Ritchie Webster asks about the new Domestic Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and what is meant by ‘condition of enclosure in terms of fire rating’. His question is answered by SELECT (Theme – Fire & Safety):
Question: We have recently started using the domestic EICRs and are not sure, under the consumer unit section, what is meant by 'condition of enclosure in terms of fire rating'. Can you please clarify what is meant by this?
Answer: Item 4.4 'Condition of enclosure in terms of fire rating' refers to Regulation 526.5. You need to ensure that there is no possible risk of fire within the enclosure or associated with the enclosure.
The consumer unit or distribution board should be checked to ensure that it complies with an appropriate product standard, e.g. BS EN 60439, and that all unsheathed cables that enter it should be suitably enclosed. You may also need to ensure that any building material around the enclosure is non-combustible.
A point of note with regard the condition of an enclosure was raised during a recent fatal accident enquiry following a fire in a nursing home. It was believed that abrasion of a cable in contact against the metal enclosure of a consumer unit caused sparks, which eventually started the fire. The cables were found not to have been provided with protection against abrasion at the cable entries to the consumer unit.
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