What Is Part P? Notifiable Electrical Work Explained

If you have ever booked an electrician to add a shower circuit, swap a fuse box or wire up an EV charger, you may have heard the phrase “that’s notifiable under Part P.” It sounds like red tape, but Part P exists for a simple reason: to keep the electrics in your home safe. For homeowners and landlords across Billericay and the wider Essex area, understanding what Part P covers — and what it does not — can save you money, delays and a real headache when you come to sell.

This guide explains Part P in plain English: what it is, which jobs are notifiable, what changed in 2013, and why using a registered electrician matters.

Part P at a glance

Part P of the Building Regulations applies to fixed electrical installations in homes in England. In short, certain types of domestic electrical work must be checked, tested and notified to your local authority Building Control, so that a record exists confirming the work meets the required safety standard.

The important nuance is that not all electrical work is notifiable. Some jobs must be notified; others simply need to be certified to the wiring standard, BS 7671 (the 18th Edition). Either way, the work should meet the same safety standard — the difference is the paperwork and who signs it off.

A registered electrician who belongs to a government-authorised Competent Person Scheme can self-certify notifiable work and issue the compliance certificate for you. If your electrician is not registered, the work has to be notified to Building Control separately, usually at extra cost.

What Part P is (and is not)

Part P is one section of the Building Regulations that deals specifically with electrical safety in the home. It sits alongside the wiring regulations in BS 7671, which set out how installations should be designed, installed and tested.

Think of it this way: BS 7671 is the technical “how”, and Part P is the legal framework that decides which of those jobs need to be formally notified and recorded. A job can meet BS 7671 to the letter and still fall foul of Part P if the notification and certification steps are skipped.

Part P applies to homes — houses, flats, and their gardens and outbuildings. It is an England-specific set of rules, so the detail can differ elsewhere in the UK.

Notifiable vs non-notifiable work

The single most common question we hear from Billericay homeowners is: “Do I need to tell anyone about this job?” The answer depends on the type of work.

Type of work	Notifiable?	What’s required
New circuit (cooker, electric shower, EV charger, garden supply)	Yes	Test, certify and notify Building Control
New or replacement consumer unit / fuse box	Yes	Notifiable even if like-for-like
Any addition or alteration in a room with a bath or shower	Yes	Notifiable due to special location
Extra socket or light on an existing circuit (outside a bathroom)	No	Minor Works Certificate + BS 7671 compliance
Replacing a damaged socket or light fitting like-for-like	No	Should still meet BS 7671

Notifiable work

The following jobs are notifiable in England and must be certified and recorded:

• Installing a new circuit. This includes wiring a new cooker point, an electric shower, an EV charging point or a supply out to a garden office, shed or outdoor lighting. Any brand-new circuit run from the consumer unit counts.
• Replacing, upgrading or relocating a consumer unit. Notifiable even for a straight like-for-like swap, because it is such a critical part of the installation. If you are planning this, see our guidance on consumer unit replacement.
• Additions or alterations in a special location. In practice this most often means a room containing a bath or shower. Because of the extra risk where water and electricity meet, almost any electrical work in a bathroom is notifiable.

Non-notifiable minor work

Since 6 April 2013, the rules were relaxed for smaller jobs. Minor work on an existing circuit that is outside a special location is no longer notifiable. In everyday terms, that means adding an extra socket or a new light point to a circuit that already exists — in a bedroom, living room, hallway or kitchen — does not have to be notified to Building Control.

That does not make it a free-for-all. Non-notifiable work still has to comply with BS 7671, and it should be inspected, tested and recorded on a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate — your proof the work was done safely and to standard. A reputable electrician will always provide one; if someone offers to do the job with no paperwork at all, treat that as a warning sign.

The 6 April 2013 change, explained

Before 2013, a much wider range of minor jobs were notifiable, which meant paperwork and fees for even small additions. The rules were simplified so that the notification burden focuses on the higher-risk work: new circuits, consumer units and anything in bathrooms and other special locations.

The change did not lower the safety standard — every installation still has to meet BS 7671. It simply removed the requirement to notify Building Control for low-risk additions to existing circuits. So if a Billericay homeowner asks us to add a couple of double sockets in a lounge, that is non-notifiable, but we will still test the circuit and issue a Minor Works Certificate.

Special locations: why bathrooms are different

A “special location” is an area where the risk of electric shock is higher, and the classic example in a home is a room containing a bath or shower. Water lowers the body’s resistance, so the wiring rules are stricter and the zones around the bath, basin and shower are tightly defined.

Because of that, additions and alterations in these rooms are notifiable — even something that would be trivial elsewhere. Swapping an extractor fan, adding a shaver socket, moving a light or fitting an electric shower in a bathroom all fall into notifiable territory.

Who can certify the work?

There are two routes to compliance, and they make a real difference to cost and convenience.

Route one — a registered electrician. Electricians who belong to a government-authorised Competent Person Scheme — the main ones being NICEIC, NAPIT and STROMA — are allowed to self-certify their own notifiable work. That means they carry out the job, test it, issue the Building Regulations compliance certificate, and register the work on your behalf. You get your certificate without ever having to contact the council. As an NICEIC-registered, Part P approved firm working to BS 7671 (18th Edition), this is the route we use for every notifiable job.

Route two — Building Control. If the person doing the work is not scheme-registered, the notifiable work has to be notified to your local authority Building Control before it starts, and they arrange inspection and sign-off. This route is slower and usually adds a separate fee on top of the electrical work itself. Costs vary between councils and by job.

For most homeowners, route one is simpler, quicker and often cheaper overall — which is why using a registered electrician is worth it.

Why it matters when you sell or remortgage

Part P certificates are not just for peace of mind today; they matter down the line. When you sell or remortgage, buyers’ solicitors and surveyors routinely ask for evidence that electrical work was carried out and certified correctly.

If you have had a new consumer unit, a rewire or a bathroom refurbishment and cannot produce the compliance certificate, the sale can stall while a retrospective inspection is arranged — at extra cost, and often at the worst possible moment. Keeping every certificate safe, and insisting on one whenever work is done, protects the value of your Essex home. If your property has older wiring throughout, a full house rewire with proper certification is often the cleanest way to bring everything up to standard.

When to bring in a professional

The honest rule of thumb is this: if the job involves a new circuit, the consumer unit, or anything in a bathroom, it is notifiable and should be done by a registered electrician who can certify it. Even for non-notifiable jobs, the wiring must still meet BS 7671 and be tested — so the safest, and usually the most economical, choice is to have a qualified, fully insured electrician do it and hand you the paperwork.

Rules do have exceptions, and costs vary with your property, its age and the condition of the existing wiring. If you are unsure whether your planned job is notifiable, it is always worth asking before work begins. You will find more answers on our FAQs page, or you can simply get in touch and describe what you have in mind.

If you are a homeowner or landlord in Billericay or the surrounding Essex area planning electrical work — from an extra socket to a full consumer-unit upgrade — we can advise on what is notifiable and handle the certification for you. Request a free, no-obligation quote through our online quote form and we will take it from there.