EICR - C2 for low voltage cable

giorgoXXI · Sep 18, 2023

Hi, I have just had an EICR carried out and it has comeback with a few C2s.

The only one I disagree with is the electrician raised as a C2 the fact that under the kitchen cabinets there are some LED strips with exposed single insulated cables. All these exposed cables are low voltage (24v) coming from a SELV transformer. I spoke to another electrician and he mentioned there is nothing in the BS7671 that would imply this is a C2. Its not the tidiest installation but it shouldn't have been flagged as potentially dangerous.

Would you guys agree? Is there something in the regulations that would cause this to be a C2?

[ElectriciansForums.net] EICR - C2 for low voltage cable

loz2754 · Sep 19, 2023

The correct term for 24V is extra low voltage.
Low voltage is defined as up to 1000V AC or 1500 V DC.
Having cleared that up, yes there is no problem with the ELV cables not having secondary insulation.
However, there are LV cables in that picture that have exposed basic insulation...

littlespark · Sep 19, 2023

Hardly exposed basic insulation… was probably pulled.

Out of interest, what were the other C2’s?

snowhead · Sep 19, 2023

littlespark said:
Hardly exposed basic insulation… was probably pulled.

And would have been quicker to fix than to note it as a C2.
But I wonder if they are hanging out the end of the LED power supply?

brianmoooore · Sep 19, 2023

Are you sure the C2 refers to the 24V cable? I wouldn't be happy with the 230V flex in the pic.

littlespark · Sep 19, 2023

Those transformers usually come with a short flex on the 230v side, so I doubt the basic insulation is showing there.
normally quite easy to disconnect and put the t&e into it directly… just no space for a cpc… would need to cut it off, god forbid.

Agree it would have been quicker to fix than to note it down.

westward10 · Sep 19, 2023

And here lies the problem, people who cannot write a technical report.
The chances are they mean the elv conductors.
Or maybe they understand lv and elv and mean the ceiling rose.
Maybe it would have helped if they actually stated what their eyes were seeing, conductors exposed at the ceiling rose or conductors from the LED driver not enclosed. How difficult is that?

HappyHippyDad · Sep 19, 2023

westward10 said:
And here lies the problem, people who cannot write a technical report.
The chances are they mean the elv conductors.
Or maybe they understand lv and elv and mean the ceiling rose.
Maybe it would have helped if they actually stated what their eyes were seeing, conductors exposed at the ceiling rose or conductors from the LED driver not enclosed. How difficult is that?

The report may be well written. We're hearing it second hand from someone who doesn't understand the difference between ELV and LV.

HappyHippyDad · Sep 19, 2023

I would be classing the exposed basic insulation on the ceiling rose as a C2. A slight tug on that and I bet you'd pull more basic insulation through.
I might decide to quickly fix it if the customer was nice and had plied me with good coffee.

giorgoXXI · Sep 27, 2023

Thanks for the replies. It makes sense now they were referring to the white cable instead of the ELV cables.

littlespark said:
Hardly exposed basic insulation… was probably pulled.

View attachment 110563

Out of interest, what were the other C2’s?

Other C2s were bathroom light circuit not on RCD side of CU, bathroom spotlights not correct IP rating, one damaged double socket and one fault on the cooker switch (it was wired wrong).

The confusion with the cabinet lighting was that the electrician told us he needed to check if single insulated 24v cables are allowed to be exposed, but then when the report came back he probably just flagged the white cable as the EICR code doesn't mention ELV cables explicitly. It was hard to contact the electrician as it was arranged by a company that does landlord services. Next time I will stick to my usual electrician!

mainline · Nov 22, 2023

giorgoXXI said:
Thanks for the replies. It makes sense now they were referring to the white cable instead of the ELV cables.

Other C2s were bathroom light circuit not on RCD side of CU, bathroom spotlights not correct IP rating, one damaged double socket and one fault on the cooker switch (it was wired wrong).

The confusion with the cabinet lighting was that the electrician told us he needed to check if single insulated 24v cables are allowed to be exposed, but then when the report came back he probably just flagged the white cable as the EICR code doesn't mention ELV cables explicitly. It was hard to contact the electrician as it was arranged by a company that does landlord services. Next time I will stick to my usual electrician!

Did your usual electrician do the last pir/eicr on this property ?