Amendment 3 BS 7671: 2008 – Electrium looks at consumer units for use in domestic (household) premises
Voltimum UK users should by now be aware of one specific new regulation - ref 421.1.201 in Amendment 3 to BS 7671: 2008 - that will require consumer units and similar switchgear assemblies for use in domestic (household) premises to have their enclosures manufactured from non combustible material or be enclosed in a cabinet manufactured from non combustible material.
Three PDF documents by Electrium examines these new and important requirements for switchgear assemblies and consumer units for domestic premises:
From January 2015, Amendment 3 to BS 7671 IET Wiring Regulations prescribes that within domestic (household) premises, consumer units and similar switchgear assemblies shall have their enclosures manufactured from non combustible material, or be enclosed in a cabinet or enclosure constructed of non combustible material and comply with product standard BS EN 61439-3.
Definitions
What are domestic (household) premises?
Typical domestic household premises would include single and multiple occupancy homes such as houses, bungalows, high rise & low rise flats, apartments, student lets, sheltered accommodation, farmhouses, houseboats, static homes, home office, attached garages, workshops and detached summerhouses etc – though there are others too.
What is a non-combustible material?
There are many types of non combustible material. However, Amendment 3 of the 17th Edition regulations provides an acceptable example as ferrous metal, i.e. steel consumer units.
What is an enclosure?
The consumer unit enclosure must be manufactured from a non-combustible material so as to limit the spread of fire. An enclosure means the box, cover, door, hinges, handle and any components required to maintain the integrity of the unit.
Electrium’s Crabtree ‘Starbreaker’ brand consumer units feature full metal enclosure, no exposed plastic parts, plus low smoke and fume paint.
To learn much more about these and about the new requirements, please click on the link below to see the PDF documents – ‘Wylex NM has the answers’ (555kB file size), Crabtree (551kB file size) and Wylex (703kB file size).
ATTACHMENTS
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