Pictures of Board work

[casperLennon]

Someone posted a thread about showing pictures of boards the other day. Here is one I saw today. Brand new install by an electrician apparently with 20+ years experience

 

[Leesparkykent]

@westward10 your like this one I came across earlier by a previous contractor. Bit of twin skin striped and used as grommet strip and no identification of the neural and earth conductors of the SWA.....other than that not a bad board imo and they had sunk a 47mm KO box in the wall to gland the swa.

 

[Leesparkykent]

^^^image didn't attach^^^

 

[Billsays]

What you think?

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These are both very neat but I would want you to fit Intumescent pads over the cutouts at the back to maintain the fireproof integrity of the ccus.

 

[Dave OCD]

Shame they didn't have enough attention to detail Lee as otherwise it's very neat.

 

[davesparks]

These are both very neat but I would want you to fit Intumescent pads over the cutouts at the back to maintain the fireproof integrity of the ccus.

The CU has no fireproof integrity, and it is not required to, so you can't apply that as a requirement.

The regulations require that the CU be manufactured from a non combustible material, all that means is that the material it is made from should not readily catch fire when exposed to a source of ignition.
There is no requirement to be fireproof, or fire containing.

 

[telectrix]

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did your rechargeble light run flat?

 

[Pete999]

did your rechargeble light run flat?

I reckon you could be right there Tel

 

[littledave]

As far as I was aware like dave says

There is no requirement to be fireproof, or fire containing.

Correct me if im wrong...

Looking at Reg 421.1.201 I believe the intent is to be, as far as is reasonably practicable, to contain any fire within the enclosure or cabinet and to minimise the escape of flames, and this is as true of metal consumer units as it is of plastic ones.

There is no specific requirement in regulation 421.1.201 for fire-rated cable glands or intumescent sealant to be used.

Good workmanship must always be applied, in particular to limit all openings around cables to a minimum.

There is no specific requirement in regulation 421.1.201 for fire-rated cable glands or intumescent sealant to be used

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Why no identification/sleeving on your SWA

 

[Leesparkykent]

As far as I was aware like dave says


Correct me if im wrong...

Looking at Reg 421.1.201 I believe the intent is to be, as far as is reasonably practicable, to contain any fire within the enclosure or cabinet and to minimise the escape of flames, and this is as true of metal consumer units as it is of plastic ones.

There is no specific requirement in regulation 421.1.201 for fire-rated cable glands or intumescent sealant to be used.

Good workmanship must always be applied, in particular to limit all openings around cables to a minimum.

There is no specific requirement in regulation 421.1.201 for fire-rated cable glands or intumescent sealant to be used



Why no identification/sleeving on your SWA

it's not my board mate if you look at the post above the pic.

 

[Des 56]

Why no identification/sleeving on your SWA

I read Lees post where he said he "came across" this install

 

[Billsays]

As far as I was aware like dave says


Correct me if im wrong...

Looking at Reg 421.1.201 I believe the intent is to be, as far as is reasonably practicable, to contain any fire within the enclosure or cabinet and to minimise the escape of flames, and this is as true of metal consumer units as it is of plastic ones.

There is no specific requirement in regulation 421.1.201 for fire-rated cable glands or intumescent sealant to be used.

Good workmanship must always be applied, in particular to limit all openings around cables to a minimum.

There is no specific requirement in regulation 421.1.201 for fire-rated cable glands or intumescent sealant to be used



Why no identification/sleeving on your SWA

This is our take on it, and our NIC assessors....... To maintain the integrity of the CCU and comply with the regulation all holes in the ccu should have a suitable fireproof seal.

To say there is no "Specific requirement" for cable glands is in my opinion just splitting hairs and goes against the intention/spirit of the Regulation. Its not hard to imagine a fire in the CCU spreading up the cavity and nit picking about the exact wording of the reg might make you feel better but I would rather have a cheap pad stuck on the back and sleep better at night.

