Guidance Note 3: Inspection & Testing (Electrical Regulations)

Product Information

The inspector must discharge their duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. People are well aware that guidance notes are for guidance. However the guidance notes should not be contradicting the regs, especially when they are both produced by the IET. Requirements for IT systems have also been redrafted. Changes also include requirements for fault protection and requirements for protective equipotential bonding. Section 711 Exhibitions, shows and stands

It is very important to note that Regulation 621.2 requires the installation to have a “ detailed examination” and that examination is to be “ supplemented by appropriate tests”. It is essential for persons engaged in inspection and testing to understand that the inspection is more important than the testing. A vital guide to an important safety aspect of working with electricity. It is aimed at everyone involved with fire safety in electrical installations, including consulting engineers, electrical installers, inspectors and technicians and has been fully updated to BS 7671:2018:2022. Section 411 contains a number of significant changes. Some of the main changes are mentioned below. There is no longer a requirement to perform a test using a test current equal to or higher than five times the rated residual current. What is an alternating current test?Carrying out an inspection of electrical installations is a complex task, the person carrying out the inspection and testing is required to have comprehensive knowledge and experience of different types of electrical installations. We often get enquiries advising that an EICR has been carried out and the customer has been advised that their installation needs to comply with the latest edition of BS 7671, which is not the case. A good simulation of our example with similar values, but giving readings in kΩ instead of Ω, can be made using six 47 Ω and six 120 Ω resistors to represent the line and cpc conductors of the ring final circuit respectively. As shown in Figure 9, these can be connected as a cross-connected r 1 and r 2 as in Step 3 of the ring final circuit continuity test. BS EN IEC 61557-6:2021 Electrical safety in low voltage distribution systems up to 1 000 V a.c. and 1 500 V d.c. Equipment for testing, measuring or monitoring of protective measures. Effectiveness of residual current devices (RCD) in TT, TN and IT system. Stroma Certification sets out the principles for the periodic inspection and testing of electrical installations to enable contractors to verify standards and ensure statutory requirements are being complied with.

Minor changes have been made to the model forms and guidance for recipients. These include the addition of fields Similarly, for instruments with a setting for Type B RCDs a multiplier of two times I Δn is applied as required by the product standard, BS EN 62423:2012 Type F and type B residual current operated circuit-breakers with and without integral overcurrent protection for household and similar uses.It is essential to understand the limitations of the test instrument and product standard requirements when testing RCDs using the available RCD Type settings on the test instrument. For new electrical installations, the initial frequencies for inspection and testing will be recommended by the electrical designer. Subsequent intervals will be recommended by the competent person carrying out the inspection and testing. The requirements for RCD testing have been changed and Table 3A (Time/current performance criteria for RCDs) in Appendix 3 has been deleted. Regardless of RCD Type, an alternating current test at rated residual operating current (IMn) is used to verify the effectiveness. Section 702 - Swimming pools and other basins

Regulation 514.9.2 has been introduced to advise that all diagrams, charts, and information or instruction notices comply with the applicable standards specified.In any case I have not heard a valid reason as to why the IET would round up Zs values above the maximum allowed by BS7671 instead of rounding them down if they want to display them to 2 decimal places. Appendix 4 includes minor changes concerning a cable surrounded by thermal insulation. Appendix 6 Model forms for certification and reporting A new Regulation 514.16.1 has been introduced requiring a label to indicate the presence of SPDs. However, there is an exception for domestic (household) premises or similar. Chapter 53 - Protection, isolation, switching, control and monitoring Before we look at testing RCDs, it is worth pointing out that the requirements for selection and erection of RCDs have been amended. Regulation 531.3.3 of BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 states that the appropriate RCD shall be selected according to the presence of DC components and AC frequencies. Further, Type AC RCDs shall only be used to serve fixed equipment, where it is known that the load current contains no DC components.

To follow your train of taught lets run the calculation from start to finish without limiting to 2 decimal places.Type AC RCDs are affected by residual DC components and can become desensitized or ‘blinded’ and may not operate within the required time or, in some instances, may not operate at all. Table 1 summarizes the various types of RCD referred in BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 and their resilience to DC components. BPG 4 is an excellent guide to classification codes for common observations in domestic installations. This is a new appendix that provides guidance for the types of safety signs, warning signs and instructions required to be applied to electrical installations. Appendix 13 Escape routes and fire protection All electrical installations will require inspection and testing at periodic intervals as they will deteriorate with age, use, possible damage and any additions or alterations by non-competent persons. A person carrying out an EICR is required to be competent. The term skilled person (electrically) is used in BS 7671:2018+A1:2020, defined as below: