2.2.4 - Safety requirements
Safety is the basic
reason for the existence of the Wiring Regulations. [Chapter
13] has the title 'Fundamental Requirements for Safety'
and really contains, in shortened form, the full safety
requirements for electrical installations. It has been said
that the twenty short regulations in Chapter 13 ore the
Regulations and that the rest of the publication simply
serves to spell out their requirements in greater detail.
For example, [512-04-01], part of the Common Rules for the
Selection and Erection of Equipment, has precisely the same
meaning as [130-02-02] in requiring that the installation
should be capable of carrying the maximum power required
by the system when it is functioning in the way intended.
It is important to appreciate that the Electricity at Work
Regulations apply to all electrical installations, covering
designers, installers, inspectors, testers and users. The
regular inspection and testing of all electrical installations
is a requirement of the Electricity at Work Regulations.
Perhaps the most
basic rule of all, {130-2-02], is so important that it should
be quoted in lull. It states:-
Good workmanship
and proper materials shall be used
The details of [Chapter
13] are covered more fully later in this Guide.
The Building Regulations
1991 and the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations 1990
require all new and refurbished dwellings to be fitted with
mains operated smoke alarms. For a single family dwelling
with no more than two floors there must be at least one
alarm on each floor, installed within 7 m of kitchens and
living rooms and within 3 m of all bedroom doors. The alarms
must have battery backup, must be interconnected so that
detection of smoke by one operates all the alarms, and must
be wired to a separate way in a distribution board or to
a local, regularly used lighting circuit. Cables do not
need special fire retardant properties and do not need to
be segregated. The smoke alarm system must not be protected
by an RCD.
BS 5839 Part 6 Code
of practice for the design and installation of fire detectors
in alarm systems provides useful information, as does
Appendix B of IEE Guidance Note 4.
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