I havent followed the forum in a while so was blindsided by this news as it hasnt been widely publicised.

Im quite shocked at the level of restriction placed on battery storage systems given the incidence rate of fires within properties.

Where does this leave previously installed systems. The introduction of this British Standard is clearly going to influence insurers and so existing installtions may have to be updated. Is their guidance on this?

About 50% of our installs have been outside. I like them (apart from the worry about rodent damage to cabling).

However, that leaves 50% that cant be easily located outside. Mostly terraced houses. 
From what ive read, the changes for ESS require:

1) any indoors located battery systems (in non 6.5.5 locations) to have open air ventilation. Is this dedicated or a trickle vent?

2) fire detection systems upgraded to LD2 throughout the property. Fire detection to be upgraded if necessary and signed off to standards of 5839-6. LD2 not to be confused with the basic LD3 standard of escape routes only.**

**Note this requirement applies to inverters sited in lofts. Again is this retrospective? 

David

I havent followed the forum in a while so was blindsided by this news as it hasnt been widely publicised.

Im quite shocked at the level of restriction placed on battery storage systems given the incidence rate of fires within properties.

Where does this leave previously installed systems. The introduction of this British Standard is clearly going to influence insurers and so existing installtions may have to be updated. Is their guidance on this?

About 50% of our installs have been outside. I like them (apart from the worry about rodent damage to cabling).

However, that leaves 50% that cant be easily located outside. Mostly terraced houses. 
From what ive read, the changes for ESS require:

1) any indoors located battery systems (in non 6.5.5 locations) to have open air ventilation. Is this dedicated or a trickle vent?

2) fire detection systems upgraded to LD2 throughout the property. Fire detection to be upgraded if necessary and signed off to standards of 5839-6. LD2 not to be confused with the basic LD3 standard of escape routes only.**

**Note this requirement applies to inverters sited in lofts. Again is this retrospective? 

David

There was a public consultation, which was widely publicised including in this Forum: RE: Public Consultation: PAS 63100 Electrical installations – Protection against fire of battery energy storage systems for use in dwellings – Specification 

Also, on LinkedIn and other platforms: www.linkedin.com/.../ghkenyon_public-consultation-pas-63100-electrical-activity-7081315104314531841-5roQ

Where does this leave previously installed systems. The introduction of this British Standard is clearly going to influence insurers and so existing installtions may have to be updated. Is their guidance on this?

Probably a similar situation to whenever a standard is "improved" over time - e.g. installations with 5s disconnection times on final circuits using BS 3036 fuses, missing 30mA RCD protection to indoor sockets, or even red & black insulation (BS 7671) or having solid metal pins on 13A plugs (BS 1363). The powers that be tend to be pragmatic, especially if the alternative is refusing customer's money (e.g. insurance companies might be more likely to up the premiums a little if an actual problem is perceived rather than refuse cover). Mostly the new version of the standard gets used (after a while) for new installations, but existing ones carry on pretty much as before (if with the occasional C3 on an EICR that gets mostly overlooked).

I do note that a PAS (a Publicly Accessible Specification) isn't quite in the same stable as a true British Standard (like BS 7671) - I suspect it'll more likely be taken notice of by system (and component) manufacturers - and then be used as a selling point. At present at least there's no reference to PAS 63100 in BS 7671 for instance - so it won't directly feed into EICRs (although the conscientious might flag it up - like the lack of a thermal cut-out on immersion heaters).

  - Andy.

Things like Napit Codebreakers will also need to be updated to reflect the information in

PAS 63100:2024

as will OnSite Guide maybe. 

Sadly does seem to have been missed by a  not insignificant number - the socials have started to pick up on it now…

I missed the comment phase…

Martyn said:

the socials have started to pick up on it now…

Yes, I think it featured in a popular electrical industry news bulletin earlier this week.

One thing that a PAS does is establish "best practice" - and failure to comply with it (not retrospectively) can be used against an installer / designer / manufacturer if a case is taken to court.