Plastic consumer units/enclosures etc

In the times we live in now professional organisations like the IET and UKPN/DNOs find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place in as much as whatever rules they make will be scrutinised hard by engineering folk like us here and lawyers  so one tiny mistake and the legal people will be all over it like a rash  so I have some sympathy with professional bodies these days of litigation make it hard to make big decisions for fear of trouble later on. Now I agree that metal CUs mite have benefitted from more discussion and research BUT as I said the decision made mite of been partly made out of fear for want of a better word

To JP -

I apologise if I have personally offended you in some way. I get exasperated with the changes to the wiring regulations where a cynic might rightfully suggest that some such changes appear to be driven in pursuit of profit rather than enhanced safety. Take arc fault protection devices for example, which from what I have gathered, do not actually work, other than to enhance the bottom lines of the vendors. Surge protection devices are another example, a couple of jelly bean components in a plastic enclosure which may or may not function, yet priced more expansively than saffron on a per-gram bases. Where are these surges emanating from? Supply-side switching rather than customer side?


As for LFB lobbying the IET for metal consumer units, it would have been much simpler if the IET/JPL et al had conducted some independent studies of their own.

A far better and more pragmatic solution might have been to specify non-flammable consumer units where the mains supply intake is situated under a wooden staircase, which is especially common in terraces.

This would have made sense and would have added a little more credence to the argument, since a staircase is an escape route.

One thing I never found was any evidence where a fire was started as a consequence of maintenance neglect of the supplier's equipment.

Was there no evidence available as to how many badly maintained supply intakes had been the root cause of at least some of these fires?

Why were consumer units on the customer side targeted instead?

I hope you can now begin to see why I posted what I did - and when you look at the make-up of the wiring regs committee you can see why one might wonder as to how and why some of the changes are driven.

I support the IET, or rather, supported the IEE as was, but I do struggle to muster up enthusiasm for an organisation which appears to do itself no favours when it comes to it's own reputation, but then again, I suppose that's my problem again, after all, I am but a mere consumer.

In perhaps 10 to 20 years time, when the mania for swapping CUs has died, and most houses  have a ten year old metal consumer unit, it will be interesting to look at the fire stats, and the electrocution stats, and see if the call on the metal CU  was in fact the right one.

There will be plenty of comparison data from other countries as almost nowhere else on the planet considers a plastic enclosure for electricity to be a bad idea. Right now it is too soon to say.

I am in agreement by the way that I think there are plenty of damp places, and even some dry situations where the Ze is high, where a metal box is not a sensible option.

Lets hope the wholesalers keep a good stock of plastic RCDs with enclosures for up front protection on TT systems with steel fuseboards!

Regards, UKPN.

WHJ


I think you being very unfair on the IET. The change in the 17TH Edition to non-combustible consumer units was made at the request of the London Fire Service who made their case to JPEL due to the number of fires they were attending involving consumer units. 


My my personal view is if they are unsuitable for installation in domestic premises they are unsuitable for installation anywhere. I think you may have a job buying a new plastic consumer unit from a reputable wholesaler now. You have already been advised to use the cast BG garage unit which is also IP rated. When I get around to replacing my old metal MEM unit in my workshop I will use the BG unit. I have already replaced the consumer unit in the house with a Wylex metal unit.


As an IET member I feel it is insulting and offensive to the IET, and to other contributors who offer free and expert advice here, to log on to this free forum and insult the provider. You may feel more at home on the Screwfix forum as you clearly have no confidence in the IET!

To be brutally frank, I truly believe that the IET has lost it's purpose as arbiter of best practice when it comes to electrical safety.

It is turning itself into a farcical organisation which has become the crutch of ignorant lawyers and so-called 'professional witnesses' who should know better.

It's outside the dwelling, plastic no problem. In any event the 18th Ed guide book is not too good on advice for fuse boards, last year one of the guys on here ordered an IET publication on consumer units. I don't think he ever got it. 

Regards, UKPN.

Use a BG consumer unit with an IP rated aluminium enclosure. 


Andy Betteridge