Power for a Garden or Outbuilding Gym in England: Approved Document P, New Circuits and Who Can Certify the Work

Running power to a garden gym, a converted garage or a shed is electrical installation work, and in England it is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. The government’s Approved Document P explains what is notifiable and how the work must be certified. This article summarises the current 2013 edition of that document and the government’s building regulations approval page. It applies to England. The document states that it gives guidance for building work in England (and for excepted energy buildings in Wales), and the government approval page points to separate rules for Scotland and Northern Ireland, which are not covered here.

What Part P covers

Approved Document P says Part P applies to electrical installations in a dwelling-house or flat, including parts of the installation outside the dwelling, such as fixed lighting and pond pumps in gardens, and parts in outbuildings such as sheds, detached garages and domestic greenhouses. It also applies to shared amenities in blocks of flats, and the document names laundries, kitchens and gymnasiums in that list.

A common assumption is that a small detached building is exempt from the Building Regulations. The document notes that Schedule 2 exempts some buildings generally, but says conservatories, porches, domestic greenhouses, garages and sheds that share their electricity with a dwelling are not exempt from Part P and must comply with its requirements.

Which work is notifiable

The document sets out the notifiable work in regulation 12(6A). A person intending to carry out the work must give a building notice or deposit full plans where the work consists of:

• the installation of a new circuit;
• the replacement of a consumer unit; or
• any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location.

Feeding a gym from the house therefore usually means a new circuit from the consumer unit, and that is notifiable. The document gives a parallel example: connecting an electric gate or garage door to an existing isolator switch is not notifiable, but installing a new circuit from the consumer unit to the isolator is.

Work that is not notifiable

All other electrical installation work is not notifiable. The document describes this as additions and alterations to existing installations outside special locations, and replacements, repairs and maintenance anywhere. Installing fixed electrical equipment is still within the scope of Part P even when the final connection is a standard 13A plug and socket, but it is notifiable only if it involves the work listed above.

Not notifiable does not mean unregulated. The document says non-notifiable work should still be designed, installed, inspected, tested and certificated in accordance with BS 7671, and that local authorities can take enforcement action if they find it unsafe and non-compliant.

The three routes to certification

For notifiable work, Approved Document P says one of three procedures must be used to certify compliance.

Self-certification by a registered competent person

The installer completes a BS 7671 electrical installation certificate for every job and gives it to the person who ordered the work. Within 30 days of completion, the installer or the installer’s registration body must give the occupier a copy of the Building Regulations compliance certificate and give the building control body the certificate or its information. The government approval page says nobody needs to apply for approval themselves when a competent person scheme member does the work.

Third-party certification

An installer who is not a registered competent person may appoint a registered third-party certifier before work begins. The installer must notify the certifier within 5 days of finishing, the certifier inspects and tests as needed, and once a satisfactory condition report is issued the certifier’s registration body must give the occupier a compliance certificate within 30 days.

Certification by a building control body

If the installer is neither a registered competent person nor using a third-party certifier, the installer must notify a building control body before work begins. The body decides how much inspection and testing is needed and, if satisfied, issues a completion certificate (local authority) or final certificate (approved inspector). The document notes this can lower the charge where the installer can supply test certificates.

Why the paperwork matters

The government approval page says the person doing unapproved work could be prosecuted and fined, that the building control body could make the owner pay to fix faulty work, and that without approval the owner will not have the compliance certificates that may be needed when selling the home. The document adds that Building Regulations certificates should normally go to the occupier.

Frequently asked questions

Does a treadmill on an existing socket need notifying?

Under the document, plugging equipment into an existing socket is not a new circuit. Adding a new circuit or a socket outlet on a new circuit is.

Can a competent person self-certify a garden gym supply?

Yes. The document lists self-certification by a registered competent person as the first of three routes for notifiable work.

The bottom line

In England, wiring an outbuilding gym from the house nearly always creates a new circuit, which is notifiable under Part P. The work can be certified by a registered competent person, a registered third-party certifier or a building control body, and the resulting certificates matter for later sales. Even non-notifiable work must still meet BS 7671. Related guidance on this site covers electrical planning for a home gym and permitted development rights for an outdoor gym.

Sources

• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, “Approved Document P: Electrical safety – Dwellings” (2013 edition, England)
• GOV.UK, “Electrical safety: Approved Document P”
• GOV.UK, “Building regulations approval”