Summary

"Is this notifiable?" is the single most commonly asked compliance question in UK domestic electrical work, and it's asked far more often than it's answered correctly. Confusion is understandable: the rules changed significantly in 2013 (reducing the scope of notifiable work in England), the rules differ between England and Wales, and Scotland and Northern Ireland don't use Part P at all — they have their own separate systems that produce a similar practical outcome by a different legal route.

Getting the notification decision wrong has real consequences that show up later, not immediately. Unnotified work doesn't usually cause a problem on the day — it causes a problem at the point of sale, when a conveyancing solicitor asks for Building Regulations completion certificates and none exist, or when an insurer investigates a claim and discovers the circuit involved was never certified. The fix at that point (regularisation) costs more than doing it right the first time and isn't guaranteed to succeed.

This article is a practical decision guide: how to work out whether a specific job is notifiable, which route to take once you know, and how the answer changes depending on where in the UK the job is. For the full documentation trail (EIC, Minor Works Certificate, EICR) and a room-type reference table, see part p notifications. For the England/Wales technical deep-dive including cost comparisons of the notification routes, see part p overview.

Key Facts

Quick Reference Table

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Jurisdiction Governing Regime Special Locations (trigger wider notification) Self-Certification Route
England Building Regulations 2010, Part P + Approved Document P (2013) Bath/shower rooms only NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, and other CPS
Wales Building Regulations 2010, Part P + Wales-specific amendments Bath/shower rooms, kitchens, outdoors NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, and other CPS
Scotland Building (Scotland) Regulations / Technical Handbook Section 4.5 Different framework — approval routed via building warrant / certification, not a Part P special-locations list SELECT (Scotland), NICEIC (Scottish scheme routes)
Northern Ireland Building Regulations (Northern Ireland), own Part P-equivalent provision Differs from England's 2013-reduced list NICEIC, NAPIT (NI-registered schemes)

Detailed Guidance

Decision tree: is this job notifiable? (England)

START: What does the job involve?
|
├── Installing a NEW circuit (new way at the consumer unit,
│   including a new circuit to an outbuilding/garage/garden office)?
│   └── YES → NOTIFIABLE, wherever in the dwelling it is.
│             Self-certify via CPS, or submit a Building Notice.
│
├── Replacing the consumer unit itself?
│   └── YES → Treat as NOTIFIABLE (standard practice across
│             all major competent person schemes since 2016).
│
├── Adding/altering wiring on an EXISTING circuit?
│   │
│   ├── Is the room a bath/shower room (England special location)?
│   │   └── YES → NOTIFIABLE (e.g. new light, relocated switch,
│   │             new extractor fan wiring, shaver socket in a
│   │             bathroom on an existing circuit)
│   │   └── NO  → Continue below
│   │
│   └── Like-for-like replacement (socket, switch, light fitting,
│       damaged cable section) with no circuit alteration?
│       └── YES → NOT NOTIFIABLE. Must still comply with BS 7671.
│       └── NO  → Adding a socket/spur/light point to an existing
│                 circuit outside a special location?
│                 └── NOT NOTIFIABLE in England. Still comply
│                     with BS 7671; issue a Minor Works Certificate.
│
└── Still uncertain? → Default to treating it as notifiable and
    confirm with your competent person scheme before starting.
    The cost of over-notifying is small; the cost of an
    unnotified job discovered at sale is not.

In Wales, replace "bath/shower room" in the decision tree above with "bath/shower room, kitchen, or outdoors" — the same logic applies, but the special-locations net is wider, so more additions to existing circuits become notifiable.

Why the 2013 change matters (England and Wales diverge here)

Approved Document P (2013 edition) significantly reduced the scope of notifiable work compared to the original 2005 rules. The single biggest change: kitchens and outdoor areas stopped being special locations in England. Before 2013, adding a socket to a kitchen ring main was notifiable in England exactly as it still is in Wales today. This is the single most common source of out-of-date advice — tradespeople trained or informed before 2013, or reading guidance written for Wales, routinely over-notify (or advise customers incorrectly) on English kitchen and garden electrical work.

Practical implication: if you work across the England/Wales border, or advise customers in both, do not carry a single mental checklist — the special-locations list is genuinely different, and getting it backwards in either direction creates a real problem (unnotified notifiable work in Wales, or unnecessary notification cost in England).

