We see many posts asking "Can I" or "Is it legal to" and although we know that doing the work will be unlikely to result in legal proceedings we also know that strictly speaking the DIY man is unlikely to inspect and test as required by the regulations and Part P makes not following the regulations also a criminal act. OK I know it does not have to be BS7671 which is followed but I think the cases where German or French regulations are used instead must be rather few.
So forgetting the "Can I" as really one can forget the law with that as they have not directly asked the question, but with "Is it legal" can we really tell a poster yes you can fit a new socket for example when strictly we know it will fall foul or the regulations even though we know it is unlikely to result in legal proceedings?
If we look at an example where the Handy Man fits a new socket and some one in the house uses that socket to power a hedge trimmer and cuts through the lead giving himself a fatal shock. First question would be was it RCD protected, if it was then second question did the RCD work to within the laid down limits. If either question answer is no then the Handy Man would be brought to task. Should he be able to show he tested the RCD and show the test results then likely he is OK. But with out test results he would have a hard time and with out a RCD fitted likely would be facing a manslaughter charge.
However same job done by family member and the Coroner would likely record accidental death rather than cause the family more grief.
There does seem to be a trend to call to task the "Tradesman from Hell" but as yet the "DIYman from Hell" seems to in the main get away with it.
But on this forum we aim to help and telling the DIY person you can't legally do it is not really helping. Also if we tell them they can't likely they will do it anyway and in a more dangerous way than if we had given advice with out reference to the law.
However reading a post often we don't know if some Handy Man has done a job which the house holder is not happy about and is looking for a way to force the guy to correct the work. Or if truly DIY.
So what do the other regulars think we should answer when asked directly "Is it legal"? assuming what they propose is not strictly legal but would be unlikely to cause any legal proceedings to be started.