Placement and accessibility of shower isolator switch

[ban-all-sheds]

It is ok to have the cu (fuseboard) inside a locked cupboard to prevent unauthorised fiddling about.

Do you feel that's compliant with 513.1 - which, as I said previously, includes "Such facility shall not be significantly impaired by mounting equipment in an enclosure or compartment" ?

513.1, another one for the ignore list.

Are you also going to ignore the requirements to be able to switch off parts, or all, of the installation in an emergency?

Switchgear in all sorts of premises is installed inside locked cupboards/switchrooms to prevent unauthorised access. One main reason being the tenants have no right of access to the landlords equipment.

They also have the right not to suffer loss and injury whilst waiting for the landlord or his representative to respond to a request to come and unlock the cupboard so that they can turn off the circuit which has a smouldering cable in it.

Unauthorised fiddling is one thing - preventing people from responding to an emergency is quite another.

 

[holmslaw]

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[JohnW2]

What reg no calls for emergency switching in a house?

C'mon, holmslaw, one surely doesn't need a numbered regulation to tell us that it's highly desirable to have a means of switching off the electrical installation in a house in an emergency?

I don't really give a **** what regs might say, I want to be able to switch off my electrical installation in an emergency, without having to hunt for a keyholder!

Kind Regards, John.

 

[holmslaw]

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[crj10]

OK... so whether or not it's OK to lock the cupboard containing the distribution boards is provind controversial, but what about my specific worry that the shower isolator switch is in there, too?

 

[JohnW2]

OK... so whether or not it's OK to lock the cupboard containing the distribution boards is provind controversial, but what about my specific worry that the shower isolator switch is in there, too?

I think everyone probably agrees with what you said in your very first posting - that it's absurd to have it locked away, particularly locked away in the same cupboard as the CU. You asked whether any reg was being violated by this and, right at the start, I suggested that 513.1 of BS7671 effectively requires all switchgear to be 'accessible', so that would probably do for starters.

Most of the subsequent 'debate' has been about whether or not that reg also theoretically means that the CU shouldn't be locked away, either - but that's not your problem.

If I were in your position, I think I might try to talk some sense into this 'fire safety person' - indicating that the shower is probably the highest current-carrying appliance in the house (hence a potential fire risk under fault conditions), such that to impede access to the isolator (as well as the distribution board) would actually be seriously detrimental to fire safety. Ask him/her what you're meant to do if smoke and/or flames start coming out of the shower unit (and if you ask niceley, there are people in this forum who can provide you with photos of that having happened!).

Kind Regards, John.

 

[JohnW2]

Read this.

Yes, but the fact is, the incoming cable, service head, meter and possibly your cu, have the greatest potential to cause a severe problem, but you have no control over the power to those parts. If any of them are emitting smoke all you can do is evacuate the property, ring the fire brigade, ring the dno and grab your house insurance policy.

That's certainly one scenario and I agree that evacuate etc. is then all one can do. However I can envisage countless other 'emergencies' in a house for which it would be appropriate and highly desirable for the occupants to be able to switch off the electrical installation - and I still think it would be plain crazy for them not to have unimpeded access at least an isolator switch, if not access to the CU(s).

Kind Regards, John.