Part P Electrical Regulations in London: What Homeowners Need to Know

What Is Part P of the Building Regulations?

Part P of the Building Regulations governs electrical safety in dwellings in England. It came into force in 2005 and was significantly simplified in 2013. Its purpose is to reduce the risk of electrical fires and electrocution by ensuring that certain categories of electrical work in homes are either carried out by a registered competent person or inspected and certified by a building control inspector.

Part P applies to all dwellings, including flats and houses, in England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have separate but similar electrical safety requirements.

Which Electrical Work Is Notifiable?

Since the 2013 revision, the scope of notifiable work was significantly reduced. Under the current rules, only the following categories of work must be notified to building control:

Any electrical installation work in a kitchen or bathroom is notifiable. This covers new circuits, replacing consumer units (fuse boards), and any work that involves adding or modifying circuits in these rooms. Kitchens and bathrooms are defined as special locations under BS 7671:2018 (the IET Wiring Regulations) because of the combination of water and electricity.

Any work involving a new electrical installation outside the building is notifiable, including new garden lighting circuits, electric vehicle charging points, and outbuildings.

Installing a new consumer unit is always notifiable regardless of its location.

Work involving adding a new circuit to a property, even outside bathrooms and kitchens, is notifiable.

Work that is not notifiable includes replacing like-for-like fittings outside special locations, such as swapping a socket, light switch, or light fitting for an equivalent replacement. Adding sockets to an existing circuit in a living room or bedroom by extending the existing circuit is also not notifiable, provided it does not involve work in a bathroom or kitchen and does not require a new circuit from the consumer unit.

How Competent Person Schemes Work

The practical mechanism for Part P compliance is the Competent Person Scheme. Electricians who are registered with an approved scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT, or Elecsa can self-certify their own work. When they complete notifiable work, they submit a notification to the relevant local authority building control department on your behalf. You receive a completion certificate confirming the work has been registered.

This process costs nothing extra beyond the electrician normal charge. The notification and certification are part of the registered electrician obligations under the scheme. From the homeowner perspective, the requirement is simply to ensure that you hire a registered electrician for notifiable work. You can verify registration on the relevant scheme website before engaging the contractor.

If you use an electrician who is not registered with a competent person scheme, the notifiable work must instead be inspected and approved by your local authority building control department. The homeowner must apply for building regulations approval before work starts, pay an inspection fee, and arrange for the inspector to visit at appropriate stages. This route is more expensive and slower but is a legitimate alternative to the self-certification route.

What Happens If Work Is Done Without Notification?

Electrical work that was required to be notified but was not is not automatically illegal. There is no criminal offence for a homeowner having unnotified work done in their own home. However, the practical consequences can be significant.

When you sell your property, your solicitor will ask you to disclose electrical work carried out since 2005. If you cannot produce certificates, the buyer may require you to obtain a retrospective inspection, which involves an electrician conducting an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and any remedial work identified. In some cases, access to buried or concealed work is required to verify the installation, which means making good decoration or flooring after inspection.

If a fire or electrical accident occurs in connection with uncertified work, your buildings or contents insurer may decline the claim or reduce the settlement on the basis that the installation was not properly certified.

For new electrical work discovered by a building inspector during an unrelated inspection, enforcement action can include a requirement to open up the work for inspection, correct any deficiencies, and obtain proper certification.

Landlord Liability in London

Landlords in England have obligations beyond Part P. Since 2020, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require landlords to have the electrical installation in a rented property inspected and tested by a qualified person at intervals of no more than five years. The inspection produces an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).

The EICR must be provided to existing tenants within 28 days of inspection and to new tenants before they occupy the property. A copy must be provided to the local authority on request within seven days. Remedial work required by the EICR must be completed within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report specifies an urgent timescale.

Failure to comply with the 2020 regulations can result in a local authority issuing a remedial notice and, if ignored, carrying out the work itself and recovering the cost from the landlord, plus a financial penalty of up to 30,000 pounds.

In London, where rented properties make up a large proportion of the housing stock, these regulations are actively enforced by borough councils. Landlords who use managing agents should confirm that the agent is tracking EICR renewal dates and arranging inspections proactively.

Bathroom Electrical Zones

Bathrooms are subject to additional electrical safety requirements under BS 7671:2018, which defines zones within the bathroom based on proximity to water sources. Zone 0 is inside the bath or shower tray; Zone 1 extends up to 2.25 metres above the floor over the bath or shower and to the rim of the bath horizontally; Zone 2 extends 600mm horizontally beyond Zone 1.

Electrical fittings must be rated for the zone in which they are installed. In Zone 1, only very low voltage (maximum 12V) or fittings with at least IPX4 protection are permitted. Light fittings installed directly above a bath or shower must have an appropriate IP rating. Standard lamp holders with no IP protection are not permitted in Zone 1 or directly above a bath or shower.

Shaver sockets in bathrooms must comply with BS EN 61558-2-5 and are permitted only outside Zone 1 and Zone 2. They include a transformer that provides electrical separation, preventing shock risk if the shaver is dropped into water.