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EICR C3 mixed manufacturer breakers

Martyn
I know this will have been discussed in the past but we are on Amd 1 of the 18th now so I thought I would renew it.


The Best practice guides list mixed manufacturer breakers in a consumer unit or distribution board as a C3.


As far as I am aware Bs7671 does not have a Reg on it beyond manufacturers instructions and given EICR's are based on this standard perhaps it is justified on that basis.


Most on here will be familiar with the 16kA 'rule' in BSEN61439 Annex ZB or its predecessor BSEN60439 Annex ZA


I avoid C3's like the plague because they give all the wrong signals to a client and clearly by definition are for things which are a breach of the regs, I'm not too keen on the insurance risk of a C3 either.


My question here would be what fault rating can one apply to an enclosure where there are mixed breakers given a manufacturer will only have certified their equipment with their devices?


Enjoy!


Martyn
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    I would think that each manufacturer would be happy to have the same form of own breakers in adjoining spaces particularly with regards to hotspots and lines of magnetism and therefore ventilation. Thereby affecting safe ratings and good operation. With differing designs of different manufacturers then poss not. I suspect that, in practice, the same plant manufactures the same designs but differi.ng badges. I`d say at least a C3 and poss a C2.

    Martyn you say you don`t like C3s  . What about, for example, wrong colour coding of conductors?

    Any one of us opening a lightswitch sees all sorts of wrong colour coding often.  The electric in the circuit does not care, it still works as safely (or unsafely) as it would in a correctly coloured cct. Anyone opening up the switch should be competant enough to know that, otherwise they should not open it.
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    I would think that each manufacturer would be happy to have the same form of own breakers in adjoining spaces particularly with regards to hotspots and lines of magnetism and therefore ventilation. Thereby affecting safe ratings and good operation. With differing designs of different manufacturers then poss not. I suspect that, in practice, the same plant manufactures the same designs but differi.ng badges. I`d say at least a C3 and poss a C2.

    Martyn you say you don`t like C3s  . What about, for example, wrong colour coding of conductors?

    Any one of us opening a lightswitch sees all sorts of wrong colour coding often.  The electric in the circuit does not care, it still works as safely (or unsafely) as it would in a correctly coloured cct. Anyone opening up the switch should be competant enough to know that, otherwise they should not open it.
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