Scotland: a different system, not an exemption

Scotland does not use Part P, and describing Scottish electrical work as "not Part P notifiable" is true but misleading if it's taken to mean "unregulated." Scotland regulates building work, including electrical installations, through the Building (Scotland) Regulations, with technical guidance in the Building Standards Technical Handbook (domestic), Section 4.5 covering electrical safety. Scottish building control operates on a building warrant system rather than a notifiable-work list, with certification routes (including self-certification by approved certifiers, such as through SELECT's certification scheme) providing an equivalent function to England and Wales' competent person schemes.

Northern Ireland: its own Part P, different scope

Northern Ireland has adopted its own version of Part P within the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland), administered through local council Building Control departments rather than LABC. The specific list of notifiable work and special locations in Northern Ireland's regulations does not automatically mirror England's 2013-reduced scope — NI's regime has followed its own review timeline.

Choosing a notification route

Once you've established the work is notifiable, there are two routes:

1. Competent Person Scheme self-certification — the electrician is registered with a scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA and others in England/Wales; SELECT and equivalents in Scotland). On completing the job, they issue the customer an Electrical Installation Certificate and the scheme notifies Building Control on the electrician's behalf. No per-job Building Control fee. This is the default route for any electrician doing regular notifiable work — see competent person schemes list for a full comparison of scheme costs and coverage.

2. Building Notice route — used when the work isn't being carried out by a registered competent person (including DIY). A Building Notice is submitted to the Local Authority Building Control before work starts, a fee is paid (typically £150–£400 for electrical work, council-dependent), and LABC arranges inspection — potentially including an independent test by an approved inspector. This route is slower, costs more per job, and shifts inspection risk onto the customer if the work fails testing.

What happens if notifiable work wasn't notified

If you discover — or inherit, as a new owner — electrical work that should have been notified but wasn't, the fix is regularisation, not retrospective self-certification (competent person schemes cannot certify work after the fact for jobs they didn't carry out). The process:

  1. Apply to the local authority Building Control department for a regularisation certificate.
  2. Pay the regularisation fee — typically 130–160% of the standard Building Notice fee, reflecting the extra administrative burden.
  3. The Building Control Officer inspects the installation, which may require opening up plasterboard, tiling or other finished surfaces to verify concealed work.
  4. If the installation meets the standards in force at the time it was carried out, a regularisation certificate is issued.
  5. If it doesn't, remedial work is required before certification.

There is no time limit on applying for regularisation, but the local authority is under no obligation to grant it, and it will always cost more and take longer than notifying correctly at the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I'm not sure whether a job is notifiable, what should I do?

Default to treating it as notifiable and confirm with your competent person scheme provider before starting work. Registered schemes have technical helplines for exactly this question. The cost of an unnecessary notification (a few minutes of admin, no extra fee under most CPS memberships) is trivial compared to the cost of discovering an unnotified job at the point of sale years later.

Does moving between England and Wales for work mean I need two sets of paperwork?

You don't need separate registration paperwork for most competent person schemes (NICEIC and NAPIT, for example, cover both England and Wales), but you do need to apply the correct special-locations list for wherever the job actually is. A kitchen socket addition is non-notifiable in England and notifiable in Wales — the physical location of the job determines the rule, not where your business is based.

Is a new EV charger installation always notifiable?

Yes, treat EV charger installation as notifiable work — it involves a new dedicated circuit from the consumer unit, which triggers notification under Part P regardless of jurisdiction-specific special-locations differences. It also has its own additional technical requirements under BS 7671 Section 722 (electric vehicle charging installations) around earthing arrangements (PME restrictions) and RCD protection type, which should be checked separately from the notification question.

Can a Building Notice be submitted after work has already started?

No — a Building Notice must be submitted before work starts. Submitting it after the fact, or after completion, converts the situation into a regularisation case (see above), which costs more and offers no guarantee of a successful outcome. If you realise partway through a job that it's notifiable and wasn't notified, stop and notify immediately rather than completing the work first.

Does replacing a like-for-like consumer unit avoid notification?

No, in practice. Even though the strict legal reading of "new circuit" doesn't obviously cover a straight consumer unit swap where no circuits are altered, every major competent person scheme treats CU replacement as notifiable, because the work necessarily involves handling every circuit in the property and modern CU replacements must meet current RCD protection and metal-enclosure requirements. Always notify or self-certify consumer unit replacement.

Regulations & Standards