Statutory and non-statutory requirements, BS 7671 and associated guidance
Statutory and non-statutory requirements
The two layers
Statute is law: the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (EAWR) and, for dwellings in England and Wales, the Building Regulations (Part P). The EAWR are goal-setting - Reg 4 (systems and work activities constructed and maintained to prevent danger), Reg 5 (strength and capability), Reg 6 (adverse environments), Reg 7 (insulation, protection, earthing), Reg 8 (suitable equipment), Reg 9 (work on or near live conductors), Reg 10 (live work only where unreasonable otherwise), Regs 11–13 (cutting off, isolation, proving dead), Reg 14 (work on dead equipment) and Reg 16 (competence).
Guidance is non-statutory: BS 7671, the IET Guidance Notes, the On-Site Guide, the IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing, HSE HSG85 and GS38. BS 7671 is not law; it is a code of practice that can be used as evidence of compliance with the EAWR. You may depart from it where an equal or better standard of safety is achieved, but the departure must be recorded on the certificate.
Part P covers fixed installations in dwellings, their gardens and outbuildings; notifiable work goes to a building control body or is done under a competent person scheme. ESQCR 2002 place duties on distributors, not installers.
Trap: questions that present BS 7671 as legislation, or quote an EAWR regulation as if it prescribed a technical value such as a cable size or disconnection time.
Rule of thumb: if it is safe, complies, and departs from BS 7671 - write it down and sign it.
BS 7671 and associated guidance
Structure of BS 7671
The current edition is BS 7671:2018+A2:2022, the IET Wiring Regulations. Part 2 is definitions; Part 3 assessment of general characteristics (supply, earthing arrangement, maximum demand, external influences); Part 4 protection (shock, thermal, overcurrent, voltage, electromagnetic); Part 5 selection and erection; Part 6 inspection and testing (Chapter 61 initial verification, Chapter 62 periodic, Chapter 63 certification and reporting); Part 7 special locations. Appendices carry the supporting data - time/current characteristics, current-carrying capacity and voltage drop, and the model certificates and schedules.
Associated guidance
GN1 (general), GN3 (inspection and testing - the key text for this qualification), GN8 (earthing and bonding), the On-Site Guide, the IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing, Electrical Safety First best-practice guides, HSE HSG85 and GS38 for test equipment.
Periodic inspection does not require an existing installation to be upgraded to the current edition. You assess whether it is safe for continued use: the standard applied at design is the benchmark, but non-compliances with the current edition that could give rise to danger must be recorded as observations.
Trap: assuming every circuit must meet today's edition on an EICR, or assuming the model forms are optional (they are the prescribed format).
Trap: confusing the content of Chapter 61 with Chapter 62.
Rule of thumb: 61 = initial, 62 = periodic, 63 = paperwork.