Handyman and Electrical Work

[Scotty_Ian]

I recently started up my own handyman business and wondered what I am allowed to do in terms of electrical work in customers houses. The sort of thing I am talking about is changing mains sockets, light fittings, light switches, extending existing ring mains... I know that for work in bathrooms and kitchens the work has to be checked out by a registered sparky. I feel I am pretty competant and safe when it comes to electrical work, having been an electrical / electronic tradesman in the forces and done loads of DIY work on my own house.

Would I have to provide a Minor Works Certificate for any electrical work I did?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Octopus]

Do you have any test equipment? A copy of BS 7671 AMD3?

EDIT: Part P doesn't apply in Scotland

 

[Pete999]

I recently started up my own handyman business and wondered what I am allowed to do in terms of electrical work in customers houses. The sort of thing I am talking about is changing mains sockets, light fittings, light switches, extending existing ring mains... I know that for work in bathrooms and kitchens the work has to be checked out by a registered sparky. I feel I am pretty competant and safe when it comes to electrical work, having been an electrical / electronic tradesman in the forces and done loads of DIY work on my own house.

Would I have to provide a Minor Works Certificate for any electrical work I did?

Thanks for any info.

If you have added or altered an EXISTING circuit the answer is yes. I do voluntary work as a Handy Man for AgeUK I won't touch electrics, soley because their insurance won't cover me.

 

[camerabloke]

Popcorn on standby

 

[Pete999]

Popcorn on standby

You like your popcorn Camerabloke.

 

[camerabloke]

So many varieties

 

[Pete999]

So many varieties

You should know Mate, you have been recomending pocorn a lot lately, best try some Vindaloo for your sore B-m, only you will understand that one, any good films on at Sixfields worth watching?

 

[The Ghost]

I'm gonna get my vindaloo!

 

[Christopher Bernard]

I like yogurt popcorn, but you can never get it anywhere now

 

[Risteard]

I recently started up my own handyman business and wondered what I am allowed to do in terms of electrical work in customers houses.

You are allowed to advise them to contact an Electrician.

 

[westward10]

I like yogurt popcorn, but you can never get it anywhere now

If you can never get it how do you know you like it.

 

[Wilko]

Hi Ian and Welcome to the Forum !
Perhaps something to investigate is insurance for the scope of work you envisage. Not to scare you, but (in my humble opinion) if your home diy went wrong and caused damage, your home insurance company may deny liability. Their assumption is works are done to a standard, which would include testing and certification. Same thought applies to work in someone else's house.

 

[Tes369]

This smells like a wind up like the "variation in prices thread" =

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

If you have added or altered an EXISTING circuit the answer is yes. I do voluntary work as a Handy Man for AgeUK I won't touch electrics, soley because their insurance won't cover me.

And the funny thing is @Pete999 you are likely more qualified and better experienced than the freshly qualified sparks they will call in at high hourly rates. For the sake of a liability policy costing less than £100 they are missing a good opportunity there.

 

[Octopus]

There's a handy man on my "patch" who doesn't think any testing is necessary ........................ until things got out of hand and he called me in!

He watched what I did, using my tester to locate the fault - and still doesn't think a tester is necessary ................... dipstick.

 

[peterhyper]

This smells like a wind up like the "variation in prices thread" =

I did wonder, but at least he isn't saying he is a doctor living on a private estate.

 

[Christopher Bernard]

If you can never get it how do you know you like it.

Because they stopped selling it in most places not long ago, but all good things come to an end they say.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Got an on-going one at the moment, a neighbours brother is a 'handyman good with electrics' and wired a small extension. Half of the sockets ceased to operate just after Christmas. I found it wasn't a ring and never had been, and to get at least part of it going as a temp converted two tested legs to 2x 20a radials. Two weeks later half of one of the radials stopped working, found neutral broken somewhere over the ceiling under a flat roof. Not trusting any of it I disconnected the lot and washed my hands of it, they are currently waiting for bruv to return from abroad and fix it.
Good luck with that.

 

[MDJ]

I recently started up my own handyman business and wondered what I am allowed to do in terms of electrical work in customers houses. The sort of thing I am talking about is changing mains sockets, light fittings, light switches, extending existing ring mains... I know that for work in bathrooms and kitchens the work has to be checked out by a registered sparky. I feel I am pretty competant and safe when it comes to electrical work, having been an electrical / electronic tradesman in the forces and done loads of DIY work on my own house.

