Electric Reference

The Wiring Regulations BS : 7671 : Currently 17^th edition

  The BS 7671 Wiring Regulations is a non-statutory document, which plays a key role in the electrical industry in terms of standards and safety of electrical installations in buildings. The regulations provide guidance of the standards and the latest 17^th edition was released In January 2008 . The regulations can be used in a court of law as evidence of working to the standards.

 

The overdue Regulations was meant to come out on the 1^st January, but was actually available around the 21^st of January 2008. The new 17th Regulations are effective from the 1^st of July 2008. Electrical installation designs between January and July can be either designed to the previous 16^th or 17^th edition, there after July 1^st, designs must comply with the new 17^th BS 7671 wiring regulations.

 

Changes In the 17^th Edition

There are many changes and amendments in the current 17^th edition apposed to the 16^th edition. Changes such as the mandatory use of rcd’s, 30mA rcd’s will be required for socket outlets that are for the use of ordinary person’s and for general use. There are two exceptions with rcd’s, such as identifying socket outlets.

 

I.e. freezers having the socket clearly Identified for the freezer, this is to stop nuisance tripping

 

The other exception is the use of a socket under supervision of a skilled or instructed person.

 

Cables which are surface mounted which are not in the safety zones, either have to be 50mm deep in the wall or rcd protected

 

 Other Countries which use BS 7671

Mauritius, St Lucia, St Vincent, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda. There are also other countries which base their wiring regulations on the BS 7671

 

Qualification

The qualification for the wiring has been changed from the 16^th edition wiring regulations city and guilds 2381 to 17^th edition wiring regulations city and guilds 2382.

 

History of the Wiring Regulations

1882 1st edition of the ‘Wiring Rules’ issued. Entitled ‘Rules and Regulations for the prevention of Fire Risks Arising from Electric Lighting’
1888 2nd edition
1897 3rd edition Entitled ‘General Rules recommended for Wiring for the Supply of Electrical Energy’
1903 4th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations, called ‘Wiring Rules’
1907 5th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations
1911 6th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations
1916 7th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations
1924 8th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations ‘Regulations for the Electrical Equipment of Buildings’
1927 9th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations
1934 10th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations
1939 11th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations, Revised issue (1943), reprinted with minor amendments (1945), Supplement issued (1946),Revised Section (1948)
1950 12th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations launched, Supplement issued (1954)
1955 13th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations launched, Reprinted, 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1964
1966 14th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations published Reprinted, 1968, 1969, 1970 (in metric units), 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976

1981 The 15th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations launched
1991 16th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations published (adopted as the BS in 1992) • Electricity at Work Regs. (Northern Ireland) come fully into being
2004 Part P of the Building Regulations becomes law • BS 7671:2001 Requirements for Electrical Installations (Incorporating Amendments No 1: 2002 and No 2: 2004), The IEE Wiring Regulations (Sixteenth Edition)
2007 17th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations is scheduled to be issued on January 1st 2008 and comes into effect 6 months later.

 

 

  

…more to come as when the 17^th has taken effect in July 2008