Landlords electrical safety check - criteria

[Boab64]

Hi, I am a new landlord renting an ex council property for the first time in Scotland and would be very grateful for some technical advice if you can spare the time.

I have carried out a Landlords electrical safety check on all the electrical appliances in the flat and also the whole flats electrical circuitry has been checked. This check was carried out by an NICEC electrician.

My problem is that during the check it was discovered that there was no earth supplied to the flat! The power supply is provided to the houses in the street by means of overhead cables rather than underground cables. In the place of the normal earth, we have an RCD trip switch which (I understand, as a complete novice) trips in the event of an overload. He then gave me a report that said the flat had failed the safety check due to the earth problem.

The electrician said that in order to provide me with a report saying that the flat was electrically safe I would need to have an earth supplied to the flat (at no doubt great expense). I called in Scottish power (electricity provider) and they said that the supply was perfectly safe with the rcd switch but if I needed the earth installed anyway there was a long lead time.

AT LONG LAST - MY QUESTION : Is the NICEC electrician correct in that even with the RCD switch installed, legally the flat is still unsafe (the previous owners have lived in the flat for five years with no problems)? Are there any other standards other than those used by NICEC which accept the use of an RCD as normal practice? I don't want to endanger anyone but feel that this might be a money making exercise on the part of the electrician. Any thoughts would be very welcome. Thanks.

 

[Adam_151]

Is there an earth rod?, or does it lack an earth totally?, if it uses an earth rod instead of the suppliers earth, then as long as the rod is installed and tested properly, and rcd protection is used as well (which is working) then its perfectly safe and known as a TT system. Many suppliers will convert this to TNC-S if possible, but there is no reason why this needs to happen

If however it lacks an earth totally then that is dangerous and it needs fixing, an RCD is no subsitute for an earth, if its supposed to be anything other than a TT system, its upto the supplier to fix it, unless there is a good reason why they can't (and in that case a TT system should be installed), but if its supposed to be a TT system and lacks an earth, this could either be fixed by your electrician, or you could have the supplier install a TNC-S earth (one that is provided by the supplier's neutral)

 

[Boab64]

Hi Adam,

many thanks for your reply. My understanding is that there is no earth rod at all and that is the electricians concern. As I mentioned I called in Scottish power and was told that many other houses in our street are fitted out the same way. They then said that it was not THEIR obligation to provide an earth and should we want it installed it would cost us dearly.
The Safety inspector/electrician also provided me with a quote to do the work.

Sounds to me that I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place as I very much want to take the safe route, but I felt originally that either the electrical safety inspector or Scottish Power was giving me the run around. From what you are saying Adam I suspect it is Scottish Power that needs to be pressed a bit harder.

Are electricity providers legally obliged to provide an earth source? Is there some document or regulation that I can quote to them? Any idea what such work should reasonably cost on a ex council upper floor flat in a block of four?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[slippyr4]

It's isn't the electricity company's obligation to provide you with an earth connection; they only have to maintain an existing one if it's reasonably practicable.

Basically, your electricity company don't provide earth as a rule, so you need an earth rod (This will be a TT system).

The spark who did your safety check should be able to install and test one for you. It's likely to be cheaper than getting the REC to provide an earth.

The two possible solutions are different- if the REC provide an earth it will be done one way, if your spark does it it will be another way.

The REC's solution is probably "better", but the earth rod is perfectly acceptable,

 

[Adam_151]

Its sounds like the whole street has TT supplies from what you have said, the supplier could install TNC-S at a cost to you, but it would probably be quicker and easier to have your electriciain bring your TT system upto standard by installing and testing the earth rod that is currently missing.

It would be upto the supplier to fix it themselves if it was say TNS and the earth had rotted away (thats not to say they wouldn't try and wiggle out of it if that was the case!), but as it desinated that you provide your own earth, they don't have to do anything

 

[Qedelec]

Extracted from: Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 2665
The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002

© Crown Copyright 2002


Equipment on a consumer's premises
24. - (1) A distributor or meter operator shall ensure that each item of his equipment which is on a consumer's premises but which is not under the control of the consumer (whether forming part of the consumer's installation or not) is -

(a) suitable for its purpose;

(b) installed and, so far as is reasonably practicable, maintained so as to prevent danger; and

(c) protected by a suitable fusible cut-out or circuit breaker which is situated as close as is reasonably practicable to the supply terminals.

(2) Every circuit breaker or cut-out fuse forming part of the fusible cut-out mentioned in paragraph (1)(c) shall be enclosed in a locked or sealed container as appropriate.

(3) Where they form part of his equipment which is on a consumer's premises but which is not under the control of the consumer, a distributor or meter operator (as appropriate) shall mark permanently, so as clearly to identify the polarity of each of them, the separate conductors of low voltage electric lines which are connected to supply terminals and such markings shall be made at a point which is as close as is practicable to the supply terminals in question.

(4) Unless he can reasonably conclude that it is inappropriate for reasons of safety, a distributor shall, when providing a new connection at low voltage, make available his supply neutral conductor or, if appropriate, the protective conductor of his network for connection to the protective conductor of the consumer's installation.

(5) In this regulation the expression "new connection" means the first electric line, or the replacement of an existing electric line, to one or more consumer's installations.

Hope this clarify's the situation for you

 

[sparkybird]

Sounds a bit odd as I would have thought that the council would have ensured that it had an earth, otherwise their tenants would have been at risk.

Some flats share earths and I've seen them cut (in one of the other properties!) so it might be worth checking out the neighbours systems??

Also see my post below on this page about earth and responsibility. I managed to get one provided despite intially being given the brush off.

Good luck
SB

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Sounds a bit odd as I would have thought that the council would have ensured that it had an earth, otherwise their tenants would have been at risk.

Maybe the properties date back to the days when it was acceptable to use an incoming water pipe as an earth?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Sounds to me that I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place as I very much want to take the safe route, but I felt originally that either the electrical safety inspector or Scottish Power was giving me the run around. From what you are saying Adam I suspect it is Scottish Power that needs to be pressed a bit harder.

Neither was giving you the run-around, but Scottish Power gave you dangerously irresponsible and incompetent advice when they said it was perfectly OK without an earth.

Your electrician was correct in what he told you.

Assuming it is a TT supply, then SP are also correct to say that it is not their responsibility.

SP could be offering one of two things:

1) Conversion to a TN-C-S (PME) supply.

2) Installation by their contracting arm of an earth rod.

The first can only be done by them, and might be worth considering if the whole street bands together, as it wouldn't surprise me if they were all like this, or a lot of them.

The second can be done by any electrician, so get competitive quotes.