Dear all

The new Housing Act (shortly to take effect in a few days) meant that
I had to have two of my properties which are let as student houses
(HMO's) have their fixed wiring tested (so that I can now pay the
council a further £ 600 per property to register as a
landlord!!......something I have been doing since 1998 (with very
satisfied tenants who never leave).............it's all bureaucratic
nonsence really!!!)

I had NICEIC electricians inspect the wiring and issue PIR certificates

My perfectly safe and very new wiring (which I did myself 3 years ago)
failed on one small point (in both houses). It failed as you
......."need a protective device for each ring main circuit".

What I did is to put 2 small ring mains (two adjacent ground floor
rooms) into one 32amp MCB. This meant there was 4 tails in one 32 Amp
MCB. Each ring main is small and has 4 sockets and covers a very small
area. (It was done as rooms were renovated one after another and was
easier to wire like that. I combined some rooms on the ground floor as
the house has about 15 rooms (so I didn't want 15 ring mains with
15MCB's!!!!!!!!).

The NICEIC electricians informed me that if (they) put a joint box
behind the consumer unit (there is an access hatch) and make one larger
ring main (with 8 sockets) it will then comply!!

What nonsence I say!! These wiring regulations would mean an increased
the length of the total ring main, increase the impedance and would
make it (slightly) less safe (not more!!). I really can't see that it
makes any difference! If you use the MCB as a "joint" it is not
allowed but "out of sight joint box " behind the consumer unit which
doubles the length of the ring main makes it comply!!

Secondly they noted this as a "dangerous fail". I can't see how it
could be any worse than "not up to current wiring regulations". I can
possibly see that it is unsafe in any way as the MCB is 32 Amps which
is fine for each individual ring

Interestingly enough, this seems to be allowed with the lighting
circuits!!! It seems that one can shove in as many 1mm tails in those 6
Amp breakers as you like!!

Any comments from anybody?? I'm jolly interested to see what the group
think!! ......and I especially want to hear from NICEIC electricians!!

Best regards - Lightman
(now a qualified PAT tester with 96.666% in that stupid City & Guilds
test which is also a bureacratic waste of time but saves on PAT testing
fees!!!!)