Electrical – How to tell if an electrician is “qualified” in the UK

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(All of this is with regard to living in England, UK).

My wife and I bought a house recently, and it clearly needs a bit of work on the electrics and a number of other jobs which would affect existing electrics.

How am I meant to know what a "qualified electrician" means? How do I even find out what my legal obligations are when it comes to owning a home and electrics? Reading this thread from the IET didn't help one bit and left me more confused than ever.

We recently had a small job done by someone who I assumed was a competent and qualified electrician. When I asked for a certificate for the job done he said it would cost £60. Surely, a certificate for the work done is part and parcel of getting the work done, or why else would I bother to pay for an electrician? If I wanted a hack job that I had no evidence of it being done properly I could just do that myself. I assumed there was an obvious logic of "paying an electrician == do it properly".

So I went looking and found the IET's Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEIWC) but again, this doesn't seem like the whole story. And I still don't know what relevance "Part P" has.

In short, my question is, how the hell is anyone meant to stay legal in the UK when it comes to electrical works?

Best Answer

Gov.UK : New website helps people steer clear of rogue electricians

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) authorises bodies to operate schemes under which their members are deemed competent to self-certify that their work complies with the building regulations for England. A similar scheme is authorised by the Welsh government.

At a minimum, you should expect an electrician to be registered under one of the "competent person schemes". For example Stroma, NICEIC. You can ask an electrician for their registration number and registration body's name then check them on that body's website.

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