[Lancaster] OT : electrical installation

[Martyn Welch]

On 21/08/11 10:50, andy baxter wrote:
> On 21/08/11 09:37, andy baxter wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> This is way OT, but does anyone know about the regulations around 
>> electrical installations in the UK? A friend of mine has asked me to 
>> build them a brew temperature controller for their micro-brewery, and 
>> it would be good to know where I stand with regard to all this.
>>
>> One specific question is are people allowed to install their own 
>> electrical sockets? I would like them to have an RCD socket in the 
>> the wall to protect the circuit. They only cost about 15 quid, and I 
>> could probably do it myself safely enough, but I'm not a qualified 
>> electrician and I would like to know if doing so is likely to cause 
>> trouble for me or them later on.
>>
>> Also, are there any rules which would apply to the rest of the 
>> system? Roughly, I'm planning to use a microcontroller to operate an 
>> AC solid state switch module, which would control a convection heater 
>> in the insulated cabinet they are building. This is a prebuilt module 
>> with screw terminals, not separate parts, so I think it should be 
>> safe, but again I would like to know if there's any legal stuff I 
>> could fall foul of.
>
> P.S. I should point out that the workshop they are using is a rented 
> workshop space, not a dwelling, as I think that different rules apply 
> in this situation.
>

If it's rented, first thing I'd do is look at the rental agreement, it 
might be simply not allowed in the agreement. Regardless, since it is 
rented changes to the wiring probably need to be done/checked by a 
qualified electrician.

Why not just buy a plug-in RCD (as used for lawn mowers)? They also seem 
to be cheaper.

At a guess, the laws around the rest of the system would depend on 
whether this is a commercial or not. If it is commercial, it will need 
to be PAT tested and since it's not bought as an item, that should 
probably be done prior to use rather than as part of a yearly rounds.

Hope that helps,

Martyn