Guidance Note 3: Inspection & Testing (Electrical Regulations)

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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.

It is worth noting that for domestic rented accommodation and houses in multiple occupation, the recommended maximum period between each inspection and test is five years or change of occupancy, which is often overlooked. Don't worry though, you'll be sent straight back to the community after completing the registration. There is now a separate page for the schedule of circuit details and a separate page for the schedule of test results. Before we look at testing RCDs, it is worth pointing out that the requirements for selection and erection of RCDs have been amended.The information in the report could be used to develop safety measures to mitigate the danger until remedial works can take place, such as isolation of an affected circuit. It is essential for persons engaged in inspection and testing to understand that the inspection is more important than the testing. 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. The EICR can be used to assist the duty holder in assessing the risk to determine the safety of the installation. It was noted that those testing RCDs in the field would find it difficult to carry out the variety of tests permitted and may not know which of the available tests would be applicable to a given make or type of RCD.

For work on large and complex installations, access to other British Standards, IET Guidance Notes (such as Guidance Note 8: Earthing and Bonding), manufacturer’s data sheets and other information may be required. RCD protection is required for all socket outlets, a C3 classification code is recommended in BPG 4 where the socket-outlet is unlikely to be used for portable equipment outdoors. The following list provides an overview of the main changes within Amendment 2:2022 to BS 7671:2018 18th Edition IET Wiring Regulations (publishing 28 March 2022).Table 1 summarizes the various types of RCD referred in BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 and their resilience to DC components. I believe Megger recommends as a general rule, taking 3 readings when doing loop impedance measurements and then using the average value as some supplies can be quite volitile in their waveforms Therefore accuracy to more than 2 decimal places is often very hard to justify in the field as opposed to on paper. It is clear to see from the definition that someone carrying out EICRs is required to have adequate education, training, and experience to do so. It enables the competent electrician to deal with installations (up to 100 A, 3-phase) providing essential information in a convenient, easy-to-use format. Dr Gottfried Biegelmeier (1924-2007) was an Austrian Physicist who filed a patent for the first residual current circuit-breaker (RCCB) in 1957.

The interval shall be determined dependant on the type of installation and equipment, its use and operation, the frequency and quality of maintenance and the external influences, to which it may be subjected. Regulation 16 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires persons carrying out electrical work to be competent. For the reasons given in my first response, for engineering purposes, I see two indentical numbers, just with different no. A new example checklist of items requiring inspection during initial verification has been added to Appendix 6 but is not required to be provided with the certificate. For those that decide to continue to carry out all of the tests previously required, it is important to consider what the benefits really are and if the lifespan of the RCD be reduced, possibly to the point where it may not work when required.To follow your train of taught lets run the calculation from start to finish without limiting to 2 decimal places. The observation should be a factual description of the problem, and not as commonly seen a proposal for the remedial works to rectify the issue. The HSE uses the term ‘competent person’, the term ‘skilled person’ is used throughout BS 7671:2018, Regulation 134.