BS 7671: the 18th Edition Key Changes
There will be updates to the 18th Edition to the Wiring Regulations in July 2018.
What is BS7671?
It is the national standard in the UK for electrical installation and the safety of electrical wiring in domestic, commercial, industrial, and other buildings, also in special installations and locations, such as marinas or caravan parks. The first one was published in 1882 believe it or not and was known as “The Wiring Rules”. The current one is the 17th Edition published in 2008 with several amendments over the years. The next generation is the 18th Edition due in July 2018.
What are some of the key changes?
· Protection against overvoltages.
This clause has been revised to accommodate protection against transient overvoltages where the consequence affects human life, e.g. safety services, medical care facilities; public services and cultural heritage, e.g. loss of public services, IT centres, museums; and commercial or industrial activity, e.g. hotels, banks, industries, commercial markets, farms.
· Energy Efficiency
This is a new section and relates to saving energy. The new section will cover several areas, such as electric vehicles, lighting, metering, cable losses, transformer losses, power-factor correction, and harmonics. The requirements apply to both new installations and the changing of existing installations
· Embedded electric heating systems
Section 753 has been extended to apply to embedded electric heating systems for surface heating. This applies to indoor and outdoor installations such as floors and walls and football fields.
· Protection against fire
This section has been introduced to provide details on installation of arc fault detection devices (AFDDs) to mitigate the risk of fire in final circuits of a fixed installation due to the effect of arc fault currents.
How do these changes affect me as a consumer?
Keith Gunn Electrical Solutions as NICEIC electricians will always adhere to any new amendments or changes to the regulations. This is for both domestic and commercial work. All of our electricians are 17th edition qualified electricians soon to change to 18th edition.
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