Would I have to provide a Minor Works Certificate for any electrical work I did?

Thanks for any info.

Does your liability insurance cover any Electrical work you carry out?
Do you have access to a multi function tester?
Do you know what certificates are required for the different types of work you are considering doing?
Have you got access to an on site guide or 17th Edition regs book?
have you got any Electrical qualifications?
Do you understand what Equipotential bonding is?
do you know what a TNS, TNCS, TT or PME system is?

lots to think about fella.

 

[Risteard]

Do you have access to a multi function tester?

Or other appropriate test equipment! Not everyone has to use an MFT!

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Or other appropriate test equipment! Not everyone has to use an MFT!

'Appropriate' to many means a neon screwdriver and a socket and see thingy.

 

[Risteard]

'Appropriate' to many means a neon screwdriver and a socket and see thingy.

Indeed. That's why I wrote "appropriate" rather than "what you believe to be appropriate"!

 

[buzzlightyear]

Popcorn on standby

a bag of MMs and bag of Doritos.

 

[Scotty_Ian]

Do you have any test equipment? A copy of BS 7671 AMD3?

EDIT: Part P doesn't apply in Scotland

Just read and understood 7671. I have a multimeter and a socket tester that checks polarity earth and some other stuff

 

[Octopus]

Oh dear

 

[Rpa07]

I thought I was good enough years before I did my training that has now, with 3 years of experience, made me at the lower end of the competence ladder.
Looking at the DIY work I did in my own house, I was delusional thinking that it was to a standard required.
I say to you that you may think you can be ‘jack of all trades’ but you can’t be master of all so stick to the ones you are good at and call in the trades that you’re not so hot on, they will give you the work back, favour for favour.
Please listen to the members on here.

 

[Christopher Bernard]

It has to be a wind up

 

[Strima]

Just read and understood 7671.

You're better than me then, the last course I did was all about BS7671 and that was an NVQ level 4 yet I still don't understand the book...

 

[Des 56]

Just read and understood 7671. I have a multimeter and a socket tester that checks polarity earth and some other stuff

Thats Bs

 

[Pete999]

Just read and understood 7671. I have a multimeter and a socket tester that checks polarity earth and some other stuff

You just read and understood BS7671 Crikey that's good going

 

[Scotty_Ian]

You're better than me then, the last course I did was all about BS7671 and that was an NVQ level 4 yet I still don't understand the book...

Sorry folks I didn't understand the question, I just understood the extract that was posted. No way do I understand the spec as I haven't done any training with it. Sorry to give folk the wrong impression of me. Having read all the advice on here, I'm going to stop doing electrical work that is more than like a cracked socket outlet or a light fitting change. Thanks for al the advice.

 

[Octopus]

^^ thanks for the feedback.

It may be useful to have a sparky mate who you can work with if you find things that are more involved.

 

[wsoppitt]

Just read and understood 7671. I have a multimeter and a socket tester that checks polarity earth and some other stuff

Don't do it mate , you just read 7671 and understood it , it's not a 2 page operational manual .you have no qualifications or official training and you feel you can do it and clearly no testing experience as a multimeter won't do it. Just hang curtains and put up shelves before you kill some one , I get so angry with you f**k**s.

 

[Christopher Bernard]

But he just said he's going to stop doing it

 

[JK-Electrical]

I recently started up my own handyman business and wondered what I am allowed to do in terms of electrical work in customers houses. The sort of thing I am talking about is changing mains sockets, light fittings, light switches, extending existing ring mains... I know that for work in bathrooms and kitchens the work has to be checked out by a registered sparky. I feel I am pretty competant and safe when it comes to electrical work, having been an electrical / electronic tradesman in the forces and done loads of DIY work on my own house.

Would I have to provide a Minor Works Certificate for any electrical work I did? Thanks for any info.

As things stand, the Scottish Government have no problem at all with you carrying-out domestic and commercial electrical work. Up here in Scotland, anyone can call themselves an electrician and set-up in business regardless of whether or not they possess the relevant skills, expertise and qualifications. So whether you're a handyman looking to extend the range of building services that you provide to your customers, or whether you're a tight-arsed kitchen-fitter/plumber/ heating engineer who doesn't want to pay a professional electrician the going-rate for their services, it doesn't matter as the Scottish Government have a wonderful diversity policy whereby people from all walks of life can call themselves electricians and carry-out domestic and commercial electrical if they so desire.

