The electrical industry has until August 23 to have its say on the 18th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is calling on the electrical industry to have its say and influence the content of the 18th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671), following the release of the Draft for Public Comment (DPC) for BS 7671:2018.
The DPC allows users of the IET Wiring Regulations to see the proposed content and put forward their views to JPEL/64, the decision-making committee behind BS 7671.
The DPC of BS 7671:2018 contains many completely revised and redrafted sections, chapters and regulations. An entirely new area – Part 8 – Section 801 – is proposed, encompassing requirements for energy efficiency.
An overview of the proposed changes is included in the introduction to the DPC, which also provides a summary of some of the key changes and new content.
Mark Coles, Head of Technical Regulations at the IET, said, “The 18th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations is agreed by industry experts, ensuring that electrical installations are safe and efficient.
“The IET calls on industry to have its say and influence content to ensure we continue to keep users of electrical installations safe.”
JPEL/64 will discuss all the submitted comments over the following months and make final decisions before BS 7671:2018 is published. This is expected to be in July 2018.
The changes will create harmonisation with CENELEC and IEC 60364 standards while also allowing for clarification of existing regulations and new technology and methodology to be incorporated into the regulations.
Following a review period, approval is expected in November 2017 by JPEL/64 with the 18th Edition officially published next July. The 18th Edition will then come into full effect from January 1, 2019.
Headline changes…
The significant changes to the 18th Edition include:
• Protection against overvoltage and transient overvoltage – updated guidance on surge protection.
• Protection against fire – updated guidance on arc fault detection.
• Flooring and ceiling heating systems – extended to included embedded electric surface heating.
• Energy Efficiency – A new section to provide for the ever-increasing need to reduce energy consumption.
For more information and to review the DPC, please visit the IET website at www.theiet.org. The deadline to do this is 23:59 on Wednesday 23 August 2017.
