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Comment by wannacboatmovie | Hacker News Reader

Fairly certain most DIY electrical work is strictly verboten in the UK, where the author is located. I would think at a minimum you need approval from the council. Not too dissimilar to the permitting process in the US, but the UK is noticeably more safety-obsessed.

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> Fairly certain most DIY electrical work is strictly verboten in the UK

No. You can't touch the consumer unit, and there's a restricted zone around bath/shower for example (by distance), but most things a homeowner might want to do are perfectly legal to DIY.

> the US, but the UK is noticeably more safety-obsessed.

Crikey, are you joking? Internet forums are awash with US concern over 'code', and to extend beyond electricity: food safety, FDA guidelines, all sorts of common senseless rubbish.

Nobody outside of the uk knows what a "consumer unit" is. that sounds to me like you can't touch the breaker panel which is what you have to touch to wire in a new circuit.

Well, there's a pretty large fraction which is still fine to do full DIY. (but not EV chargers) The next level basically either requires some certification or to get the council to inspect it, but plenty of people just ignore that.

It seems things are pretty lax in the UK. Here in Poland you need a qualification certificate to replace a broken socket and a supervisors' certificate to move it half a meter.

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