Doctor Drivel wrote:

A characteristic of many continental installations is that there are
a smaller number of sockets in a house than for a house of similar
age in the UK and consequently much more use of trailing extensions.

Not the fault of the radial system.

It is partly. The cost of providing adequate socket outlets to match
modern patterns of usage using this method is too high. Hence installers
tend not to.

These are inherently more hazardous than wall sockets and contribute
to far more fires of electric origin than does fixed wiring. The
lack of any form of appliance lead protection coupled with high trip
currents

High trip current? 16A MCBs or RCBOs on 8 sockets is not high. If a
simple fuse fails in a plug the protection is a 32A MCB (or fuse)

Tricky to draw current through a failed fuse....

also makes fires caused by equipment failure more common on
the continent than in the UK.

All countries using the CEE 7/4 (Shuko) plugs tend to have a number
of child fatalities each year caused by objects being poked into the
unprotected openings. The UK has virtually no such accidents with
the shielded 13A socket.

There are unprotected openings now in some sockets I have seen. And the
cheap contractors will use them. I have seen fuseless plug too (I
suspect illegal imports, not sure).

Fuseless plugs to BS 1363 three pin form factor are not legal to sell in
the UK.

Un-shuttered sockets are also not acceptable for general use.

"553-01-04 Every socket-outlet for household and similar use shall be of
the shuttered type and, for an a.c. installation, shall preferably be of
a type complying with BS 1363."

(with limited exceptions allowed by 553-01-05)

Another issue with the continental two pin plugs is that the wiring
of the live and neutral is random (and even if it were not the plugs
can be inserted any way around).

There is a standard to where live should be connected, but most don't
stick to it.

And you think this is good because?

There is no question that BS 1363 is a fundamentally much safer
system than the Shuko and its variants. This is hardly unexpected as
the Shuko design dates from the 1920's.

The improved safety of the ring over the radial stems largely from
secondary effects of the greater number of fixed sockets and fuse
protection of the appliance lead.

"improved safety of the ring" Where?

Which part of "stems largely from secondary effects of the greater
number of fixed sockets and fuse protection of the appliance lead".
could you not comprehend?

Also consider that of the four most common circuit faults: (vis: high
impedance connection in CPC, high impedance connection in Phase/Neutral,
open circuit in CPC, open circuit in Phase/Neutral), a ring circuit to
modern design will perform better in three out of the four fault scenarios.

A radial circuit with RCBOs,
tripping on neutral and live, on each circuit is much safer. The UK
ring system trips on 32A and only the live. Most new Continental
systems have RCBOs.

Your understanding and nomenclature seems confused.

UK power circuits usually are protected by RCDs. RCDs are double pole
devices not single. MCBs do not operate under direct contact shock
incidents, and hence there is no advantage to them being double pole. We
also keep strict control of circuit polarity and termination.

Together these reduce the number
of fires caused by overloaded and damaged extensions.

Fires in the UK are caused by the same problem. Most homes I see have
trailing extension leads, especially around computers, TVs, etc. Most
homes need banks of 6 wall of sockets Do you see them?

You seem to be confusing trip hazard with fire hazard.

Fire hazard in continental wiring is perhaps more likely to be caused
by the shoddy quality of their plugs and sockets, however the main risks
will be similar to ours (unlike when compared to the significantly
greater fire risk posed by US style installations and wiring practice)

There is of course nothing to stop you wiring a BS1363 layout in
radial form -
but there would be no advantage in doing so.

There would be. A 16A RCBO at the CU, rather than a 32A RCBO. 1363
relies on old hat fuses in plug tops.

The internal fusing of BS1363 is one of the reasons for its greater
safety and why many countries have adopted it.

There is nothing "old hat" about fuses. There are many situations where
they will be preferable to MCBs for example.

You neglect that RCBO protection can be employed on a per circuit basis
here as well.

If I did a re-wire, it would have radials and RCBOs. RCBOs are cheap in
the likes of France and buying a CU complete with them (Legrand for
e.g.), they are "much" cheaper than the UK, where RCBOs are extortionate.

If you are going to rewire anything (especially in dodgy French
accessories), please have the courtesy to warn your neighbours in good
time so that they can move. Also you will need to keep it all well away
from any of your plumbing, because I think you will find that none of
the systems are submersible.


--
Cheers,

John.

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