 

[Dave OCD]

I can see the logic and sense in that approach but in truth it's an interpretation and opinion rather than a written regulation, realistically there are many items of equipment in your average home far more likely to start a fire than a correctly installed Consumer Unit , I'm sure some other members will have different views on this but that's mine.

 

[davesparks]

This is our take on it, and our NIC assessors....... To maintain the integrity of the CCU and comply with the regulation all holes in the ccu should have a suitable fireproof seal.

To say there is no "Specific requirement" for cable glands is in my opinion just splitting hairs and goes against the intention/spirit of the Regulation. Its not hard to imagine a fire in the CCU spreading up the cavity and nit picking about the exact wording of the reg might make you feel better but I would rather have a cheap pad stuck on the back and sleep better at night.

Can you please define what this 'spirit' of the regulations is?

No it's not hard to imagine a fire spreading that way, but it is far better to prevent the fire starting in the first place by making sound connections than to attempt to contain it with unproven and probably unsuitable methods.

How is an intumescent pad going to help?
Fire will spread along the PVC cable and straight through your intumescent pad.
The steel enclosure is not fireproof, it is non combustible, there is a significant difference.

What method do you use to ensure that the intumescent pad is properly secured so that it doesn't in fact just fall off if exposed to fire? If it is stuck by an adhesive alones then the adhesive will melt and the pad fall off.

 

[Billsays]

Can you please define what this 'spirit' of the regulations is?

No it's not hard to imagine a fire spreading that way, but it is far better to prevent the fire starting in the first place by making sound connections than to attempt to contain it with unproven and probably unsuitable methods.

How is an intumescent pad going to help?
Fire will spread along the PVC cable and straight through your intumescent pad.
The steel enclosure is not fireproof, it is non combustible, there is a significant difference.

What method do you use to ensure that the intumescent pad is properly secured so that it doesn't in fact just fall off if exposed to fire? If it is stuck by an adhesive alones then the adhesive will melt and the pad fall off.

Sure Dave no problem, i'll explain it if your struggling..... The spirit of the Reg is to prevent fires in domestic installations spreading from the CCU to the fabric of the building.

I agree its better to prevent a fire starting in the first place by making sound connections but unfortunately that has not been the case over the last few years hence the new Regulation.

Method? We stick an oversized self adhesive intumescent pad on the back of the CCU over the knock-out, cut an horizontal line across the middle. Pass the cables through the pad and fix the board to the wall, no chance of it falling off and it acts as a grommet too. It really is a small expense for a far superior job.

Bill

 

[davesparks]

Sure Dave no problem, i'll explain it if your struggling..... The spirit of the Reg is to prevent fires in domestic installations spreading from the CCU to the fabric of the building.

I agree its better to prevent a fire starting in the first place by making sound connections but unfortunately that has not been the case over the last few years hence the new Regulation.

Method? We stick an oversized self adhesive intumescent pad on the back of the CCU over the knock-out, cut an horizontal line across the middle. Pass the cables through the pad and fix the board to the wall, no chance of it falling off and it acts as a grommet too. It really is a small expense for a far superior job.

Bill

I'm not struggling at all, I just don't know of any evidence of the 'spirit' of the regulations existing in any form which will stand up in a court of law.
Where is your documentary proof that this is indeed the 'spirit' of the regulations and not just your own personal opinion.

How do you prevent the cables from blocking the expansion of the intumescent material into the gaps between them? For the intumescent material to be fully effective you need to pass each cable through a separate hole in it. But you still have the problem of the flame propagating properties of the cable.
How much testing have you carried out of your method of installing the intumescent pad? I mean real documented laboratory testing under fire conditions.

In one of my many jobs I work with fire and explosives, the subject of fire fascinates me, I'm not by any means an expert or qualified in its spread in a building but I know how it behaves and how it will get past fireproofing measures if not properly fitted.