Harmonisation UK wiring

[baby_belling]

I know that around 2004/5 for twin and earth cable the new colours blue and brown came out just before part p came in but did this also happen for the wiring in consumer units on sale as well? I have noticed that the internal wiring from the neutral bar and rcd isolater etc has also changed in line with the new colours from previously black and red. Did the manufacterers change these colours before part P came in like they did with the twin and earth or did these change a short while afterwards?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They would have been introduced at the same time.

Why?

 

[Taylortwocities]

The introduction of Building Regulations has nothing to do with the harmonisation of cable colours.

Harmonisation, that's a laugh.

 

[JohnW2]

The introduction of Building Regulations has nothing to do with the harmonisation of cable colours.

Indeed not - but it was an interesting near-co-incidence which appears to have resulted in a quite extraordinary amount of electrical work having been 'done', particularly by 'DIYers', in 2004

Kind Regards, John.

 

[Paul_C]

it was an interesting near-co-incidence which appears to have resulted in a quite extraordinary amount of electrical work having been 'done', particularly by 'DIYers', in 2004

I don't doubt the same amount of work would have been done in 2004 (cough, cough) with or without the cable changes.......

 

[JohnW2]

it was an interesting near-co-incidence which appears to have resulted in a quite extraordinary amount of electrical work having been 'done', particularly by 'DIYers', in 2004

I don't doubt the same amount of work would have been done in 2004 (cough, cough) with or without the cable changes.......

I'm not so sure. Had the new colour cables not become available until after the birth of Part P, there would be an awful lot of work which we are now told (cough, cough!) was 'done in 2004' that could not really (safely) be making that claim!!

(mind you, some of us still have quite significant stockpiles of 'old colours' cables )

Kind Regards, John.

 

[Paul_C]

I was just thinking along the lines that even if we were still using red/black there would have been just as much work completed in 2004. But maybe had the new cables not been on the market until 2005 it would have been a slightly different matter. But only slightly - I really don't think that many people simply stopped doing DIY work from January 2005. They just adopted the principle which has been dubbed on another forum as COR - Carry On Regardless.

 

[JohnW2]

But maybe had the new cables not been on the market until 2005 it would have been a slightly different matter. But only slightly - I really don't think that many people simply stopped doing DIY work from January 2005. They just adopted the principle which has been dubbed on another forum as COR - Carry On Regardless.

Well, they may have carried on regardless (and not even pretended that they were complying with notification requirements), but without the 'window' of about 1 year between availability of harmonised colour cable and the implementation of Part P, they would not be able to argue that any 'new colours' wiring had been undertaken prior to Part P's implementation.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[Paul_C]

without the 'window' of about 1 year between availability of harmonised colour cable and the implementation of Part P, they would not be able to argue that any 'new colours' wiring had been undertaken prior to Part P's implementation.

True, but then there would be no need to when there are other ways around that:

"Yes, that shiny new brown/blue cable was installed in 2006. I had to replace an existing cable which got damaged."

 

[kai]

I remember very clearly, that in the last few months of 2004, sales of weatherproof outdoor sockets increased suddenly, as millions of DIY'ers joined the rush to buy a 2004 date stamped outdoor socket, before the deadline cut off on 32/12/2004!
My local Woolworths were selling outdoor sockets by the casefull during 2004.

 

[dave.m]

So, what makes all this DIY electrical work safe in 2004 but not safe in 2005 apart from a load of regulations that no two registered sparks can seem to agree on what they mean.
Just read some of the threads on here and other DIY forums about electrics and there are more arguments about different interpretations of Part P regulations. Even the sparkies cannot all agree on the subject, so a DIYer says, "Sod it" and goes ahead if he is competent to do the job.

 

[JohnW2]

I remember very clearly, that in the last few months of 2004, sales of weatherproof outdoor sockets increased suddenly, as millions of DIY'ers joined the rush to buy a 2004 date stamped outdoor socket, before the deadline cut off on 32/12/2004!
My local Woolworths were selling outdoor sockets by the casefull during 2004.

Such stories make some sense. However, one wonders how true many of them are - Part P has had so little publicity that, even 6+ years on, I suspect that it is still only a minority of potential DIYers have even heard of it!

Kind Regards, John.

 

[JohnW2]

So, what makes all this DIY electrical work safe in 2004 but not safe in 2005 apart from a load of regulations that no two registered sparks can seem to agree on what they mean. Just read some of the threads on here and other DIY forums about electrics and there are more arguments about different interpretations of Part P regulations. Even the sparkies cannot all agree on the subject, so a DIYer says, "s** it" and goes ahead if he is competent to do the job.

That's all very true. However, you've only got to look on any of these forums to see that a fair proportion of the DIYers who think they are competent/safe clearly are not - and those people would have been no more safe in 2004 than they are today!

The concept of trying to make electrical work safe/safer (whoever undertakes it) is hard to argue with - but Part P has, IMO, done little to achieve that. Indeed, as often discussed, there are some senses/situations in which it has probably had a detrimental effect on safety.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The introduction of Building Regulations has nothing to do with the harmonisation of cable colours.

The OP never suggested it was.