Latest Landlord Electrical Regulations 2024 – Complete Top Guide

Thank you for taking the time to pose the question Gary.
There has been a lot of debate in the electrical industry over the application of these regulations. As a company ourselves, we follow the guidance from our industry body that we are a member of. That particular body (Certsure) represents both ELECSA and NICEIC. Their guidance is that the industry standard document Best Practice Guide 4 (EICRs) is followed. This document lists a number of different conditions found within properties and the recommendations of the codes they should receive on an EICR. The circuits you have listed on your question are typical of a 16th edition split load consumer unit. These were installed frequently within the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Although it is impossible to give ‘specific advice’ without having looked over the property, this in itself would not cause a C2 – potentially dangerous issue, IE: one which would ‘fail’ the report.

However I do know that NAPIT (another electrical industry body) publish a book called ‘Codebreakers’. Again, this lists a number of conditions found within properties and gives a list of EICR codes based on those conditions. If you look through this book, you will find that some problems caused by the 16th edition split load (No RCD on lighting circuits) are recommended to be listed as C2 issue and fail the report.

My recommendation would be that you speak to a trusted local electrician and raise this with them first. They should give you an indication on which stance they choose to follow.

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help but this all depends on the particular electrician who completes the report.

Regards
James – ElectricBlu Contractors

Thank you very much for your kind words! It’s great to know that I can help ‘demystify’ some of the electrical regulations.

If there is anything else in particular you need any advice on, don’t hesitate to let me know and I will do my best to assist

Kind regards
James – Local Electrician in Wakefield

Hello Dave, thanks for getting in touch

No, the new regulations do not apply to commercial rentals, only to privately rented houses.
However I would seriously recommend that if you are a commercial landlord you consider the benefits of having an EICR completed on your property. This provides you with both peace of mind, and a safety net against prosecution should there be any electrical accidents within your premises.

Hope that helps
Kind regards
James – ElectricBlu Contractors

Hello Nick thanks for getting in touch. Glad to hear that the guide was helpful. I’ve been getting asked quite a lot of questions about the implementation of the regulations and this particular page is becoming a bit fragmented. I plan to expand on all these FAQs in the next couple of days so keep a look out for that!

In response to your questions:

One MCB in the consumer unit is a different make to the others – does that matter at all?

On the EICR Section 4.14: Compatibility of protective devices, bases and other components; correct type and rating in a nutshell requires that the circuit breakers are the same type. Whilst I couldn’t give you a definitive answer without having seen your particular board, the main problem is different brands that are different sizes. These often get bodged into the board because older circuit breakers can be awkward to come by. This obviously, is a problem.
However, a lot of MCB companies make more than one particular brand. In these instances, the circuit breakers are identical apart from the name on the front. In this instance, it may warrant a C3 – IMPROVEMENT RECOMMENDED code be given, which would not fail the EICR ‘on it’s own’.

What is the maximum number of spured sockets that can be allowed on a 32A ring main?

There is no maximum amount of sockets which are allowed to be part of the ring (the reccomendation is more based on floor area in square meters)

Each ‘point’ on the ring itself is allowed to have either one single, or one double socket spurred directly from that original point.

There is no limit to the number of sockets which can be spurred from one ‘point’ on the ring itself, however a 13A Fused Connection Unit (AKA Fused Spur) must be placed as the only spur initially, then the rest of the sockets/points need to be on the other side of the 13A BS1362 fuse. This is to protect against the possibility of overloading the ring circuit in one particular place.

If the main cut out fuse is 80amp, is it OK to have 16mm meter tails, with 10mm earthing bond?

If the main cut out fuse is 80A then 16mm tails are OK, as long as they are not passed through any significant lengths of insulation as this derates the cable.

I assume you mean that the main protective bonding (to gas & water pipework usually) is 10mm? If so then this is up to scratch for all earthing arrangements.

However you did not mention the main earthing conductor between the incoming service head and your consumer unit. The type of earthing arrangement at your particular property will dictate different sizes however if it is a PME supply then it will need a 16mm main earthing conductor.

Hope that was of some help?

Kind regards
James – Your Local Electrician in Wakefield

Thanks for getting in touch and asking the question.

Under the 18th edition, the requirement to RCD protect a circuit is based on 4 different regulatory requirements:

– All sockets must have RCD protection (certainly within a domestic setting, risk assessments are allowed to omit RCD protection in commercial settings)
– Any cables which are buried less than 50mm from the wall surface require RCD protection (pretty much any cable buried in a wall in a domestic setting)
– Any circuits which serve a location containing a bath or shower must have RCD protection (think bathroom lights, towel rail, shower)
– Any circuits which serve lights within a domestic property must have RCD protection

With regards smoke alarms, there is no specific requirement to RCD protect these, however in 99.9% of cases the cable will be buried less than 50mm from the wall surface, hence will require RCD protection.

