fire resistant mastic

[Farmelectrics]

whats the best or what type of fire resistant mastic has everybody been using on these new metal clad domestic consumer units and were have you got it from

 

[Simlec]

Its not needed so save your money.

 

[Farmelectrics]

Yes it is needed an niceic inspector has told me so

 

[Marvo]

I suspect the NIC guy is confused. You'd only need to use fire resistant mastic to establish a fire barrier if you breached an existing fire barrier during the installation. The CU is not classed as a fire barrier, it's just non-combustible....there's a big difference.

 

[davesparks]

Yes it is needed an niceic inspector has told me so

And which specific regulation did he support that statement with?

And for that matter when did they become inspectors? They were just assessors the last time I had them round

 

[Leesparkykent]

I've seen a document that the IET wrote about sealing the holes.....TBH though they can stick it because if that's what they wanted doing then they should of made it a reg.

 

[Marvo]

The more I hear about this reg the more I weep for the human race.

I'd be interested to hear how they propose you fire seal between the MCB's and the lid and between the lid and the body of the enclosure. It ain't gonna be a pretty sight

 

[Leesparkykent]

Here's the the wiring matters document if anyone's interested Consumer units - IET Electrical

 

[Marvo]

There is no published definition for the term ‘non combustible’ that aligns with the intent of Regulation 421.1.201.

Nevertheless, it will be open to manufacturers to offer enclosures or cabinets made from other types of material that they claim to be non combustible within the intent of Regulation 421.1.201. In this case, however, the manufacturer would have to provide suitable evidence to support the claim of non combustibility, and it is not presently clear what criteria would be used to judge the non combustibility of a material other than non-ferrous metal

So they've basically still got no idea about what will be acceptable and what won't.

 

[Midwest]

Yes it is needed an niceic inspector has told me so

Hmmm, that's great. I emailed Elecsa tech support. They are in cahoots, sorry in partnership with niceic, about this subject. I was told that there was no specific requirement to seal cable entries (i.e. wih intumescent materials) other than to maintan IP rating. I watched a 'webinair' seminar recently, hosted by the nice Mr Cable (niceic) & Mr Staniforth (Elecsa). When talking of reg 421.1.201, they said the idea behind the reg change, was to remove the 'fuel source' (the plastic CU) from the fire equation, it is not to try and contain any fire resulting from poor workmanship such as loose connections. Seems different people and organisations are making their own interpretations of this reg!