Increasing electrical safety in the home has been a prominent theme of late, due in part to the Building Regulations, and the revisions to the IEE Wiring Regulations. Alan Roadway of ABB discusses how electrical installers can help ensure safe electrical practice.
Most drivers accept the idea of vehicle MOTs as an important safety measure. Yet how many home owners apply the same principle to having their domestic electrical installations professionally checked on a regular basis? According to the Electrical Safety Council, over 40% of the British population do not know or have never had their electrics checked and almost a quarter (24%) of people do not know how old their wiring is. And when it comes to paying for checks, a significant minority of people (28%) say they would not be prepared to pay for an inspection by a registered electrician.
The National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) recommends that a domestic installation should be inspected a minimum of every 10 years, but the message is obviously not reaching everyone.
On average, there are 10 deaths and over 750 injuries* as a result of faulty electrical installations in the home each year. Added to this, electrical faults cause 12,500 fires, resulting in 25 deaths and 590 injuries every year.
Regulating safety
In theory at least, the situation should have improved with the revisions of the Building Regulations in January 2008. The Government's regulatory impact assessment estimated that 30% of electrical accidents were caused by poor workmanship. The Building Regulations stipulate that any major electrical work carried out since the regulation came into force should have been done by a "competent" person. Very simple jobs, such as replacing a plug or changing a light fitting in the living room, can still be tackled by DIY enthusiasts. But jobs such as adding a new circuit or any electrical work carried out in a "special" location such as a bathroom must be approved and so should not pose a safety problem.
However, changes in the regulations cannot compel householders to get their electrical systems checked or bring older installations up to date. In addition, there are more demands being placed on domestic electrical systems than ever before as people rely increasingly on new electrical goods, ranging from garden gadgets to IT systems. Any extra burden only increases the risk of problems.
Encouraging consumers
Responsible installers therefore have a key role to play in promoting the role of inspection to potential clients. A handy checklist can be a useful first tool in making people aware of when it's time to call in the professionals. For example, any or all of the following points may indicate the need for an inspection:
• Is the wiring more than 15 years old? Standards and cables have changed and the safest option is to renew. If the age of the system is unknown, there are telltale signs to look out for, such as any round-pin plugs and sockets, or lights that use the old, twisted type of flex.
• Has it been longer than ten years since the wiring was checked? All electrical systems deteriorate gradually over time and the latest guidance recommends ten years as the maximum time between safety inspections.
• Has electrical work been carried out by amateurs and never checked? Although this may have been perfectly legal at the time, it wouldn't comply with today's regulations, and there may well be safety implications.
• Do plugs or sockets get hot? Overheating is usually a sign that too much current is being drawn.
• Do fuses blow regularly and for no obvious reason? This indicates potentially dangerous current surges in the network.
• Does the householder use adaptors routinely to run multiple appliances from a single outlet? Older systems often provide insufficient sockets to cope with modern lifestyles, and resorting to adapters runs the risk of overloading the system. Similarly, extension cables can put an extra strain on the system, so it's wise to avoid them where possible.
• Does the householder use electrical equipment outdoors? The added hazard of running electrical equipment outside demands an electrical system engineered to the highest safety standards. Any electrical socket with equipment plugged into it that is used outdoors needs to have a separate RCD assigned to it.
By adopting this kind of simple, ‘tick-box' approach, installers can encourage consumers to make appropriate choices.
Inspection standards
Once a household has opted for an inspection, they'll need an approved contractor to carry out the survey. Whichever body the electrician is certified with, they will be measuring the existing electrical system against the yardstick of the IEE Wiring Regulations. The current standard is BS7671: 17th Edition, recently revised.
The new regulations feature many minor changes, but the most notable point is a change to Section 701, which will allow sockets other than SELV or shaver outlets to be installed in the same space as a bath or shower, provided they are more than three horizontal metres away from the boundary of zone 1, which is defined in BS7671 as a space extending for 1.2 metres around the water outlet.
Proposed works
Of course, it's impossible to know in advance what an inspection will reveal, but there are several points to bear in mind when deciding which changes could have the biggest impact on future safety.
Any old-style fuseboxes should be replaced with one of the latest generation of consumer units. The best examples can be adapted to fit the protection requirements of a particular household precisely, by offering a flexible split load.
A main isolating switch will feed essential circuits such as lighting and other circuits and are protected with residual current devices (RCD). Other devices, such as showers, can be assigned separate RCBOs to protect against electrical faults without disrupting the power around the rest of the building. Instead of being confined to typical combinations of 4+4 or 6+6 only for the different types of protection, some units provides extra flexibility by enabling installers to achieve variations such as 3+5 or 2+6.
Not only are MCBs reusable and virtually maintenance free, they are also safer than conventional fuses. First, they can break the connection faster than a conventional fuse in the event of a problem and second, they can be tailored to suit the capacity required for a given application more closely.
Around the house, extra sockets are typically required, but today's consumers want their electrical fittings to be stylish, as well as practical. The safest modern fittings come in a range of finishes, which can be interchangeable without the need for rewiring.
Particular equipment or situations may also call for specific protection measures, such as surge protection devices to safeguard valuable information on household computers, while a garden socket will need its own RCD protection.
Getting the message across
Yet the biggest challenge in improving domestic electrical safety is not really a technical one, since all the most important safety measures will be familiar to qualified installers. What electricians really need to ensure is that they convey the safety message effectively to consumers. Some 35 people die and over 1300 are injured each year in their homes by faulty electrical systems and the fires that often result. Regular safety checks have an important role to play in stopping these often tragic and unnecessary accidents.
For more information on ABB's low voltage products, please email [email protected] or call 02476 368 500.