P?
Yes for non-notifiable work, such as adding a socket to an existing circuit, provided it complies with BS 7671. For notifiable work — new circuits, consumer units, anything in a bathroom — you would need to notify Building Control in advance and have it inspected, since you cannot self-certify without scheme registration. Part P does not ban DIY; it defines what must be notified.
Is adding a socket notifiable?
Not if it is an addition to an existing circuit outside a special location such as a bathroom. It must still comply with the wiring regulations and the circuit must be able to take it, and it should be tested and certificated with a Minor Works Certificate. What is notifiable is a new circuit, not an extension of an existing one.
What happens if electrical work was never notified?
Usually nothing until you sell, when the buyer's solicitor asks for certificates for work done since 2005. The options then are retrospective regularisation through Building Control, which involves inspection and a fee, or indemnity insurance, which satisfies the solicitor but verifies nothing about the installation's safety.
Does Part P apply to bathroom lights?
Yes. Any electrical work in a room containing a bath or shower is notifiable, including adding a light, an extractor fan or a shaver socket. Bathrooms are zoned by proximity to water, with limits on what can be installed and to what IP rating. Like-for-like replacement of an existing fitting in the same position is generally not notifiable.
Is Part P the same as BS 7671?
No, and the distinction is useful. BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, is the technical standard that says how an installation must be designed and built. Part P is the building regulation requiring that work in dwellings complies and that certain categories are notified. One is the rulebook, the other is the law pointing at it.
Does Part P apply in Scotland?
No. Part P applies to England, Wales has its own broadly similar building regulations, and Scotland operates a separate system under the Building (Scotland) Regulations. A lot of online advice does not make that distinction, so it is worth checking which jurisdiction a source is describing.
Notified, tested, certificated
We tell you up front whether a job is notifiable, handle the notification where it applies, and hand over the certificate you will need years later. Free quote, no obligation.