Niciec best practice guide (here) has a section 10 on fitting a new CU to an existing building without earth, which strongly recommends against it but then goes on to say it can be done if certain conditions are met.



Edit They also have a guide to the use of codes in reports  here  and that suggests that
Absence of circuit protective conductors in circuits having only Class II (or all insulated)luminaires and switches3

 would warrent a C3, improvement recommended.
This code should be used to indicate that, whilst an observed deficiency is not considered to be a source of immediate or potential danger, improvement would contribute to a significant enhancement of the safety of the electrical installation.


This you should have had for the last several inspections.

To be fair to the inspector , it cannot comply with 18th edition regs (or indeed any regs since the 14th ), and arguably the new The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
here

can be read in a way that does now require that for rented properties. (read it yourself and see what you think it is asking for exactly )

The wiring presumably predates the 1966 regs change that brought in compulsory earthing for all circuits, so cannot be exactly brand new, so I presume rewiring is on the radar, but you are not intending to do it just yet. (are all the sockets. and  fittings and lampholders also pre 1966 or has new stuff been tacked onto the old installation ?).

I agree it is probably safe for continued use, unless there are other problems, but the legal position is not as clear cut as it would be for an owner occupier , or for one that was rented last year.

Actually I'd go further and say that the The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 may be well intentioned, but are written in a way that leaves open a large can of worms for many people, not just those with 50 year old wiring.


As an aside it is not totally pointless to add an earth core to the cable once you have RCD protection even if it is not needed at the far end, - in the event cables or junction boxes being subject to  flood,  fire or even attack by mice, it greatly increases the chances of a safe automatic disconnection with the RCD firing before the fault becomes significant.


regards Mike.

Niciec best practice guide (here) has a section 10 on fitting a new CU to an existing building without earth, which strongly recommends against it but then goes on to say it can be done if certain conditions are met.



Edit They also have a guide to the use of codes in reports  here  and that suggests that
Absence of circuit protective conductors in circuits having only Class II (or all insulated)luminaires and switches3

 would warrent a C3, improvement recommended.
This code should be used to indicate that, whilst an observed deficiency is not considered to be a source of immediate or potential danger, improvement would contribute to a significant enhancement of the safety of the electrical installation.


This you should have had for the last several inspections.

To be fair to the inspector , it cannot comply with 18th edition regs (or indeed any regs since the 14th ), and arguably the new The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
here

can be read in a way that does now require that for rented properties. (read it yourself and see what you think it is asking for exactly )

The wiring presumably predates the 1966 regs change that brought in compulsory earthing for all circuits, so cannot be exactly brand new, so I presume rewiring is on the radar, but you are not intending to do it just yet. (are all the sockets. and  fittings and lampholders also pre 1966 or has new stuff been tacked onto the old installation ?).

I agree it is probably safe for continued use, unless there are other problems, but the legal position is not as clear cut as it would be for an owner occupier , or for one that was rented last year.

Actually I'd go further and say that the The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 may be well intentioned, but are written in a way that leaves open a large can of worms for many people, not just those with 50 year old wiring.


As an aside it is not totally pointless to add an earth core to the cable once you have RCD protection even if it is not needed at the far end, - in the event cables or junction boxes being subject to  flood,  fire or even attack by mice, it greatly increases the chances of a safe automatic disconnection with the RCD firing before the fault becomes significant.


regards Mike.