Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 61 replies
  • Subscribers 27 subscribers
  • Views 3792 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion is locked.
You cannot post a reply to this discussion. If you have a question start a new discussion

RCD Protection For Old Installations

Former Community Member
Former Community Member

Hey there, 

Would like to hear your thoughts on the case. 

If the installation from the 70s or 80s with old mem board has no rcd protection for neither sockets nor lights (with metal front plate switches, which are connected to CPC), taking into consideration that the installation was working cheerfully since the old days till today and all Zs values are within the range of the installed breakers and overall good condition. Would this require an upgrade to rcd protection as of the 18th edition or would class as C3 as of best practice guide 4 suggest on eicr? 

How would you approach the situation?

Regards, 

Karolis

Parents
  • 0

    wallywombat: 
    The landlord regs as written are absolute - the house must at all times comply with BS 7671:2018; and if an EICR shows any deviation, it must be fixed within 28 days (so implicitly including C3's). This is of course stupid, so the government guidance backtracks and says it doesn't have to be perfect (so by implication you can ignore C3's). So as long as the landlord isn't in the LA's bad books, ignoring C3's is probably ok.

    It's a complete ***'s muddle. The I&T has to be i.a.w. the rules set down in BS 7671:2018, which does not mean that the installation has to comply. Some of us contacted our MPs, but it didn't do any good.

    FWIW, my view is that on the one hand it is unreasonable to expect all privately rented property to be updated, but on the other hand, irrespective of age, the installation has to be in good condition.

    There are limits as to the age of an installation. For me, it is around the time that MCBs replaced fuses. The majority of the population nowadays wouldn't have a clue what to do if a fuse blew. That's assuming that they had any fuse wire!

    The acid test must be whether or not you would be happy with no RCD protection in your own home.

Reply
  • 0

    wallywombat: 
    The landlord regs as written are absolute - the house must at all times comply with BS 7671:2018; and if an EICR shows any deviation, it must be fixed within 28 days (so implicitly including C3's). This is of course stupid, so the government guidance backtracks and says it doesn't have to be perfect (so by implication you can ignore C3's). So as long as the landlord isn't in the LA's bad books, ignoring C3's is probably ok.

    It's a complete ***'s muddle. The I&T has to be i.a.w. the rules set down in BS 7671:2018, which does not mean that the installation has to comply. Some of us contacted our MPs, but it didn't do any good.

    FWIW, my view is that on the one hand it is unreasonable to expect all privately rented property to be updated, but on the other hand, irrespective of age, the installation has to be in good condition.

    There are limits as to the age of an installation. For me, it is around the time that MCBs replaced fuses. The majority of the population nowadays wouldn't have a clue what to do if a fuse blew. That's assuming that they had any fuse wire!

    The acid test must be whether or not you would be happy with no RCD protection in your own home.

Children
No Data

Join us to get the best from IET EngX.

Joining EngX lets you personalise your experience so you stay up to date on the topics that interest you, plus you’ll be able to make connections who are looking to collaborate, exchange ideas and more.

Join us Not now

Community Rules & Guidelines