Irish wiring regulations - not neutralised

[oscar21]

My mate has family in Southern Ireland and he has been over there a couple of times this year helping them renovate a property. He has been upgrading the electrics for them and he says its an overhead supply with an earth rod. He did say there was a wire coming from the meter area to the earthing bar but it looked like a bodge job so he removed it. They have since had a smart meter fitted and on the notes it says something like - installation not neutralised consult and electrician - I'm guessing it means the neutral to earth link is missing.

Is this a requirement of Irish regs, in the UK we dont normally convert overhead supplies to TNC-S in case the neutral wire disconnects for some reason, is this not a concern over there or something.

as a caveat as I'm sure I'll get responses like "is he registered over there" etc obviously the answer is no and the family don't care one little bit, they wanted everything doing to UK electrical spec, RCD's etc.

 

[westward10]

I'm afraid to say he is breaking the law and people who know the wiring rules aren't likely to help too much. The wiring should be done to Irish Rules by an REC and not BS7671 by someone who doesn't really know what they are doing.

 

[oscar21]

I and he already know that, but its a free world and they can do what they want at the end of the day. If people don't want to say then that's absolutely fine, they are entitled to do that but people come on these board all the while asking for help about stuff that should be done by registered sparks but its not crime of the century so it doesn't really matter too much if anyone helps them.

 

[westward10]

Nearly all threads asking advice about illegal works in Southern Ireland don't get much response. The forum cannot be seen to be giving advice for illegal activities and our members based there are not going to be forthcoming with advice. Aside from the legalities he clearly is not competent to be doing works there.

 

[Risteard]

As above, this is actually a serious criminal offence and carries heavy punishments including imprisonment. My only advice would be to stop and get this sorted correctly and in compliance with I.S. 10101.

The installation not being neutralised is dangerous.

 

[oscar21]

From Google.

What is a Neutralising link?


The main protective conductor connects the DSO neutral to the consumer's earth electrode via the main earthing terminal. It is commonly called the Neutralising Conductor. It must be insulated and have the same cross-sectional area as that of the earthing conductor if both are manufactured from the same material.
So its dangerous in Ireland but not in the UK, are the electrons different over there?

So its dangerous in Ireland but perfectly safe in the UK, are the electrons different over there, he says the ZS reading was quite low.

He says the family aren't in the least bit concerned about any sort of legal come back, where they live even the police drink drive in the village.

 

[westward10]

@Risteard will know but I believe the person undertaking the works will be prosecuted not the home owner.

 

[oscar21]

This forum certainly is way different to any other one I've ever been on, the only people that post here seem to be from the John Ward school of electrics, follow the rules to the letter and never ever waiver from them no matter what because big boss man says so. Has no-one ever heard of fun on here, have you never set a fire extinguisher off on someone or locked your mate in the toilet you've just had a dump in or charged a capacitor up with the megger and shouted "catch this", Not everything in life revolves around rules and regulations

 

[westward10]

Your friend wants to break the law, not carry out some juvenile prank.

 

[snowhead]

A quick Google by the mate would have shown that the "bodge job cable" wasn't in fact a bodge and by removing it the mate has made the installation less safe, by Irish Regs, that it was before they touched it.

 

[oscar21]

I (and he probably) would take it a bit more seriously if someone could tell me why it makes it unsafe. I've done countless electrical installations exactly that way in the UK and one one occasion been told it was an excellent job by an ELECSA assessor no less.

 

[westward10]

In the UK you would consult BS7671 so why doesn't he look at IS 10101?

 

[oscar21]

In the UK you would consult BS7671 so why doesn't he look at IS 10101?

He probably will, I think he wants to make it right whether he thinks its serious or not but I won't see him until monday, I only wanted to know what the meaning of neutralised meant but I found it on google anyway and to me it doesn't seem like he needs to jump on the next plane over there and sort it.

 

[Risteard]

You're not correct though - you've mixed up the Earthing Conductor and the Main Protective Conductor ("neutralising link").

Earthing Conductor has a different meaning in I.S. 10101 to BS 7671.

 

[oscar21]

You're not correct though - you've mixed up the Earthing Conductor and the Main Protective Conductor ("neutralising link").

Earthing Conductor has a different meaning in I.S. 10101 to BS 7671.

I just don't get it, in the UK if you connect the earth rod installation to the neutral of an overhead TT system then you create a problem that is deemed so dangerous that it could easily kill someone even if all the required RCD's are present and working, yet in Ireland if you don't do it its just as dangerous, one way must be wrong and I can see how the UK version could easily occur.