A consumption unit is the beating heart behind the house, or in real terms, the big piece of kit that keeps the entire electrical system running. It`s an essential part of a building`s infrastructure, so let`s look at everything you need to know before installing or replacing it. By the way, the need for metal housings applies only to apartments, so commercial facilities or a self-supporting shed/garage can always be equipped with a plastic CU. Even anyone who still has plastic CUs on the shelf can continue to install them in apartments as long as they lock them in a metal box that complies with regulations 421.1.201 and 132.12. I received a call from a worried lady in Dorset about an electrician who, while doing major work on her house as part of a construction project, told her that her consumer unit (CU) “did not comply with regulations” because it was made of plastic. Having appointed British Gas to replace the UC just a few months ago in 2015, she feared that the work she had paid for would now have to be repeated at an additional cost. Just to add when someone changes your consumption unit, they need to perform a full electrical inspection and testing (EICR) for the entire facility to make sure there are no pre-existing issues that they need to know or resolve in advance. This job itself will take about half a day if you have an average semi-detached house to do properly. I mention this because I had a caller who told me that his installer insisted that his plastic consumption unit only needed to be upgraded to a metal housing for “compliance”, but then told the customer that “other issues” could be highlighted after the upgrade. No no no! All other problems need to be discovered in advance, otherwise what will they do if they find that they can`t turn on the new power unit because the RCD isn`t working? It`s not that they can simply reset the installation to make the juice flow, and if there are serious pre-existing bugs that prevent it from working, then the time to fix it or the budget to pay for it may not have been taken into account.

In the meantime, the freezer thaws and night falls! I would recommend budgeting for at least the replacement of the consumer unit, but you would really need to hire a local electrician to check the installation for you. Yes. You can buy a brand new plastic consumption unit as long as it is housed in a non-combustible housing. All old plastic consumption units are also still legal, they just need new housings to meet the regulations. Even if the installer insists that its new glossy circuit cannot be used from an older housing, perhaps because it is too small, obsolete or simply unsuitable, plastic or not, then a more cost-effective option for the customer might be to ask the installer to mount a secondary metal consumption unit just to operate the new circuit. This can be approved and certified without affecting the old existing installation. This makes the installer happy because he does not touch the existing electrical system, so he does not take responsibility for it. This is common for older installations where electric showers, electric vehicle chargers or solar photovoltaic installations have been added. He goes on to say that fuel consumption units that are NOT located in the above locations do not warrant a classification code on the next page at the top right of page 17: “The presence of a consumption unit or similar switchgear of combustible material (i.e.: plastic) that is not in a non-combustible cabinet and is either under a wooden staircase, or on the only evacuation route of the site. ” would be a C3. My first rental property is a bungalow, so no stairs. The consumption unit is made of plastic, but not on the way to the only escape route, it is located near the back door of the building.

You`ll find that a plastic consumer unit installed in the 16th edition (10-15 years old) may look new, but actually requires a few upgrades to get a satisfactory result on an EICR. Plastic consumption units are still in use and will be trouble-free for many years to come. In short, whatever material the housing of the consumer unit is made of has nothing to do with the current electrician on site, because he did not install it, so he does not assume the legal responsibility of the latter when he signs his certificate. British Gas has already done it, and by the time they did, plastic consumption units were perfectly acceptable, so everyone is happy and the universe remains in balance! As regulations changed in 2016, all household consumption units must be housed either in a non-combustible material or in a cabinet made of a non-combustible material. For consumer plastic units, we follow the guidelines of the “Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide 4”. It is an industry-recognized document that sets out the recommended codes for a variety of topics different from an EICR. My second rental property was built in 2004 and the Consmer unit (plastic) is located in the boiler cabinet, which is built in bulk, plastered and equipped with a fire door. Hello, this site was really useful to me. I recently bought an apartment and intend to rent it. It has a plastic consumption unit without RCD, new rules indicate that it needs to be updated due to the lack of RCD protection. Thank you If the guards installed in a CU are already up to date, as would be the case with this Dame Amendment 2 card, there is no reason to change the CU case from plastic to metal unless there is an obvious benefit to these costs and efforts, for example if the old CU is too small, to accommodate new circuits, and something larger is needed or if the old CU is damaged and has a crack or hole that exposes live parts or shows signs of overheating.

These are examples where a new housing can be used without necessarily changing the fixtures (switches/RCD/main switches), and any new housing installed today would now have to be made of metal if it were installed in a residential property. BS7671 (IET Wiring Regulations) Amendment 3 is only mandatory for new electrical installation works planned from 1 July 2015 or, in the case of consumer units, from 1 January 2016. All electrical works designed and installed in accordance with Amendment No 2 or previously remain valid because they meet the standards of their time, that is, provided that they have been properly installed in accordance with the standards of their time and have not been thrown away by a cowboy or have not deteriorated and do not show any signs of wear, damage, inappropriate modifications or overheating. Given that British Gas was the installer in this case, we hope to be able to assume that they knew what they were doing and that they approved the work as compliant by submitting an Electrical Installation Certificate (IEC). I had a lady today who contacted me because she had received an EICR that had detected the presence of a plastic consumption unit (not in an escape route) and had been informed by the person who had prepared the report that it should be changed or that she could be held legally responsible for subsequent fire events. At first glance, this is nonsense. I haven`t seen the installation or the report, but here are some facts: If you have an electrical ratio made and you have a plastic consumption unit, there is still no need to upgrade. Although the regulations have recently changed to ensure that all new consumption units installed from January 2016 onwards are made of steel, as far as I can see, there are three reasons why the Sparky could have said on the spot that the existing plastic CPU was not compliant for later operation. I hope that this will shed light on the problem of the plastic consumption unit.