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.