Written evidence submitted by ECA [BSB 257]

About ECA and FSA

• ECA is the UK’s largest trade association representing electrotechnical and engineering services organisations, at regional, national and European level. ECA member-companies are rigorously assessed before Membership is approved.
• ECA also supports the Fire & Security Association alongside SELECT, our Scottish counterparts. The FSA is the leading UK trade association dedicated to companies who design, install, commission, maintain and monitor electronic (active) fire, emergency and security systems.
• ECA Member firms have a combined turnover in excess of £6 billion annually. Members carry out design, installation, inspection, testing, maintenance and monitoring activity across the domestic, commercial, industrial and public sectors. This ranges from electrical, power and lighting to data communications, to energy efficiency, renewables and storage, as well as the design and installation of cutting-edge building control technologies.
• Together, and alongside the fire and security technologies covered by the FSA, the activities above comprise the ‘electrotechnical’ sector.
• Within this sector, our 2,600 Members range from SME electrotechnical businesses to nationwide engineering services organisations that employ thousands of professionals on major UK projects.
• For more information, please contact mike.giles@eca.co.uk

Firstly, thank you for the opportunity to respond to this consultation on this fundamentally important draft Bill. ECA stands ready to assist Government, parliament, and enforcers with the successful implementation of those measures necessary to ensure electrical and fire safety in higher risk premises.

Electrotechnical Assessment Standards (EAS) 2020

The electrical industry has actively sought to improve competence standards across our industry in recent years, and we would like to refer you to new Electrotechnical Assessment Standards (EAS) 2020 as significant demonstration of industry progress.  We request that EAS 2020 is given full consideration when developing and considering any competence-related proposals associated with this draft Bill. More details of EAS are below and in Annex 1.

The new industry-wide EAS 2020 came into force on 1 September 2020, and it has been developed and supported by the entire electrotechnical industry.

• EAS 2020 focusses on an Enterprise’s ability to ensure employee competence when undertaking electrotechnical work, including electrical inspection and testing. Amongst other things this move forward in industry competence is designed to hasten the end of so-called ‘five-day wonder’ electrical courses that have undermined customer confidence, notably in the residential electrotechnical sector.

• EAS 2020 sets out the minimum requirements for an enterprise (of any size) to be recognised by a Certification or Registration Body as technically competent to undertake design, construction, maintenance, verification and/or inspection and testing.

Scope of the Draft Building Safety Bill

• There are around 4,000 tower blocks in the UK, estimated to contain over 480,000 individual flats in England alone.[i]

• Regarding the current drafting of the Bill, we are greatly concerned that many people living in Higher Risk Buildings may still be at risk from fires or faulty electrics, as explained below. As a result, we offer recommendations that we believe will substantially reduce this risk.

• ECA contends that the draft Bill should be amended to ensure that every dwelling in a Higher Risk Building, irrespective of tenure, is subject to a sufficient and uniform safety regime. Otherwise, all those in a given multi-occupancy building can be placed at serious risk from bad electrical practice or other causes of fire occurring in a single dwelling.

• ECA also believes the draft Bill should be amended to add ‘Electrical Safety Failure’ to the meaning of ‘Building Safety Risk’ within Clause 16 (1).

• ECA has worked with industry bodies to ensure that tenants living in the Private Rented Sector are protected by mandatory (at least) five-yearly electrical safety checks in their properties. This was recently brought into law through The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations (2020). These measures are crucial in reducing the number of electrical accidents and incidents, and we thus recommend that such measures are included for all individual dwellings within Higher Risk Buildings in this regime - regardless of their tenure.

• The current definition of Higher Risk Building is that they are 10 storeys or more in height. If the Draft Bill is to include requirements for all tower blocks, then the definition of Higher Risk Building’s should be the accepted terminology for a tower block. If not, an alternative definition of a tower block would need outlining.

• ECA welcomes the creation of an ‘Accountable Person’ and the creation of a new regulator for building safety within the Health and Safety Executive. However, the extent of the ‘Accountable Person’s’ role, within the new regulator, regarding electrical safety is not clear in this draft Bill. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the proposed Building Assurance Certificate will include electrical safety. We believe further clarification is needed on these points.

• Regarding the creation of an ‘Accountable Person’, consideration should be given to also making this person accountable and responsible for electrical safety within buildings. However, with potentially many tenancies in a building and questions around right to access, any accountability and responsibility will need to be combined with the right and capability to inspect dwellings and to require Tenants to remove potentially dangerous appliances.

• The ‘Accountable Person’ should appoint a ‘Building Safety Manager’ who is responsible for maintaining records and ensuring these checks are undertaken, as well as ensuring access to information for tenants.

• Furthermore, ECA believes that minimum five-yearly electrical safety checks should be introduced into the social housing sector, broadly in the same manner as in the private rented sector. This would help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in UK residential settings. Currently, these checks are done on a more informal basis, and currently may sometimes only be done every 10 years, when tenants could of course change in the interim period. We suggest that, for example, expansion into social housing could be enacted by amending the draft Building Safety Bill (e.g. under clause 72 (1)), rather than amending existing legislation for the private rented sector.

