17th Edition Amendments

Amendment 1 of the 17th Edition BS7671 IEE Wiring Regulations is shortly to be released.

This first 17th Edition Amendment is available to pre-order from the IET website and is likely to be made available in July 2011. A video overview of the amendment is available below, but we've attempted to briefly summarise the main changes to the 17th Edition below.

The new IEE regulations publication incorporating Amendment 1 will be published under a green cover.

Overview of Amendments: Section 710 - Medical locations

This is a new section of the regulations concerning patient safety when exposed to electrical equipment which is becoming more and more common in modern hospitals, private clinics, healthcare centres, doctor's surgeries and dental practices. The new Medical Locations amendment splits electrical installations into three groups 0, 1 and 2 and includes regulations on secure supplies for life support and protection against electric shock. Medical IT systems and specific requirements for supplementary bonding and selection and erection of electrical equipment within medical locations are covered in this amendment.

Section 444 - Measures against electromagnetic influences.

Another new section concerning electromagnetic disturbances which provides regulations and recommendations to avoid or reduce the effects of 'EMI' electromagnetic interference.

This section includes recommendations concerning cable routing and voltage induction from sources of electromagnetic disturbances such as switchgear, power distribution busbars, fluorescent lighting, electric motors, electric welders, transformers etc.

Recommendations on the separation of power and signal cables and the routing of conductors to avoid inductive loops

Damage can be caused to sensitive IT equipment and electrical circuits from EMI and this section also covers these concerns.

Section 534 - Devices for protection against overvoltage (surge protection devices)

This new section concerns dealing with potential damage that can be caused to sensitive equipment by overvoltages and surge currents. Surge protection devices (SPD's) are covered in this amendment and installation recommendations and regulations concerning SPDs are provided.

Any switching operation, fault initiation or interupption is followed by a transient phenomenon in which an overvoltage can occur. Surges can also occur due to natural causes such as lightning strikes and the risk of disruption, degradation, sparking or flashover can be reduced or eliminated by the installation of SPDs which can divert the surge current.

This new 17th Edition Amendment 534 contains detailed requirements for the selection, erection and coordination of SPDs in building installations.

Section 534 will not tell you when you need SPDs, but it will provide guidance and recommendations on how to install them.

Section 729 - Operating or maintenance gangways

The 17th Edition Amendment 710 is a totally new section and applies to basic protection and other aspects in restricted access areas such as switchrooms and control gear assemblies with a need for operating or maintenance gangways for authorised persons.

The amendment contains requirements for restricted areas where:

• basic protection is provided by barriers or enclosures
• the protective measure of obstacles is applied

and

• gives examples of positioning doors in long, closed restricted access areas

So, it can be summarised that this new section 729 is mainly concerned with preventing accidents and injury by ensuring adequate lighting, access and working space is provided when working on electrical equipment.

Appendix 6 - Changes to certification and reporting

A new electrical installation condition report has been introduced to replace the present periodic inspection report.

The existing 4 codes within the observations section of the present report have been replaced with 3 new codes as follows:

• Code 1 - danger present
• Code 2 - potentially dangerous
• Code 3 - improvement recommended

The new form has been redesigned and includes a series of new inspection schedules.

Other Changes

There are many other changes incorporated into the 17th Edtion amandment 1 including changes to the appendices, exceptions for minor works, changes to section 7 concerning (for the most part) PME supplies and changes to the numbering for UK only regulations.

Amendment 1 for the 17th Edition IEE Wiring Regulations is due for planned release June 2011 and will come into effect on January 1st 2012.

For further information, please watch the video below:

Overview of the IEE Wiring Regulations amendment Geoff Cronshaw IET seminar on The IEE Wiring Regulations (BS 7671:2008): Looking ahead to the first amendment From IET London: Savoy Place, UK 2010-06-21 00:00:00.0 Power Channel >> go to webcast>> recommend to friend