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The Building RegulationsWhat actually counts as building work?

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The Building Regulations

  • The Building Regulations 2010 apply in England and Wales (amended in England in 2013). Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own. Know the rules where you're working.
  • Building work is defined in Regulation 3. It includes putting up or extending a building, installing or extending a controlled service or fitting, material alterations, cavity wall insulation, and underpinning foundations.
  • The regulations are split into Parts, each with an Approved Document giving guidance. Part P is electrical safety in dwellings, but electrical work often touches other parts too. Chasing a wall or drilling a joist is Part A (structure). Going through a fire barrier is Part B (fire safety).

Electrician's Guide to the Building Regs · What counts as building work, and the regulations that apply · pp.16–17

Electrician's Guide to the Building Regs · Table of all Parts and Approved Documents (A to T) · p.20 Highlight this table

Part P's requirement
"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." You meet this by following the fundamental principles in Chapter 13 of BS 7671. You're responsible for the fixed wiring behind the socket, not the appliance someone plugs into it.
Working ≠ safe. A circuit that turns on hasn't been shown to be safe. You prove it's safe by inspecting, testing and certifying it, then giving the paperwork to the client.

Regulation 7: materials and workmanship

  • Regulation 7 is not a Part. It sits in the Building Regulations themselves, and it applies to all building work.
  • Electrical work is building work under Regulation 3, so it catches you as well.

Electrician's Guide to the Building Regs · Regulation 7, materials and workmanship · p.35

§Regulation 7 — building work shall be carried out with adequate and proper materials, appropriate for the circumstances, and in a workmanlike manner.
The word is "shall". Shall means must, not should. In plain terms: suitable materials, and no shoddy work.
Why it reads oddly for an electrician. It covers every trade, which is why it talks about materials being adequately mixed or prepared — mortar, concrete, screed. The requirement still lands on your work.

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