EICR Plastic Consumer Unit

[Retroelectric]

Hi all,
Been asked to do EICR on thatched property for insurance purposes, however they will want all C3 codes rectified.
Haven't seen it yet but have been told it was rewired in 2012 so i assume its a plastic CU.
If its in a suitable place then bpg4 suggests this would not need recording on page 2 of the EICR, however wouldn't you have to record it as a C3 in the inspection schedule 4.4 anyway?
Obviously it may fail on other things but if this was the only issue could you still have a clean cert without changing the board?

 

[westward10]

I would Code 3 it and if they want all Codes addressed then a winner for you.

 

[Simon47]

I queried this directly with one of the people listed in the front of the [whatever colour it was] book about this.
The advice I got was clearly intended to be of the "this is the advice, but it's not officially from the IET" kind. Basically if a conflagrating CU didn't pose a direct risk to escape then don't code it at all, if it does (under wooden stairs, in an escape route) then code it as C3. This seems pragmatic advice to ward off the "but I put in a new CU recently, now you're telling me I have to rip it out and shell out again" complaints - that was the situation with both our rental properties that I'd recently upgraded to all-RCBO (from a manufacturer with no plans to offer steel enclosures, so I couldn't even just keep all the RCBOs and replace the case).
I never did get an answer to the "why didn't you specify a fire resistance standard plastic CUs could be tested/certified against instead of writing a rule that effectively bans anything but steel".

 

[Retroelectric]

BPG4 says it doesn’t warrant mentioning if it’s in a suitable location.
That’s fine but surely you have to in 4.4 of the inspection schedule?

 

[westward10]

Forget the Best Practice Guide use your own judgement those Guides are for people who don't know what they are doing.

 

[littlespark]

Another thatched property?

Look at a recent thread about thatched houses and rodent damage…
There could be a lot more to worry about than a plastic CU

 

[brianmoooore]

My interpretation is that anything that doesn't conform to the current edition and amendment of the regs should receive a C3 coding as a minimum. This could be something that was installed in accordance with the regs on the previous day, if today was the day a new amendment came into force.

 

[Simon47]

I disagree. Some changes can seem like change for change sake and have litlle or no bearing on safety. And even where there is a potential impact, the specifics of the installation may make it moot.
Taking the plastic CU issue. You could fit a steel cased CU, use plastic grommets and glands, have a big hole in the back open to the insides of a stud partition wall, have a lid over the switchgear that doesn't self close, and use plastic blanks for unused ways. That would be a compliant installation, but I'd suggest no safer fire wise than a half decent plastic CU. Put the CU in a room (utility room or garage comes to mind) that's normally separated from the main dwelling and, especially if there's a linked smoke detector there, any benefit from the steel case is even less.
OK, that's an extreme example, but so are many of the cases used to justify the requirement.
So take each case on it's merits.

I once dug into this, went off and read the BS for CUs ... very exciting read it wasn't ! It has no requirement for a self closing lid over the breakers/switches, and it has no requirement that it will restrict any internal fire from getting out.

 

[pc1966]

Going for a metal CU seems like an obvious improvement over one that is not flame-retardant, but as @Simon47 has pointed out it is quite possible to make a complete dog's ear out of that as well.

Until you see the actual CU and can judge how well it has been installed, if spare parts for it are still available, and if there are any other improvements needed, and how much of a flammability risk its location poses, you can't really know if would be justified or not.

But on the hypothetical question of is a properly installed metal CU an improvement on a plastic CU when faced with internal overheating risk, to me its hard not to say C3.

 

[DPG]

My interpretation is that anything that doesn't conform to the current edition and amendment of the regs should receive a C3 coding as a minimum. This could be something that was installed in accordance with the regs on the previous day, if today was the day a new amendment came into force.

Too much of a blanket statement that - you'd end up C3ing every installation that had red&black wiring.

 

[Retroelectric]

Had a quick look this morning as it’s local.
It’s a full rcbo starbreaker installed in the kitchen pantry but unfortunately it’s plastic.
Paperwork he has appears to show it was rewired in 2014.
I recommended that we rush off to Screwfix and grab a split load BG unit to replace the death trap that’s currently installed.