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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Electrical Questions >> 17th Edition Questions Regarding Periodic Testing https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1215721809 Message started by cosbycarl on Jul 10^th, 2008, 9:30pm

Title: 17th Edition Questions Regarding Periodic Testing
Post by cosbycarl on Jul 10^th, 2008, 9:30pm

Hi,

There is a fan isolator switch in the bathroom of this house that i periodic tested today, i marked it down as a no no, its in what used to be zone three and its above the fan. 230v switches arent allowed in a bathroom are they? Ive always thought not, but my supervisor said its ok, but i feel strongly that its not, and because its wired to 16th it doesnt have an rcd protecting it.

Also, ive read that when doing a periodic you should now check the immersion tank for stats that dont have automatic cut outs and if they dont then you mark it down as a number 2 as they need replacing, but again my supervisor said that it had been wired to 16th so it dont matter, but again i think he is wrong because whether its wired to 16th or 17th that doesnt stop the stats from possibly failing and causing danger by heating the water to an extreme temp.

Whats the crack with the 17th ed and properties wired to 16th when doing a periodic? Will anything not to 17th ed standard in a 16th ed system need to be updated to 17th, or do u just simply make sure it still complies with the 16th regs that it was first installed at? Ive not done my update course yet so i dont know and i did the 2391 last year so they wouldnt of mentioned it back then!

Thanx in advance

C

Title: Re: 17th Edition Questions Regarding Periodic Test
Post by LSpark on Jul 11^th, 2008, 6:38am

wrote on Jul 10^th, 2008, 9:30pm:

There is a fan isolator switch in the bathroom of this house that i periodic tested today, i marked it down as a no no, its in what used to be zone three and its above the fan. 230v switches arent allowed in a bathroom are they? Ive always thought not, but my supervisor said its ok, but i feel strongly that its not, and because its wired to 16th it doesnt have an rcd protecting it.

The On-site guide states that accessories, e.g. DP/TP switches, are allowed in zone three with the strict exception of socket outlets, which are not permitted. Socket outlets and zones have different rules in the 17th edition though.

Quote:

Also, ive read that when doing a periodic you should now check the immersion tank for stats that dont have automatic cut outs and if they dont then you mark it down as a number 2 as they need replacing, but again my supervisor said that it had been wired to 16th so it dont matter, but again i think he is wrong because whether its wired to 16th or 17th that doesnt stop the stats from possibly failing and causing danger by heating the water to an extreme temp.

Imersions are much like fire alarms, neither come into the context of BS7671, it doesn't however hurt to flag up lack of smoke detectors or an older stat that doesn't have the new cut-out. There was discussion about electricians being required to flag up stats without cut-outs, but I am unsure of the outcome to date, and believe it is not strictly out duty, but there’s nothing wrong with covering one's self.

Quote:

Whats the crack with the 17th ed and properties wired to 16th when doing a periodic? Will anything not to 17th ed standard in a 16th ed system need to be updated to 17th, or do u just simply make sure it still complies with the 16th regs that it was first installed at? Ive not done my update course yet so i dont know and i did the 2391 last year so they wouldn’t of mentioned it back then!

The bottom line is regardless of what edition, if your inspecting & testing to current standards (or edition of) if for example there are no RCD's protecting circuit's within a special location, or there are no RCD's on circuits with PVC cables buried less than 50mm from the surface, that needs to be flagged up. Along with anything else that doesn't meet the 17 edition. How you code it is another matter.