Tapping into the STW font of all knowledge, what do people know about this. I was aware that they came in a short while ago stopping cowboys and idiots from doing major electrical work shoddily but I was under the impression that as long as you didn’t do major work it was OK.

What I’ve done is fit a pond pump and UV filter. There was already a supply into the garden (properly fused and installed etc) and all I did was fit a junction box to split the supply.

Questions:-
1) Does this come under the category which should have been reported to the building regs people before I did it?
2) How much does it cost to get it retrospectively inspected and certified?
3) How much is the council going to go ballistic and bureaucratic on me if I ring up and come clean?
4) Should I get it done now or wait until I want to sell the house?

Cheers in advance of the usual 95% useless but amusing responses, 3% useless and not even amusing responses and the 2% genuinely useful responses.

F

Shouldnt cause an issue till you sell the house really.
If its your house and garden you can do what you like but you wont be able to certificate it for your HIPS pack etc…

If your confident with your install and the kit you’ve used I’d leave it until you come to sell and get it checked if someone asks.

Its not like you’ve re wired the whole house.

1) it could come under a special category (swimming pool regs or similar)
2) depending on what part of the country £150-£350
3) wouldn’t worry
4) if any body asks it been like that since i moved in the house

if you are concerned get a mate to check it

diynot.com is good for regs stuff

I’m not personally concerned as I only do stuff well within my limitations and nothing more complicated than wiring a plug. I’ve just fitted an electronic blanket weed controller (wife has suddenly got very interested in ponds since I finished building it!) and it had “…criminal offence…”, “..invalidate your insurance…” etc box of doom within the instructions but I suspect that a) they are over cooking it and b) I’m probably the only person to have ever read that far through the instructions.

F

where is the supply coming from ie main fusebox or spured of a socket on the garden side of house, has an RCD been fitted to protect that circuit and a fuse.

Showerman, the original supply was fed to the garden (a bubble pool / water feature) by the previous owners and judging by the standard (and having seen some of the bits he obviously did himself) I think it was done by an electrician. A spur has been taken from the socket ring main to a fused switch inside the house. The ringmain is protected by the RCD in the consumer unit. From the fused switch it then goes outside and underground.

I tracked back the cable from the water feature to the point it went underground and put a waterproof switched junction box in.

F

Anything outside is notifyable, wiring to pond pumps is specifically mentioned!

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADP_2006.pdf

All new circuits must be part P compliant, and the tell tale is whether you have used the new unified colour coded wiring. Basically if its cable (Twin and earth stylee) and the insulation is colour coded red and black for live and neutral you can wire away to your hearts content with no repercussions whatsoever. If however, the wiring you are using is the new blue and brown colours, then it must be Part P compliant. You will not explode or be turned into a pillar of salt, however when you come to sell up your arse is right royally in the air.

I am not so sure I will check my guide to the part P but becaues it is a existing circuit and you have just added a new current using appliance I do not think it is a issue a bit like replacing a light fitting like for like ina bathroom etc I will get back to you

Easy answer remove the kit from your pond before you sell

In a similar vein…

Have just had an extension built and the sparky put a junction box on the outside of the house which was part of the certification. Now the builders have left, I have installed decking and a shed. I have taken a twin and earth feed from the certified junction box into the shed and installed a double socket.

Should that be certified too?

as above. Blue & Brown = yes, Red and Balck = No

Ultimately it only matters when you’re selling your house anyway?

Yeah I guess it does – I will just take the extension back off if I need to.

Cannot recall what colour the wires were.

Well if you’ve take an new supply off a certified board it doesn’t matter what colour cabling you used as your modifying a certified circuit – evenif you use the ‘old’ cable.

Works can be carried out by a Certified Domestic Installer without prior notice to the Local Building Control. However, the strange twist of this is that a Certified Domestic Installer need not be a Qualified Electrician.

ok, firstly, part p only came in 2 years ago. The new wiring colours have been around for longer than that. Secondly, youy shouldnt be doing the things you have mentioned, without having it checked by a competent qualified electrician. But if its done correctly, whos going to know? I would definitely make sure you have 30ma rcd protection on anything outside, or in a bathroom though…

Not accordng to the NICEIC fella who trained us in this aspect. The introduction of the unified colour scheme is what enables them to identify what was done when.

Think about it if nothing was registered at all, and there was no indication as to what was done when how would the rules be enforceable??? It is the telltale.

The junction box was installed by the qualified electrician and he knew what we were doing (off the record) so I ASSUME he has the correct RCD rating on the circuit. It was simply because the building/electrician work was complete and it was several weeks before I got the decking in and the shed built so it clearly could not have been completed before that was done. I am competent enough to put three wires into a block (and I also used outdoor sealed trunking out of the junction box and into the shed) so I don’t forsee any problems.

(Well I have wired up some decking lights and gate lights from the spur and nothing has popped yet anyway)….

In answer to the OP, a pond is classed as a special location in the wiring Regs, Section 702, and is a notifiable works.

See here :- The Institute of Electrical Engineers Part P page

The close proximity of the harmonised wiring regs, (voluntary from 31/03/2004 and compulsary 31/3/2006) and Part P (compulsary 1/1/2005), is being used to date work done and liable for part P.

There are specific regulations for garden and external work, which require a higher standard of installation and safety.

Check it out on the link.