Part P refers to Part P of the Building Regulations for England and Wales.  

Since January 1st 2005 Part P of the building regulations required that “Reasonable provision shall be made in the design and installation of electrical installations in order to protect persons operating, maintaining or altering the installations from fire or injury.”

These requirements relate specifically to domestic dwelling houses or parts of commercial properties which could be regarded as domestic.  For example, the flat above a pub occupied by the landlord.

The rules surrounding Part P can seem a little confusing, but generally speaking if you need to do anything more than add a socket or light fitting to a circuit in a room that doesn’t have water in it (kitchen, bathroom, garden) then it probably falls under the scope of Part P and will either require the services of self certifying electrical contractors like Orchard Electrical or notification to the Local Authority Building Control.

Notifying the LABC can be time consuming and costly, whereas employing a suitably qualified and registered electrical contractor is a much cheaper, easier and safer solution than doing it yourself.

For a more comprehensive list of what is covered under Part P click here

Extra guidance can be found on the ELECSA web site

Part P