Retrofitting to latest wiring regs

nemo · 2014-12-16T18:35:11+00:00

The managing agent for our rental property called in an electrician to replace a socket in the bedroom of a property. We were asked if we wanted a new consumer unit fitting at the same time, which we declined. We've just received an email from the agent: "I?ve just spoken to the electrician and he has informed me that new regulations state he is not allowed to do new work at a property where there is no RCD consumer box fitted. In this case he has done the work because it was an emergency[1] but if any further work is needed in the future a box will have to be fitted at the same time." The property was built in 2001 by a reputable national building firm, so the wiring and CU are not ancient, albeit probably not to 17th edition regs. AIUI retrofitting to meet later regulations is not mandatory for repairs to an existing installation (IIRC it was mentioned here recently re new CU specs in 2015). a) Is that correct? b) If so, please can anyone point to a web link or document reference for an authoritative statement of this? c) Is replacement of the CU necessary/desirable - if so, for what reason? [1] No it wasn't actually an emergency!

Dec 16, 2014 21 Replies

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ARW 11 years ago

Barnsley council used to do that - even when there was no need for it.

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John Rumm 11 years ago

Not uncommon either... My setup is similar - wired for TT, but in reality the supply was upgraded at some point to support PME.

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