No CPC on lighting circuit

[YTSOxford]

Hi,

I've been helping out a plumber mate of mine with the moving and changing of a few fittings in bathroom. One of which is a metal mirror light. However the bathroom lighting circuit doesn't have a earth.

They don't want the added cost of running back to the board, so was wondering whether it would be fine to run a single green and yellow to a nearby socket outlet instead.

Whats annoying is the fusebox has recently been changed to a 17th board by someone else making it really hard for me to convince the customer that the lighting circuit needs rewiring.

 

[roukel01]

If you go to the Electrical Safety Council Website (Electrical Safety Council (ESC) | Committed to reducing deaths and injuries of electrical accidents at home and at work) there is a very helpful best practice guide about changing a consumer unit when a lighting circuit has no CPC.

Download it and print it out and show it to the customer, it explains in there that a consumer unit should not be changed if a customer refuses to either a) Earth the circuit, or b) replace any class I fittings with class II and stress to them that the work nees to be carried out.

RCD protection is for additional protection only and cannot be relied on as the sole means of protection against electric shock.

I'm not sure about running an earth to a near by socket, can't see it being ok in the regs.

 

[johnnyb]

Rubbish to the added cost, walk away mate, sounds like they are not safety minded and people like that don,t tend to listen to reason, so bye bye to em.

 

[pushrod]

I'm not sure about running an earth to a near by socket, can't see it being ok in the regs.

Agree with the above.
Are you moving or installing the mirror light. If you are moving them i assume they are'nt on a selv transformer - as if they are they would not have an earth.

 

[YTSOxford]

Just read the guide on the ESC website. Very useful, and lays it down pretty clear. I'll try to convinced them to change the fitting as I'm sure its a classI. And if they say no, i'll let someone else connect it up.

Thanks again guys!

 

[steveyce]

If you have no cpc on a lighting circuit it only complies if a warning notice it attached next to or near the db advising of no cpc on that circuit and that all accessories must not be metal or have any metal parts etc. you must NOT link a cpc to any other circuit as this will not comply with BS7671 and will in the event of a fault trip that relevant circuit also if there is an earth fault on one circuit may put another live (under fault conditions).