Competency and Part P of the Building Regulations

• In 2018, the HCLG Committee wrote to Dame Judith Hackitt in relation to electrical safety and the importance of Part P of the Building Regulations. ECA generally welcomed these representations and has also made representations to MHCLG on the significance of electrical safety and the fundamental importance of ensuring the competency of all those undertaking electrical and other electrotechnical work such as active fire systems.

• In principle, ECA supports changes to Part P which would bring greater rigour to those undertaking electrical work in Dwellings.

• ECA therefore emphasises the high importance of only competent enterprises, employing properly qualified and competent individuals, undertaking these works (those with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience, as well as behaviours). We add that work undertaken in accordance with Part P of the Building Regulations should be subject to effective enforcement and regular review.

• However, we also note that the buildings in scope of the draft Bill are often complex multi-use buildings that incorporate sophisticated safety systems beyond the scope of Part P. The development of specific competency requirements that cover wider building functions is also of paramount importance, especially if the definition of Higher Risk Buildings is extended in future to encompass other building types where residents may be exposed to increased risk.

• Significantly, this draft Bill is also an opportunity to reverse the reduced scope of electrical installation covered by Part P in 2013, at the very least for Higher Risk Buildings. This would further protect those living in Higher Risk Buildings.

• Given the Government may review Part P, and therefore additional regulation may come forward, we believe that the following questions should also be addressed as part of the draft Bill’s scrutiny: 
• What consideration has there been to review Part P, given its amendment in 2013, in terms of notifiable work in buildings?
• Will Tenants be made aware of who is responsible for electrical safety and will electrical safety information be issued to them as ‘prescribed information’, as referred to in Clause 80 by the Accountable Person?
• What plans does the Government have for enabling tenants to know how to find a competent, registered electrician and to understand the guarantees and benefits to consumers of using one?
• Will secondary legislation make a requirement for only competent Enterprises and workers to be allowed to undertake work on buildings? For electrical work, ECA would broadly define such workers as those “possessing the necessary skills, knowledge and experience, and displaying the necessary behaviours gained through robust qualification structures such apprenticeships and experienced worker routes, including an end point assessment of skills”.

Duty on tenants / householders

• ECA notes that Clause 86 of the draft Bill appears to place a duty on tenants / householders. Given the limited detail, we would ask the Government to consult further on how any new duty on tenants might work in practice, including how it would be enforced.

• Electrical DIY, alongside the use of various extension leads coupled with second hand or sub-standard or other inappropriate appliances, is a source of significant risk in Higher Risk Buildings. As a result, the development of robust regulation and checks to prevent this, under Clause 86 is required.

• Misuse of electricity is one of the biggest causes of fires in people’s homes – causing 46% of all fires in England last year[ii]. There is thus a need to increase consumer awareness as part of the introduction of this legislation. We urge the Government to support consumer campaigns from reputable bodies, that aim to increase awareness of the dangers of electricity and encourage people to make the essential changes that will help them – and their neighbours - to be safe in their homes.

• As has been widely reported, white goods (e.g. tumble dryers) have been a cause of a number of residential fires in recent years. While ECA supports the mandatory registration of white goods at the point of sale, this measure alone will not effectively deal with goods bought on the second-hand market or purchased on behalf of others. To further help ensure safety in these dwellings, ECA also recommends mandatory PAT testing in Higher Risk Buildings, along with visual inspections to record portable appliances and their details by Building Safety Manager, to substantially increase safety within dwellings.

Enforcement

• The enforcement of electrical safety competency and standards is fundamentally important. While the HSE will create a new regulator, clarification is needed on whether they will cover electrical safety, and if so to what extent.

• We contend that current building electrical safety regulations are not properly enforced in residential settings. It has been reported[iii] that three-quarters of authorities had taken no action against Part P non-compliance between 2011 and 2013, and nine local authorities had identified breaches of Part P but have taken no action. 

• Clarification is therefore required about the new regulator’s responsibilities for electrical safety and the future of Part P enforcement in Higher Risk Buildings. 

Annex 1

More details on the new EAS 2020

• Among its requirements, EAS 2020 introduces the following:

• Updated definitions, and new definitions for Employed Persons;
• A requirement (clause 12.2) for professional indemnity insurance where the scope of the Assessment Certificate includes work category A.2 (Periodic Inspection and testing) as defined in Appendix 1 (see below);
• Section 16 has been expanded regarding the Records required to be held by an Assessed Enterprise;
• Appendix 1 has been expanded to include new categories of Electrotechnical work regarding periodic inspection and testing;
• Appendix 4 has been updated and renamed. Appendix 4A specifies requirements valid from 1st September 2020 until 31st August 2021. Appendix 4B specifies requirements valid from 1st September 2021. Both sections now specify the requirements for persons undertaking periodic inspection and testing work;
• Appendix 11 has been added to provide guidance on demonstrating the competence of Employed Persons.

September 2020