What is the deal with Part P or equivalent up north of the border? is it a free for all and no schemes? or do you still have to go via your local authority for permision and testing etc...?
Whereas all electrical installation work carried-out in England Wales is notifiable to the LABC, and all installers need to be registered with a scheme, things are different up here in Scotland. As things stand at the moment, homeowners and landlords have to be able to prove that all new electrical work and any additions or alterations to an existing installation complies with the building standards system that we have up here. Responsibility is exclusively theirs. Certain types of work in certain dwellings require a building warrant, while other types of work don't. For instance, the rewiring of a flat in a multi-occupancy building would require a building warrant whereas the rewiring of a one or two-storey house would not. But the rewiring of a house having three or more storeys would!
Guidance on electrical work not requiring a warrant (Domestic) - http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Building/Building-standards/publications/glf2
I've rewired properties where the owner has not obtained a building warrant! All I am obliged to do is forward an Electrical Installation Certificate to the LABC along with a photocopy of my SJIB grade card and a photocopy of the calibration certificate of my my Megger MFT 1730. It is at this point that the LABC will contact the homeowner or landlord to enquire why they have not applied for a building warrant, but that is not my issue. While most sensible property owners will heed my advice and obtain a building warrant prior to the commencement of work, there are always going to be some who do not, but that's ultimately their problem, not mine.
My understanding is that legislation will be forthcoming compelling anyone who wishes to sign-off on their own work vis a vis building warrants will have to become a registered Approved Certifier of Construction. This will require the successful completion of a one day course and further fees being paid to SELECT/NICEIC and the Scottish Government.
www.sbsc.uk.net/faq.php
Since not all work electrical work in Scotland is notifiable, the door remains open for non-competent, non-qualified persons to carry-out electrical work. Alas, such practice is still commonplace up here, and in my humble opinion, the present system is broken. I'm having to compete with 20 year-olds who haven't completed an apprenticeship and are fresh out of college. Although the guidance issued by the Scottish Government emphasises that persons carrying-out Electrical Installation Condition Reports should be approved electricians - therefore qualified to undertake inspection and testing as you can't be graded as an approved electrician if you don't have a qualification in inspection and testing - I know for a fact that there are young guys out there doing EICRs who are not approved electricians and have no qualifications vis a vis inspection and testing. If some of the EICRs that I've read recently are anything to go by, then some of these guys should not be doing EICRs as it is quite evident that some of them don't really know what they're doing. As I said, the system just isn't working up here. Some of the examples of poor workmanship that I come across on an almost daily basis are truly shocking.
That said, I understand that SELECT and the NICEIC are both currently in discussions with the Scottish Government regarding the finalisation of forthcoming legislation that will require all persons carrying-out electrical work in Scotland to be registered with either SELECT or the NICEIC. My SELECT assessor believes that this could happen in the next six months or so. About time too.
