The impact of Amendment 1 of the Wiring Regulations

Geoff Cronshaw, chief electrical engineer at the IET, highlights the key elements of the changes to the Periodic Inspection Report - which comes into effect on 1st January 2012 and which workplace safety managers should be aware of.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has launched the IET Wiring Regulations, 17th Edition, BS 7671:2008 incorporating Amendment No.1, 2011.

Jointly published with BSI, the amended IET Wiring Regulations sets the standard for all new electrical installations in the UK and includes topics specific to health and safety; including the change from the Periodic Inspection Report to the Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).

Changes to the Periodic Inspection Report The change from the Periodic Inspection Report to the Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) in Appendix 6 of the amended regulations (Model forms for certification and reporting) represents a major shift from the 17th Edition of the Wiring Regulations. The new report, both in terms of its content and name, is felt to be more descriptive than the previous Periodic Inspection Report.

It is important for workplace safety managers to be aware of the changes because the new report applies, not just to domestic installations, but also to larger installations, greater than 100 A, which are often found in the workplace. The key changes are defined below.

New code and definitions Within the EICR, new codes and definitions have been developed with the intention of being clearer - if it's recorded, it's an issue that should be dealt with. For example, within the observations section the four codes of the old PIR: 1 (requires urgent attention), 2 (requires improvement), 3 (requires further investigation), 4 (does not comply with BS 7671:2008 amended to…) have been replaced by three codes. These are code 1 danger present (e.g. bare live wires which can easily be touched), code 2 potentially dangerous (e.g. RCD will not operate correctly when tested), code 3 improvement recommended (e.g. no 30 mA RCD for additional protection for socket-outlets used by nonskilled/ non-instructed persons).

Under this new coding system a summary of the condition of the installation in terms of safety should be clearly indicated in Section E of the condition report.

Observations, if any, should be categorised in Section K of the condition report using the coding C1 to C3 as appropriate. Any observations given a C1 or C2 classification should result in the overall condition of the installation being reported as unsatisfactory, whereas under the 17th edition only a number 1 (requires urgent attention), allocated to an observation would normally result in the overall assessment of unsatisfactory.

New inspection schedule The new inspection schedule provides a detailed breakdown of the inspection required on each aspect of the installation to ensure that the work is carried out in an organised and efficient manner. For example, the schedule for domestic and similar premises includes over 60 check points. For installations other than domestic and similar premises, Appendix 6 includes a list of over 100 examples of items requiring inspection for an Electrical Installation Condition Report. Each item listed on the schedule which requires checking is accompanied with the relevant regulation number for ease of reference to the wiring regulations. In addition, the form provides a facility to indicate the outcome of the inspection of each item with either a tick (acceptable condition), a code C1 or C2 (unacceptable condition), a code C3 (improvement recommended), NV (not verified) Lim (limitation) or NA (not applicable); whereas under the 17th edition the inspection of a general item would normally only result in a tick in a box.