RCD's in Domestic Properties

[leep82]

Just wondering, all my training was done towards the 17th edition so i have always known/installed RCD's were necessary in domestic installations.

My mum has recently moved house and when i went round to have a look, i naturally gave the mains a glance. TNC-S supply and a split load board with 100A main switch and 80A 30ma RCD. On the RCD protected side there is kitchen and house ring main, cooker and shower, and off the main switch, lights and boiler supply.

Is this common of earlier editions of the regs? Ive heard of sockets needing RCD protection prior to 17th edition but what about the installation as a whole as there will obviously be cables buried at a depth of less than 50mm which arnt RCD protected.

The reason i ask is that the installation looks relatively new and there is even harmonised colour cable used ( although i suppose this could have been additional work carried out at a later date than original install ), surely somebody wouldnt have installed this to current regs?

 

[telectrix]

would still be a benefit to RCD the other circuits, glenn, as nick said. not a necessity, but when these womenfolk bang nails in walls using a shoe as a hammer, an RCD is more use than a stiletto.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

It might just blow your mind to know that RCDs are not 'necessary' in domestic installations. No more than they are 'necessary' in commercial installations anyway.

Have a read of the regs and it'll fill you in on the circumstances where RCD protection is necessary and where it isn't.

The chances are your Mum's board is absolutely fine, just not up to current regs.

Damian Damian...

the OP seems OK...

but theres usual suspects crawling out as i speak.....sigh...

 

[NickD]

Huh???

Because you don't have a location containing a bath or a shower

 

[GLENNSPARK]

would still be a benefit to RCD the other circuits, glenn, as nick said. not a necessity, but when these womenfolk bang nails in walls using a shoe as a hammer, an RCD is more use than a stiletto.

no..

i tell you what this Nick guy is doing....

he`s saying that a C3 is about `improvement required`...and will be baseing his ..quite frankly base assumption on the non additional protected ways on this....

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Because you don't have a location containing a bath or a shower

eh?...youwhat?

CROSSBONDING nick....CROSSBONDING...CROSSBONDING...

 

[leep82]

so i have always known/installed RCD's were necessary in domestic installations.

It might just blow your mind to know that RCDs are not 'necessary' in domestic installations. No more than they are 'necessary' in commercial installations anyway.

Have a read of the regs and it'll fill you in on the circumstances where RCD protection is necessary and where it isn't.

The chances are your Mum's board is absolutely fine, just not up to current regs.

thanks i appreciate that, thats why i said ' where necessary'. Not having BGB at hand right now but under what circumstances would warrant an RCD not being required? Cables run/clipped direct to a surface or in containment system or buried at a depth greater than 50mm? Im not saying im right with those conditions may have misread/understood them.

 

[D Skelton]

Damian Damian...

the OP seems OK...

but theres usual suspects crawling out as i speak.....sigh...

I'm sure he is mate, I'm just trying to dispel the commonly held myth that just because it's a house it 'needs' RCDs in every situaton.

 

[D Skelton]

thanks i appreciate that, thats why i said ' where necessary'. Not having BGB at hand right now but under what circumstances would warrant an RCD not being required? Cables run/clipped direct to a surface or in containment system or buried at a depth greater than 50mm? Im not saying im right with those conditions may have misread/understood them.

Ah, I see. You missed the 'h' in 'where' in your original post. You can see where I'm coming from now

 

[NickD]

thanks i appreciate that, thats why i said ' where necessary'. Not having BGB at hand right now but under what circumstances would warrant an RCD not being required? Cables run/clipped direct to a surface or in containment system or buried at a depth greater than 50mm? Im not saying im right with those conditions may have misread/understood them.

Mostly what warrants it is (almost certainly) none was required on those circuits by the regs of the day it was installed. Like I say, I personally would lose no sleep over it, I don't lose any over living somewhere where the only RCD present is on the shower, but it's your call.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Same here. It depends on your degree of caution and how flush you are. Is there a sticker saying when it was installed/last inspected? Getting an Electrical Inspection Condition Report (EICR, formerly PIR) is recommended (but not mandatory) on change of occupant. Or if you got a properly done CU change you'd get the important bits of the EICR done within the cost. Or you could get the lights and boiler circuits upgraded from MCBs to RCBOs which gives them RCD protection. Some would call it overkill, but RCD protected final circuits do save lives, so it's your/your Mum's call. Be careful putting nails in walls in the meantime.

You could buy her RCBOs supplied and fitted for her birthday

eh...?

 

[D Skelton]

Because you don't have a location containing a bath or a shower

You're missing the point

 

[leep82]

thanks i appreciate that, thats why i said ' where necessary'. Not having BGB at hand right now but under what circumstances would warrant an RCD not being required? Cables run/clipped direct to a surface or in containment system or buried at a depth greater than 50mm? Im not saying im right with those conditions may have misread/understood them.

Ah, I see. You missed the 'h' in 'where' in your original post. You can see where I'm coming from now

so i did, my apologies. Just trying to be a more active member on the forum. So any little scenarios i come across i like to get other peoples feedback/opinions on. Its a useful forum despite what ive read from other posters.

 

[telectrix]

so i did, my apologies. Just trying to be a more active member on the forum. So any little scenarios i come across i like to get other peoples feedback/opinions on. Its a useful forum despite what ive read from other posters.

yeah. just glance at reg. 522.6.101. applies to 17th, but was not required in 16th.

 

[jaypp]

Mostly what warrants it is (almost certainly) none was required on those circuits by the regs of the day it was installed. Like I say, I personally would lose no sleep over it, I don't lose any over living somewhere where the only RCD present is on the shower, but it's your call.

it's actually (i believe) the date of B.R approval which, so long as the build was started before planning approval ran out and B.R was approved at the same time, could be regs years older than the installation. awaiting abuse if wrong!!!!:redface:

 

[Sintra]

Completing a job in 2010 that was designed in 2008. This was all 16th edition signed sealed and delivered.