Whats your opinions Would you C3 it ?

[John#1tester]

Good morning all

First time posting so quick introduction
I'm John I'm employed by my.local council To carry out EICR'S

I've been in this job now for around 3 month every house I have tested has been rewired or partially rewired in the last 10 years or so

Now about the C3 and maybe this is just me because its a massive pet hate of mine

Every single CU I have looked at has the MCBS ranging from lowest to highest from the RCD for example

RCD 6A 6A 16A 32A

So I see this as a C3 as I was always taught and have always done it from highest to lowest from the RCD

My boss today asked why I C3 this as it's not a big deal

as I believe it's is the testers discretion as to what goes down on the coding and I this is something would never do

Again silly to most people I know but to me it's wrong

What's your thoughts and opinions on this ?

Thanks your friendly neighborhood tester John

 

[Octopus]

C3 no way .................. utter tosh

 

[Darkwood]

Welcome to the forum, In answer to your question I would question where in the regulations it says you have to order the ratings in any particular way?
What do you think are the consequences of not doing so?

If you call testers discretion then you still have to give good reasoning for your discretion and you should be able to back it up with a regulation or some other form of evidence.

 

[Andy78]

As said above, an EICR is carried out using the requirements of BS7671 as the standard for the inspection.
If you felt that a busbar or any equipment was being used past the rating it was designed for then that would be a safety concern, but obviously the order of devices would not alter this situation.

 

[John#1tester]

Thanks for your reply chaps and I totally agree there is no reg which requires this and it would not alter the installation at all it was just something I had drummed into me from being an apprentice and generally thought it was a rule of thumb when installing a CU as I stand corrected lol I will no longer C3 it again it was just something i was taught to always do

 

[Taylortwocities]

As above. There is no regulation so there is no "C anything" to report as you could not note in your EICR which regulation has been breached.

In the old days it was the habit to put the fuses in descending order, probably because there wasn't so much copper in the live distribution bar. But not a regulation, even then.

 

[Nigel]

Never a code in a million years.

If you cannot quote a Reg, which you cannot then you cannot reasonably code it.

 

[casperLennon]

Makes me wonder what other codes you are giving out if that warrants a c3 from you?

 

[Des 56]

I agree we were always taught that the highest load circuit was nearer the main switch
When I think about it we maybe just accepted most of what we were taught without questioning why it was the case

As stated there is no justification for the order of the circuits to be coded
As far as a inspector making judgement,its always a good point to remember that each time we code,we should be able to reference a regulation to back up our decision

 

[Wilko]

Hi John and Welcome to the Forum
You'll get helpful info here, but sometimes it can be a bit tough.

 

[Cadgey123]

Everyone has their ways of doing things on jobs, but like what has been said - if you can’t quote a regulation it contravenes then you certainly can’t code it.

I always put high to low from main switch or RCD.

 

[westward10]

Lost for words.

 

[Strima]

If you read the manufacturers instructions they recommend mixing heavy and light loads to avoid mutual heating and magnetic influence so having the MCBs in ascending or descending order would potentially be against manufacturers instructions.

So you're all wrong!!!

 

[telectrix]

was common back in the 70's to put the highest loads closer to the main switch, the idea being that the highest busbar loading would be the shortest, but it was never a reg.... another old wives tale. like bonding metal windows.

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

Lost for words.

That will be a first......