BS 7671:2018 – Requirements for Electrical Installations, IET Wiring Regulations published

The 18th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations has been published today.

The updated Standard, entitled BS 7671:2018 Requirements for Electrical Installations, IET Wiring Regulations, will come into effect on 1st January 2019.

The Regulations apply to the design, erection and verification of electrical installations, also additions and alterations to existing installations. Although not a statutory document, BS 7671 will set the standard for how electrical installations should be completed in the UK and enables compliance with the law.

Installations designed after 31st December 2019 will have to comply with this new Standard. Existing installations that have been installed in accordance with earlier editions of the Standard may not comply with this edition in every respect. This does not necessarily mean that they are unsafe for continued use or require upgrading.

The main changes made to the Standard include (note, this list is not exhaustive):

• Protection against electric shock metallic pipes entering the building having an insulating section at their point of entry need not be connected to the protective equipotential bounding;
• Protecting against thermal effects a new Regulation has been introduced recommending the installation of arc fault detection devices (AFDDs) to mitigate the risk of fire in AC final circuits of a fixed installation due to the effects of arc fault currents;
• Protection against voltage disturbance and electromagnetic disturbances Section 443, which deals with protection against overvoltages of atmospheric origin or due to switching, has been redrafted;
• Selection and erection of wiring systems gives requirements for the methods of support of wiring systems in escape routes, has been replaced by a new Regulation 521.10.202; and
• Chapter 53 Protection, isolation, switching, control and monitoring completely revised to deal with general requirements for protection, isolation, switching, control and monitoring and with the requirement for selection and erection of the devices provided to fulfil such functions.

The new standard is available from the BSI shop.