As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Regs ??

[chrissolar]

Hi all,

Been looking into structural survey etc, and kind of opened up a whole tin of worms, under building control! Obviously we can self certify for electrical using the PART P side which then gets sent to Building Control .

But will this cover PART A?? we are having structural surveys but do we have to notify building control we never have done in the past but got a bit panicky after reading some stuff online.

Im sure i read somewhere we are covered just want to have the evidence

Thanks cheers Chris

 

[jason121]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Have a dabble with midsummer solar software. Very good and excepted by MCS

 

[Earthstore]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

As I understand it, you need to have calculations to demonstrate that the roof is strong enough to hold the weight that you are putting on it, this can be achieved in several ways.

 

[chrissolar]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Thanks thats what i thought i just wanted to confirm that there didnt have to be a separate building regulations application and CPS for MCS would cover it ?

 

[Worcester]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Depends upon your certifying body.

The Answer is NO, unless they also deem you as a competent person.

MCS certification is NOT a competent person's scheme.

So you MAY have to do a separate CPS scheme..

Some people got caught out on this as NICEIC didn't originally cover WHO DID the structural survey / analysis as part of their assesments

Who are you with?

 

[chrissolar]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

We are registered with Elecsa under MCS and Part P and we are instructing a structural engineer to do the calculations. Just this therefore mean I have to do anything else ?? Can you advise what you do ?

 

[Worcester]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Amongst all my other qualifications (sparks, plumbing, G3 .....too many to mention) I'm also a Chartered Structural and Civil Engineer, so what we do is not a 'normal' scenario.

Here's what the Building Inspectors follow :View attachment Pv and the Building Regs.pdf

It's not to do with Part P, it's to do with Sections 17 and 20 of the Schedule 3 of the Bulding Regs: Competent Person's Schemes. (attached: View attachment SCHEDULE 3 Regulations 12(6)(a) and 20(1).pdf )

the key words are :

"17. Installation in a building of a system to produce electricity, heat or cooling— (a) by microgeneration, or (b) from renewable sources (as defined in European Parliament and Council Directive 2009/28/EC of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources(17))."

followed by the one that you are concerned about:

"20. Any building work which is necessary to ensure that any appliance, service or fitting which is installed and which is described in the preceding entries in column 1 above, complies with the applicable requirements contained in Schedule 1. This paragraph does not apply to the provision of a masonry chimney".

The people that are allowed to certify CPS for clause 17 are :

A person registered by Ascertiva Group Limited, Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (Certification) Limited, Benchmark Certification Limited, British Standards Institution, Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation Limited, ECA Certification Limited, HETAS Limited, NAPIT Registration Limited, Oil Firing Technical Association Limited or Stroma Certification Limited in respect of that type of work.

Not sure which one of these was Elecsa (of course they are now part of Ascertiva as are NICEIC )

Irrspective of carrying out the work, as always you need to show competence in the survey and design of it - that isn't covered by any CPS. Hence 95% of people need to employ a Structural Engineer.

If you use the (very good) midsummer software you'll possibly need professional indemnity insurance - it isn't covered by you usual public liability.

 

[chrissolar]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Wowsers thats a lot of qualifications Worcester Elesca was part of the ECA but as you say they have now all ,merged.
I may be being a little dense but will I be covered Worcester by getting a structural engineer to do the report, then installing it and notififying it under Elesca for building regs or do i still need to notify building control?
Thanks again !

 

[Worcester]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Yes, by getting a Structural Enginneer to do their bit, including specifying any necessary strengthening, so long as you carry it out competently you should be just fine. The engineer will have their own professional indemnity.

Re notification: Depends upon Elecsa's notification system, - you should be able to do it all through them.

I know that both NAPIT and NICEIC allow you to notify the WHOLE installation through their systems (NAPIT's used to use two entries, for the two elements of the work, now it just uses one), so I would be surprised if Elecsa are any different.

 

[chrissolar]

Re: As MCS registered installers are we covered under PART A - structure Building Reg

Thanks Worcester yes the Elecsa notification on the sheet comes up as

Electrical
Renewables - install and commission photovoltaics
Microgeneration - install a PV system

So I presume this would satisfy, I also read that if you had to strengthen the roof then you would need prior building control approval ?