Is there a chance Dual RCD Consumers could be "banned " from rentals soon?

[LukeD]

Client has purchased a night flat in Edinburgh. Its perfect for using as a ST rental during the festival as the agents claim £6k a week is the value based on rooms and location. It was nicely decorated in 2018 and has a twin RCD Board . Wiring etc etc looks very good .Its a tidy install , sockets etc all good . Worth leaving as it is or will he hit a "wall" in the next few years with new regs about not having RCBO board do you thinK ? IT has a FRESH EICR that showed no issues .But recommended a board swap . He has plans to remodel it in 5-7 years and will be doing a full rewire etc etc then .

 

[newfutile]

Banned by who? BS7671 is never retrospective , i would leave until rewire then go with rcbo or Afdd as appropriate

 

[richy3333]

Who knows. Theres been talk that the next Regs edition might start to phase them out. Hard to justify them anymore given the price of an RCBO CU. If it aint broke then leave alone for now i'd say.

 

[LukeD]

Banned by who? BS7671 is never retrospective , i would leave until rewire then go with rcbo or Afdd as appropriate

I am not sure if the regs in Scotland are different or could be soon etc !

 

[Dustydazzler]

Should have been banned before they even became a thing... rubbish design having multiple circuits taken out all at once when one of the RCD trips. never fitted them as they are carp design , were then and are now utter carp.

 

[Pretty Mouth]

Even if future editions of the regs somehow prohibited their use (not sure how feasible this would be), it still would attract only a C3 at worst.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Even if future editions of the regs somehow prohibited their use (not sure how feasible this would be), it still would attract only a C3 at worst.

Same when plastic boards were banned

 

[westward10]

Strictly speaking plastic boards are not banned.

 

[DPG]

Should have been banned before they even became a thing... rubbish design having multiple circuits taken out all at once when one of the RCD trips. never fitted them as they are carp design , were then and are now utter carp.

Yeah but remember when they came out we had entire boards protected by just one RCD, so they were a big improvement over that. And RCDs were more expensive back then, so an RCD for each circuit would have been prohibitive.

It's easy to forget how things have moved on in recent decades.

 

[Pretty Mouth]

Same when plastic boards were banned

I think it would be more complicated. The regs would have to prohibit multiple circuits downstream of an RCD, which may be very difficult to achieve in some installations.

 

[pc1966]

I think it would be more complicated. The regs would have to prohibit multiple circuits downstream of an RCD, which may be very difficult to achieve in some installations.

Sadly common sense is rarely applied. We already have regs about division of circuits, risk on TT systems, etc, and unless someone comes up with a very sound reason why then I can't see any sort of blanket ban.

Most likely will be AFDD becoming the 'new RCD' on sockets, or maybe high current appliances, and that forcing a CU change if a retrofit is not practical. That may come sooner if simply rented /AirBNB attracts HMO rules.

 

[LukeD]

Sadly common sense is rarely applied. We already have regs about division of circuits, risk on TT systems, etc, and unless someone comes up with a very sound reason why then I can't see any sort of blanket ban.

Most likely will be AFDD becoming the 'new RCD' on sockets, or maybe high current appliances, and that forcing a CU change if a retrofit is not practical. That may come sooner if simply rented /AirBNB attracts HMO rules.

If we go down the AFDD route , then this could mean kissing goodbye to RFC 's and Radials been the norm ??

 

[Dustydazzler]

If we go down the AFDD route , then this could mean kissing goodbye to RFC 's and Radials been the norm ??

about time to, rings are so out-dated like rcd boards

 

[Dustydazzler]

with that said i am unconvinced that affddds / arc fault circuit devices are the magic wand to safer installs.
i have seen numerous vlogs online where the american / canadian sparks haven't got a clue why the arc fault device is tripping to they either A just swap if for a new one and hope the new one doesn't trip Or B simply remove it altogther and put the circuit on a plain mcb

 

[DPG]

with that said i am unconvinced that affddds / arc fault circuit devices are the magic wand to safer installs.
i have seen numerous vlogs online where the american / canadian sparks haven't got a clue why the arc fault device is tripping to they either A just swap if for a new one and hope the new one doesn't trip Or B simply remove it altogther and put the circuit on a plain mcb

All depends on how clever the software algorithms are in them. And they will keep improving as time goes on.