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Part P Building Regs in Canterbury: what triggers a notifiable job

Part P of the Building Regulations covers domestic electrical work in England. The scope was narrowed in April 2013 and the notifiable list is shorter than most Canterbury homeowners think. Here is what actually needs the council paperwork and what does not.

Part P has been part of the Building Regulations since 2005. Its purpose is to bring domestic electrical work under the same building-control regime as extensions and structural changes - the work must comply with BS 7671:2018 (current edition, Amendment 2:2022) and either be self-certified by a registered Competent Person or notified to Canterbury City Council building control at least 5 working days before work starts.

The notifiable list, in 2026

Since Part P was slimmed down in April 2013, only three categories of domestic electrical work require notification:

1. Replacement of a consumer unit. Any swap of the main fuseboard, including like-for-like replacements.
2. Installation of a new circuit. Any circuit that runs back to a new way in the consumer unit, whether it feeds one accessory or a whole floor.
3. Electrical work inside a special location. "Special locations" are defined in BS 7671 Part 7 and in practice on domestic work this means bathrooms and shower rooms (Section 701), swimming pools and saunas (Sections 702, 703). Any work in a bathroom - even swapping a light fitting - is notifiable.

That is the whole list. Everything else - replacing sockets, replacing switches, adding a spur to an existing ring main outside a special location, installing garden lighting on an existing outdoor circuit, moving a light fitting - is not notifiable. It still has to comply with BS 7671, and it still requires you (or your electrician) to test the work and issue a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEIWC), but building control does not need to see it.

Two ways to get a notifiable job signed off

Notification happens in one of two ways:

• Competent Person self-certification. Your electrician is registered with a Competent Person Scheme (NAPIT, NICEIC, ELECSA, Certsure, STROMA). They complete the work, test it, issue the Electrical Installation Certificate, and self-certify to their scheme. The scheme notifies Canterbury City Council on your behalf, and a Building Regulations compliance certificate is posted to you within a fortnight. No council fee, no inspection visit.
• Direct building-control notification. Your electrician is not scheme-registered, so they notify Canterbury City Council building control at least 5 working days before starting. The council either sends a building-control officer to inspect the work, or accepts a Third Party Certification report from a scheme-registered electrician who has inspected the work post-completion. A council fee applies (currently around £300–£500 depending on the job scope).

Route one is cheaper, faster, and adds the compliance certificate to your property records automatically. Route two only makes sense if your electrician is deliberately outside a scheme, which is not the norm.

Canterbury listed-property nuance

Building Regulations and Listed Building Consent are two separate consent regimes. Part P notification through a Competent Person Scheme discharges the Building Regs side. It does not discharge the LBC side.

A consumer unit swap inside a Canterbury listed cottage - for example on Palace Street, the King's Mile, Northgate or in Bridge village - is notifiable under Part P. That is the Building Regs. If the consumer unit is being moved to a new position (say from a Georgian coal-cellar under the stairs to a modern hallway cupboard), the sub-main routing might cross a listed corridor and touch a listed wall. That crossing needs LBC from Canterbury City Council conservation team, separately from the Part P self-certification.

On listed jobs I quote for both consents. The Part P side is discharged inside a fortnight of completion; the LBC side runs longer (typically 6 to 8 weeks for the application) and needs to be secured before work starts.

What Part P does not cover

Some jobs that homeowners assume are notifiable are not:

• Rewiring a single room outside a bathroom. If you strip and rewire a bedroom back to the existing consumer unit, and it re-uses the existing circuit, it is not notifiable.
• Installing a new socket on an existing ring main. A spur from an existing outlet to a new socket, in a room that is not a bathroom, is not notifiable.
• Installing a new outdoor light on an existing outdoor circuit. Not notifiable, as long as no new circuit is required.
• Replacing a light fitting like-for-like outside a bathroom. Not notifiable.

All of these still require BS 7671-compliant work and a test-and-certify. But the notifiable-list threshold is lower than most homeowners expect.

Sources: Building Regulations 2010 Approved Document P (2013 edition, current); BS 7671:2018 Amendment 2:2022; Canterbury City Council Building Control and Conservation Team guidance; NAPIT Competent Person Scheme.