As is evidenced by the Scottish Government's Guidance On Electrical Work Not Requiring A Warrant, there isn't much domestic electrical work that requires a building warrant therefore making it even easier for unqualified, inexperienced and, more often than not, incompetent personnel to become make-believe electricians and e̶l̶e̶c̶t̶r̶o̶c̶u̶t̶e̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶u̶r̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ carry-out electrical work. Unlike down south, there's no pesky red-tape to worry about up here.

Where you will come unstuck though, is certification. Unless you possess the skills and competence, have accumulated relevant experience, and possess the testing equipment that is required to test and certify electrical installation work, you will not be able to sign-off on any jobs that you do and will need to find an electrician who will. That you will find next-to-impossible to achieve as no professional electrician I know would ever consider compromising their reputation and credibility by certifying electrical work that they knew to have been undertaken by unqualified personnel.

You have made a very wise decision in deciding not to proceed any further with your plan to carry-out electrical installation work and I'm sure you will live to not regret it. Alas, there are some seriously deluded and dangerous individuals on the loose in Scotland right now who believe themselves to be competent 'electricians'. Below are exhibits of their level of competence:










The sooner the Scottish Government stop ----ing around and implement SELECT's recommendation that electricians be given protected professional status, the better.

 

[Des 56]

The problem has always been and always will be,death and injury due to electric shock is a low number
Its fortunate or unfortnate depending on how its perceived regards regulation
Its low enough for the collateral damage (ie death of a loved one)to not warrant too much interference with that regulation

Letting abominations of installation work be undertaken by diy Dan in the knowledge not too many lose their lives to continue to allow that policy

 

[Octopus]

Irrespective of what the the Scottish Government decides, isn't BS 7671 applicable across the UK as a whole ?

 

[JK-Electrical]

Irrespective of what the the Scottish Government decides, isn't BS 7671 applicable across the UK as a whole ?

BS 7671 does indeed apply to all parts of the UK, but by allowing anyone to trade as an electrician the Scottish Government does nothing to ensure that compliance with regulation 134.1.1 is met.

Good workmanship by competent persons or persons under their supervision and proper materials shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation. Electrical equipment shall be installed in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the equipment.

In Scotland, not only can anyone who is not an electrician call themselves an electrician, but men and women, boys and girls can decide they are neither men nor women, boys and girls. I suppose I'm being somewhat optimistic in expecting sanity from a Government that is patently insane.

 

[pirate]

Knowing one's limitations is key...I like to think I know mine...but Jack the Lad cares not a jot...takes your cash and disappears


What did I do to screw up that text size???

 

[pirate]

Oh...sorted!

 

[sparksburnout]

Good old Nicola. "Non Binary Gender" eh? What is the world coming to, the woman is a raving lunatic.

 

[pirate]

Non Binary?
OK it's an old one...
10 types of people in the world...
those who understand binary notation...
and those who don't...

 

[Octopus]

with these devolved assemblies, I can't help thinking that they keep coming up with this CARP, purely to keep themselves in the papers and busy .....................

 

[pirate]

and in a job...

 

[pirate]

and expenses...

 

[sparksburnout]

with these devolved assemblies, I can't help thinking that they keep coming up with this CARP, purely to keep themselves in the papers and busy .....................

I don't even know what a devolved assembly is. Is it a group of people who are neither male or female, in other words don't really exist?

 

[pirate]

and frankly, anyone who thinks Nicola looks good in a short skirt and high heels...

thinks exactly the same as I do!

 

[JK-Electrical]

Good old Nicola. "Non Binary Gender" eh? What is the world coming to, the woman is a raving lunatic.

Aye ..... she's also a raving minger. The last time I saw a face like hers it was in a butcher's window with apples stuffed in its mouth.

 

[Octopus]

I don't even know what a devolved assembly is.

Its the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly or the Scottish Assembly ................ full of "representatives" elected by the fine people of those areas.

We, the English are not allowed a devolved assembly .................... go figure.

They are talking shops for the regions with all the employees and representatives ............... over heads etc. More Civil Servants .....

Thats why Scotland will have, from April this year, 5 rates of tax, whilst the remainder of the UK will have 3 ................. this will create more jobs in Scotland .................... for Civil Servants...

 

[JK-Electrical]

and frankly, anyone who thinks Nicola looks good in a short skirt and high heels...

thinks exactly the same as I do!

The vision of Sturgeon in a short skirt and high heels is as nauseating as the vision of Mhairi Black in a basque and thigh-length boots. * vomits profusely *