Ask the experts/Technical
Fully charged Certification of electrical installations not exceeding 100 A To aid NICEIC approved contractors and conforming bodies that carry out work on a range of smaller installations, NICEIC have recently developed a new certificate entitled Electrical Installation Certificate for small installations not exceeding 100 A, and coded DCN8. This certificate is based on the previous Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) for domestic premises used by Approved Contractors (DCN7).
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his article will explain the general changes to this certificate and reasons for the change along with the benefits to the user. Where an Approved Contractor wishes to use a specific domestic Electrical Installation Certificate, they are still able to access DCP6, the Domestic Electrical Installation Certificate. Why the amalgamation of NICEIC certificates The new certificate combines the range of NICEIC Electrical Installation Certificates available to approved contractors and conforming bodies for the following existing installation types: • Domestic electrical installations • Transportable units • Modular dwellings • Leisure accommodation vehicles • Highway furniture In the past, contractors who issued certificates for two or more of the above installation types would need to purchase and maintain multiple EIC pads. With the increase in the number of pages necessary to account for the increased recording of inspection items, this is unwieldy, especially where there is so much commonality between the different installations: for example, the earthing and bonding arrangements and supply parameters will be the same across all installation types. Such work can now be certified using one common certificate. Furthermore, having one certificate which can be used for multiple installations will be beneficial for those contractors who have previously not considered offers of work
outside of their normal range, due to the expense of ordering a pad of certificates for what might be a one-time only occurrence. This new certificate provides that work flexibility. Changes to the certificate There have been necessary changes to the EIC for smaller installations to 100 A. For a certificate to cover the range of electrical installation it has become necessary to include a section requiring the person carrying out the inspection and testing to record the type of installation (refer Fig 1). This means that there will be sections within the certificate that do not apply to all installation types. Where the electrical installation involves a leisure accommodation vehicle it will be necessary to record the vehicle details, including its type and particulars of the hook-up connections along with details regarding the means of earthing and protective bonding requirements (refer Fig 2). Similarly, for transportable units it will be necessary to record the model and description of the unit along with the maximum external earth fault loop impedance, fault current and maximum demand (refer Fig 2). Changes to the Schedule of Items Inspected When considering the necessary updating of the smaller certificates produced by NICEIC to align with Amendment 3 of BS 7671, it was recognised that the changes generated by the introduction of this amendment was going to create multiple smaller certificates each having to have increased numbers of pages attached to reflect the increased number of items to be inspected. This new certificate minimises the impact of such changes to one comprehensive certificate. Whilst the new EIC contains the Inspection Schedule previously found in the EIC for domestic premises, it also contains two additional boxes to account for the specific issues found with Leisure Accommodation Vehicles and Highway Street Furniture (refer Fig 3). Specific requirements for these particular installations are contained in the relevant sections of Part 7 of BS 7671. These requirements are intended to supplement or modify the general requirements contained in Parts 1 to 6, and as shown are listed separately. The reason for their inclusion is to aid the inspector when these particular installations are being inspected and tested. Consider for example the following two cases: • With a leisure accommodation vehicle or transportable unit there will be an element of Connections Winter 2015-2016
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