Who is a Competent Person?

Anyone with suitable knowledge and experience you may think, but ‘competent person’ has a special meaning in relation to building regulations.

The full breadth of application of the building regulations is often not appreciated. Did you know for example that the replacement of a roof covering triggers a requirement to bring thermal insulation up to current standards or that the installation of bathroom or kitchen with new electrical wiring or plumbing should be notified to the local authority building control. There are however various categories of work that can be ‘self-certified’ by contractors registered under an approved competent person scheme. The more familiar of these will be for cavity wall insulation -cavity insulation guarantee agency; for installation of gas appliances – gas safe register; for oil boilers and storage tanks – the oil firing technical association and other bodies; for window replacement – fensa and other bodies.

When having work undertaken on your home it is important to ensure that you know when the local authority building control need to be informed or that you employ ‘competent’ contractors able to provide the correct certification.

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For further information visit the DCLG website: https://www.competentperson.co.uk/