Be aware, that there is no requirement to add RCD protection to any circuit serving smoke alarms in order for it to pass an EICR

Hope that helps?

Kind regards
James – ElectricBlu Contractors

Hello Colin, thanks for getting in touch and asking the question.

The governments guide to landlords on these latest regulations states the following (section 8 further questions):

If an inspection took place and a satisfactory report was issued before the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations came into force, but less than 5 years ago, will a landlord always need to have the property inspected again as soon as the Electrical Safety Regulations come into force?
Regulation 3 requires that landlords have the electrical installation inspected and tested at intervals of no longer than every 5 years. Electrical safety standards (the 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations) must be met throughout the period of that tenancy.

The 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations came into effect in 2019, so if a landlord already has a report for a property that was carried out after this date and has complied with all the other requirements of the Regulations, they won’t have to have another inspection for 5 years, provided the report does not state that the next inspection should take place sooner.

Existing installations that have been installed in accordance with earlier editions of the Wiring Regulations may not comply with the 18th edition in every respect. This does not necessarily mean that they are unsafe for continued use or require upgrading.

It is good practice for landlords with existing reports to check these reports and decide whether the electrical installation complies with electrical safety standards. Landlords might also wish to contact the inspector who provided a report to ensure the installation complies with electrical safety standards.

You can check this guidance out on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/guide-for-landlords-electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector

Although I cannot comment on your particular EICR without having seen it, certainly with our own customers, I am advising that EICRs completed before the 18th edition would still meet the requirements of the latest regulations

Hope that helps?
Kind regards
James – ElectricBlu Contractors

Hello Mr Helmore, thanks for getting in touch.

This is a popular question at the moment and I am hearing from a lot of landlords that electricians are suggesting that plastic boards (even ones installed as recently as 5 years ago) are now somehow ‘illegal’ and require upgrade. This is nonsense. We base our inspection & testing coding on a document called ‘Best Practice Guide 4 – EICR‘ <<<< if you click here you can take a look at what it says about plastic boards on PAGE 15. In a nutshell, plastic boards which are in the sole escape route from the property or under a wooden staircase are to be considered a C3 - IMPROVEMENT RECOMMENDED item. This is akin to an advisory on an MOT and is simply to highlight where safety may be improved. It is not a reason to fail the test, you can have any number of C3 code items and the test could still be satisfactory. However, on PAGE 16 of that document, it confirms that if the board is NOT in the sole route of escape or under a wooden staircase, this is not even worthy of a classification code. The document goes on to suggest that if unsatisfactory connections are found within, then this should be raised as a POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS issue. This is slightly misleading in the sense that even if the board was made from metal, and it had unsatisfactory connections within, it would still fail the test based on the connections themselves. Further, the governments own guide on these regulations WHICH CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE on ‘Section 8: Further Questions’ has a question entitled: Will all installations have to comply with the 18th edition, even if they were installed before this edition was in force?

The upshot is, as long as they are not ‘unsafe’ or present a potential of danger, there is no requirement to upgrade to the 18th edition standards It also clarifies, the ‘C3’ classification code a little more.

Hope that helped at all? If you could let me know the outcome it would be much appreciated, I am very much trying to build a picture of how misunderstood these regulations are.

Kind regards
James – ElectricBlu Contractors

Hello Yobcel, thanks for asking the question.

This is a difficult one to answer without having seen the particular installation in question. If you are already planning to have the property rewired then I am assuming that the existing wiring is either very old or in a particular poor state? If so then that itself may well be a reason for why it could fail an EICR as opposed to not having RCDs installed.
The issue of no RCD you would need to ask the electrician who is completing the test. Some say there is no need to upgrade the installation as it complied when installed, indeed by the letter of the regulations it would seem that is the case. However I’m sure none would deny the potentially life saving benefits of having an RCD installed.

Could it possibly be that your installation is just in need of a new consumer unit as opposed to a complete rewire? Again, this is something that is impossible to recommend without having seen the installation itself I’m afraid.

Sorry I couldn’t be much more help than that.
Kind regards
James – ElectricBlu Contractors

Hello Sue, thanks for getting in touch and asking the question.

Unfortunately an EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate) would only suffice in the event that a full rewire had taken place, or the install was a new-build. Whilst the level of testing for a new consumer unit is similar to that required for an EICR, there are a number of visual inspections/checks which would not be recorded on an EIC as opposed to an EICR.

The GOV.UK guidance covers an EIC in the event of a rewire/new installation, however there is no mention of an EIC being acceptable for works that fall below this threshold. You can find this on the link below under section 8 – further questions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/guide-for-landlords-electrical-safety-standards-in-the-private-rented-sector#further-questions

I would ask the electrician who has completed the swap to check the guidance himself, then perhaps he could complete an EICR for a reduced cost as he will have already completed much of the required testing of the installation?

Hope that helps?
Kind regards
James – Your Local Electrician in Wakefield